The National Building Code of Canada gives an occupancy load of 4.6 sq m per person for manufacturing occupancies, less for storerooms etc.
This is the upper limit on the number of people allowed into the building at any one time for fire protection calculations and not on the number of people working at any one time.
I’d suggest that the number of jobs to be created varies greatly depending on the type of manufacturing and on the technology used in the manufacturing.
Do you have target industries in mind?
Can you ask some potential tenants of your industrial park how big their current facility is and the number of people employed?
Are there some industry associations for your target industries that may have some broad industry averages?
Perhaps you could search the internet for this information; you may find companies give their number of employees at certain facilities and the size of these facilities.
In any case once you come up with a number I’d forecast only about 75% of that number. If the project is still viable at the lower number then the additional number of jobs would not change that fact.
Best to under forecast and exceed expectations.
Rick Kitson MBA P.Eng
Construction Project Management
From conception to completion