CT Real Estate Investment Trust : ESG Report
CRT.UN.TO
Published on 06/27/2025 at 18:08
2024
ESG Report
Contents
Overview 03
Message from the CEO 03
About CT REIT 04
About This ESG Report 05
2024 ESG Highlights 07
Our ESG Journey 08
Our Approach to ESG 09
Environmental 10
Building Climate Resilience at CT REIT 11
Designing & Operating
More Sustainable Buildings 14
Social 17
Community Impact 18
Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging 21
Talent & Culture 23
Governance 25
Corporate Governance & Risk Management 26
Business Ethics 29
Privacy & Data Security 30
Appendices 31
Appendix A: Absolute GHG Emissions
for 2024 (Location-based) 31
Appendix B: SASB Real Estate
Standard Disclosure 32
Glossary 43
Land Acknowledgement
Long before Canada was a country, strong nations and cultures existed here - and they continue to exist.
The lands on which CT REIT operates, in what is currently known as Canada, have been the
site of human activity for approximately 15,000 years. Today, these lands and lakes continue to be home to many First Nations, Inuit and Métis communities from across Turtle Island, also known as North America.
Our head office, located in what is currently known as Toronto, is situated on the traditional territory of the Anishinaabeg, Huron-Wendat and the Haudenosaunee Nations. This location is
covered by Treaty 13, signed with the Mississaugas of the Credit, and the Williams Treaties, signed with multiple Mississauga and Chippewa bands. We are grateful that we can live and work here, and we are committed to building and sustaining a relationship with Indigenous peoples based on respect, dignity, trust and cooperation.
At CT REIT, we know that land acknowledgements mark a small but important step in the journey
of confronting the truth and working towards reconciliation with Indigenous peoples. We are committed to acknowledging the truth and advancing reconciliation.
Illustration of Indigenous artwork titled Seven Grandfather Teachings by August Swinson at our Legacy Space in the Canadian Tire Corporation head office - 2180 Yonge Street, Toronto, Ontario.
Message from the CEO
I am pleased to share CT REIT's 2024
Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) report with you, detailing our progress, achievements, and future goals as we continue to implement our ESG strategy.
In 2024, we reframed our ESG strategy to focus on creating sustainable outcomes for stakeholders by striving to operate a business that is climate resilient, socially responsible, and, of course, well-governed. Our prioritization of resilience reflects
our commitment to adapting the REIT's business to a changing climate and the need to minimize our impact. One example
of how we are prioritizing resilience is our newly announced development of CTC's first net-zero-ready store in Kelowna, British Columbia. This store is based on CTC's net-zero-ready prototype which has an energy efficient design and is expected to open in late 2025.
We also continue to work towards operating our existing assets more sustainably. I am proud to note that in 2024, CT REIT's open-air multi-tenant retail property at Lake Shore Boulevard East in Toronto, Ontario, won BOMA's 2024 TOBY Award in the Open-Air Retail category for excellence in building management at both the regional (Toronto) and national levels.
Our community support initiatives remained strong in 2024. We donated $100,000 to Jumpstart to help build two inclusive playgrounds: the Pawâtêtân court in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, and a playground at Lions Park in Grande Prairie, Alberta. These projects are part of Jumpstart's mission to eliminate barriers to sports and recreation for children across Canada.
Diversity and inclusion continue to be central to our governance practices. We are proud to have achieved 50% female representation on our Board, surpassing our target of at least 30% over the last five years. Additionally, our Executive Team completed CTC's Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DIB)
Level-UP Course throughout 2024 and into the first quarter of 2025. This training equipped us with essential concepts and tools to foster a more inclusive environment at CT REIT.
Our commitment to gender diversity in leadership was further recognized when we were included in The Globe & Mail's Women Lead Here List for the first time in March 2024.
For over a decade, CT REIT has remained committed to being Canada's premier net lease REIT and we have made great strides to date on our ESG journey. By continuing to expand our knowledge base, improve disclosure practices, and actively engage with all stakeholders, we will stay the course and advance CT REIT's priorities in order to create value and drive meaningful change.
