Opening a studio...

how big is your average photo studio?
I'm planning on renting out a space in downtown vancouver

what do you plan to shoot? Products? people? cars?

if you have to ask then maybe you should spend some time renting another photographer's studio for a few hours a week until you know what you need in/why you need a studio.

I agree. Rent a studio out at least once. And try to do whatever you shoot in as small of an area as you can. then you will know exactly the minimum you need. Dont try to use all the space you can, at least not at first. Its just not realistic unless you happen to rent a place the same size. Then move things out till you are comfortable. Then you know how big of a place you want. Anything extra will be a bonus. The space we like to shoot in may not match what you need.

store front

What do you think about a Garage Studio

http://studioshare.org​/

Since you used a descriptive title, the forum has done a mini-search for you. Look at the links at the very bottom left hand corner of this page.