CAPREIT recognized for innovation in the areas of diversity, inclusion and sustainability

TORONTO, Nov. 01, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Canadian Apartment Properties Real Estate Investment Trust (“CAPREIT”) (TSX:CAR.UN) announced today that, for the 8th consecutive year, it has ranked in the ‘Above Canada Top Quartile Average’ in Kincentric’s 2021 Best Employers Program.

CAPREIT has participated in the Best Employers Program since 2010, and the collected data drives key elements of its people strategy. For additional benchmarking opportunities and data, CAPREIT, in partnership with Kincentric, included items related to COVID-19, diversity and inclusion. These factors were ranked among the highest on the survey, with 85% of employees rating CAPREIT’s stance on diversity and inclusion as favourable.

CAPREIT also announced it is the recipient of the Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) National Pinnacle Award in the category of Innovation. As a first-time winner, this award recognizes CAPREIT for its implementation of a state-of-the-art, customized, property-wide Building Automation System (Habitat). Habitat has been providing significant business value by enabling enhanced comfort and conservation for our residents and increased energy savings, essential elements of our (ESG) strategy. This additional accomplishment in the area of sustainability demonstrates CAPREIT’s continued commitment to integrating sustainable practices in all aspects of its business.

In addition, for the second consecutive year, CAPREIT has been awarded a Green Star Designation for its 2021 GRESB submission, recognizing CAPREIT’s ongoing commitment to environmental, social and governance (ESG) programs as an integral part of its sustainable leadership strategy. For over a decade, CAPREIT has integrated ESG practices into the way it invests in its assets, manages its operations, engages with its communities and communicates with its stakeholders. This GRESB designation is a formal recognition of the success of these initiatives.

“These achievements reflect our significant growth and strong, steady and sustainable operating performance over the last 24 years. As we continue to innovate in the areas of diversity, inclusion and sustainability we enhance our ability to better serve the diverse communities in which we live and work and deliver better-measured results for unitholders,” commented Mark Kenney, President and CEO.

ABOUT KINCENTRIC BEST EMPLOYERS PROGRAM
The Kincentric Global Best Employers Program measures and recognizes leading employers worldwide. It is based on 20 years of experience in Best Employer studies around the world, backed with over 50 years of employee research and a robust global employee engagement database. It focuses on the measures that lead to sustainable business results and accelerated success – high employee engagement, strong agility, engaging leadership and maniacal talent focus – and uses the most objective measure possible: employee opinion.

ABOUT BOMA CANADA
BOMA Canada is the voice of the Canadian commercial real estate industry. A dynamic federation, with strong associations in each major region in Canada, BOMA Canada is comprised of over 3200 members, representing close to 2.1 billion square feet of commercial space in the country. Members include building owners, managers, developers, facilities managers, asset managers, leasing agents and brokers, investors, and service providers.

ABOUT GRESB
Mission-driven and investor-led, GRESB is the environmental, social and governance (ESG) benchmark for real assets. We work in collaboration with the industry to provide standardized and validated ESG data to the capital markets. The 2021 real estate benchmark covers more than 1,500 property companies, real estate investment trusts (REITs), funds, and developers. Combined, GRESB represents over $5.7 trillion in assets under management. The assessment covers nearly 117,000 assets across 66 countries. Learn more at GRESB.com.   

ABOUT CAPREIT
CAPREIT is Canada’s largest publicly-traded provider of quality rental housing. CAPREIT currently owns or has interests in, and manages, approximately 70,000 residential apartment suites, townhomes and manufactured housing community sites well-located across Canada, in the Netherlands and Ireland. CAPREIT has approximately $18 billion of assets under management globally. Since its Initial Public Offering in May 1997, CAPREIT has grown monthly cash distributions per Unit by 103%. For more information about CAPREIT, its business and its investment highlights, please visit our website at www.caprent.com or www.capreit.net, and our public disclosure which can be found under our profile at www.sedar.com.

CAUTIONARY STATEMENTS REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
All statements in this press release that do not relate to historical facts constitute forward-looking statements. These statements represent CAPREIT's intentions, plans, expectations and beliefs and are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could result in actual results differing materially from these forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties are more fully described in regulatory filings that can be obtained on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

For more information, please contact:

CAPREIT Mr. Michael Stein Chairman [phone]

CAPREIT Mr. Mark Kenney President & CEO [phone]

CAPREIT Mr. Scott Cryer Chief Financial Officer [phone]