Thank you for your unwavering support and partnership as we work together to build a more sustainable and inclusive future.
Sincerely,
Kevin Salsberg
President and Chief Executive Officer
About CT REIT1
CT REIT Asset Base
CT Real Estate Investment Trust ("CT REIT" or the "REIT") is an unincorporated, closed-end real estate investment trust established on July 15, 2013 pursuant
to a Declaration of Trust. The REIT owns, manages, and develops income producing commercial Properties located in all 10 provinces and in two territories across Canada, and has 71 employees. Our portfolio is comprised of 290 stand alone Properties, typically occupied by a Canadian Tire store, 71 multi-tenant Properties anchored by
a Canadian Tire store, eight multi-tenant Properties not anchored by a Canadian Tire store, five Industrial Properties, one mixed-use commercial property,2 and one Development Property.
CT REIT is primarily focused on triple-net, long-term leases to investment grade tenants. With triple-net leases, the tenant is responsible for paying many of the expenses, including real estate taxes, building insurance, and maintenance costs.
The principal objective of the REIT, as a real estate investment trust investing primarily in net lease single tenant assets, is to create unitholder value over the long-term by generating reliable, durable and growing monthly cash distributions on a tax-efficient basis. To achieve this objective, management is focused on expanding the REIT's asset
~~$7.2B
Total Assets
881,000 ft~~2
Development Pipeline
base, in service of increasing both its Adjusted Funds From Operations per unit and its net asset value per unit.
Any capitalized term not defined in this ESG Report including in the Glossary of Terms, can be found in the Glossary of Terms in the REIT's 2024 Annual Information Form filed on SEDAR+ at https://www.sedarplus.ca and on the REIT's website at https://www.ctreit.com under the "Investors" tab in the "Financial Reporting" section.
Properties by Region3
40.1~~%
Ontario
8.8~~%
Properties
Occupancy Rate
(%)
Gross Leasable Area ("GLA") (ft²)
Retail
369
99.5
26,266,905
Industrial
5
100.0
4,557,632
Mixed Use
1
69.2
200,839
Total Operating Properties (excluding Properties Under Development)
375
99.4
31,025,376
Atlantic Canada
27.0~~%
Western Canada (incl. territories)
REIT Portfolio Breakdown4
1 All information presented on this page and throughout this ESG Report represents information as of December 31, 2024, unless otherwise indicated. For more information on the reporting scope and methodology used in this ESG Report, see About this ESG Report.
2 The Canada Square complex, which includes CT REIT's and CTC's head office.
3 Percentage (%) of Total GLA, excluding Properties Under Development and Development Property.
4 The GLA reported in CT REIT's 2024 Annual Information Form excludes ground leases. In some cases, the GLA used for reporting in this 2024 ESG Report includes ground leases and therefore differs from the GLA included in this figure and reported in CT REIT's 2024 Annual Information Form. Occupancy metrics have been prepared on a committed basis which includes the impact of existing lease agreements contracted on or before December 31, 2024, and vacancies as at the
end of the reporting period.
24.2~~%
Québec
Development 1
About this ESG Report
This report contains information about CT REIT's 2024 Environmental, Social & Governance ("ESG") initiatives, and describes the REIT's ESG strategy and approach to proactively addressing certain environmental and social challenges specifically impacting the real estate industry.
Reporting Scope & Methodology
This 2024 ESG Report is focused on the activities of CT REIT and resulting outcomes during the 2024 fiscal year ending on December 31, 2024. This report also includes work that was commenced in 2024 but was or will be completed in 2025.
The terms "CT REIT" and the "REIT" refer to CT Real Estate Investment Trust and its subsidiaries, including CT REIT Limited Partnership.
In this report, the term "CTC" refers to Canadian Tire Corporation, Limited, its predecessor corporations and all entities controlled by it and their collective businesses, including the REIT, unless the context otherwise requires. References to the "enterprise" contained in this report refer to the CTC enterprise, including the REIT, unless the context otherwise requires.
5 The Greenhouse Gas Protocol - A Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard (Revised Edition) prepared by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development and the World Resources Institute.
6 SASB Standards - Real Estate Sustainability Accounting Standard (Version 2023-06).
7 We consider energy or water to fall within CT REIT's reporting boundary where CT REIT has authority to introduce and implement policies at a property related to energy management or water management, respectively. These figures (15.5% and 9.7%) account for any property or area within a property over which CT REIT had some operational control over energy or water respectively in 2024, including Properties where the REIT has operational control over electricity but not natural gas, or electricity but not water, and including Properties that were acquired or sold during the 2024 reporting year. There are cases where it is not possible to distinguish energy or water usage for areas
Unless otherwise indicated, in this report:
all data relates to Properties owned or jointly owned by CT REIT during the 2024 fiscal year
all dollar amounts are expressed in Canadian dollars
rounded numbers are used, as such, totals may not add to 100%, and
all references to employees in this report include all permanent employees of CT REIT.
The content of this report is informed by the Greenhouse Gas ("GHG") Protocol5 and the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board's ("SASB") Real Estate Standard.6 See Appendix B of this ESG Report for our report against the SASB Standard.
Operational Control & Data Availability
The term "operational control" is used throughout this 2024 ESG Report. The GHG Protocol's Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard defines operational control as having the full authority to introduce and implement operating policies at an operation. The concept of operational control is also
that CT REIT has operational control over from whole building usage (e.g., where shared energy or water meters are used that service both Landlord Controlled Areas and Tenant Controlled Areas), or where the areas meters service are unknown or uncertain. In cases where energy or water usage cannot be distinguished between Landlord Controlled Areas and Tenant Controlled Areas or where the areas meters service are unknown or uncertain, we have included the usage of these meters within CT REIT's reporting boundary to be conservative, notwithstanding that Tenant Controlled Areas do not fall within CT REIT's operational control. As a result, reported values for energy usage and associated GHG emissions (Scope 1 and 2) and water consumption under CT REIT's operational control, and percentage GLA under operational control for energy and water, are conservative and likely overstated.
CT REIT property in Vancouver, British Columbia.
used beyond the GHG emissions accounting context in the SASB Real Estate Standard to differentiate between "Managed Assets" and "Indirectly Managed Assets," and in the Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark ("GRESB") Real Estate Assessment to differentiate between "Landlord Controlled" and "Tenant Controlled" areas.
In 2024, the REIT had operational control over energy for approximately 15.5% of the GLA by square foot within its portfolio and over water for approximately 9.7% of the GLA by square foot within its portfolio. 7
Areas over which the REIT has operational control include common areas, select exterior areas, parking lots, mechanical and other maintenance rooms, storage rooms, vestibules, interior hallways and public washrooms in enclosed shopping centres, property management offices, and vacant units.
Annual variation in vacant units can cause significant variation in area under CT REIT's operational control across reporting years, contributing to variation in reported energy
consumption, water consumption, and GHG emissions (Scope 1 and 2) under CT REIT's operational control.
The majority of CT REIT's Properties are net lease single-tenant retail assets, at which the tenant controls much, if not all, of the operations at the property, including energy and water consumption, and at which CT REIT consequently has no operational control. Similarly, the majority of CT REIT's GHG emissions are from sources over which CT REIT has no operational control (i.e., Scope 3 emissions). CT REIT has limited access to actual data from assets, areas, or emissions sources over which CT REIT has no operational control (e.g., tenant data).
For the remainder of this report, with the exception of
the SASB Index at Appendix B, we refer to Properties or areas of Properties over which the REIT has operational control
as "Landlord Controlled Areas" and Properties or areas of Properties over which our tenants have operational control as "Tenant Controlled Areas."
Disclaimer
CT Real Estate Investment Trust published this content on June 27, 2025, and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed via Public Technologies (PUBT), unedited and unaltered, on June 27, 2025 at 22:07 UTC.