Company Overview

Primaris Real Estate Investment Trust is a Canadian real estate investment trust focused primarily on the ownership, management, and redevelopment of enclosed shopping centres. The trust operates within the retail real estate industry, with a strategic emphasis on dominant regional and super-regional malls that serve as key commercial hubs in their respective trade areas. Its primary revenue drivers are rental income from retail tenants, percentage rent tied to tenant sales, and ancillary income from property-related services.

Primaris distinguishes itself through its concentration on enclosed shopping centres located in secondary and tertiary markets across Canada, where it often holds market-leading positions with limited direct competition. The trust was originally established in 2013 following a spin-out from H&R Real Estate Investment Trust and has since evolved through portfolio optimization, asset recycling, and internalized management. Its units trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol PMZ.UN.

Business Operations

Primaris operates as a single-segment real estate platform focused on enclosed shopping centres, generating substantially all of its revenue from base rent, recoveries of property operating costs, and other tenant-related income. The trust owns and manages a portfolio of enclosed malls that typically feature a mix of national retailers, essential services, dining, entertainment, and local tenants. Property management, leasing, development, and redevelopment activities are conducted internally.

Operations are entirely based in Canada, with assets spread across multiple provinces. Primaris controls all key aspects of its properties, including leasing strategy, redevelopment planning, and capital allocation. The trust does not rely on material joint ventures for its core portfolio and instead maintains direct ownership through wholly owned subsidiaries that hold individual properties.

Strategic Position & Investments

Primaris’ strategy centers on strengthening its portfolio of dominant enclosed shopping centres through targeted capital investments, active leasing, and selective redevelopment projects designed to enhance tenant mix and long-term cash flow stability. Growth initiatives emphasize improving occupancy, attracting necessity-based and service-oriented tenants, and densifying sites where zoning and market conditions permit.

The trust has periodically executed acquisitions of income-producing enclosed malls that align with its geographic and demographic focus, while disposing of non-core or lower-growth assets. Investment activity is largely concentrated on reinvesting in existing properties rather than expanding into unrelated real estate sectors. Primaris is not materially exposed to emerging technologies as a standalone business but incorporates digital leasing analytics, data-driven tenant sales reporting, and modernized building systems as part of its operational platform.

Geographic Footprint

Primaris’ portfolio spans multiple Canadian provinces, with properties located in Ontario, Québec, Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Prince Edward Island. The trust’s enclosed malls are typically situated in urban or regional population centers where they function as primary retail destinations.

The trust is headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, and maintains regional operational teams that oversee leasing, property management, and redevelopment initiatives across the country. Primaris does not have direct property holdings or operations outside Canada, and its investment exposure is fully domestic.

Leadership & Governance

Primaris is internally managed and led by an executive team with experience in retail real estate ownership, leasing, and capital markets. Governance is overseen by a board of trustees responsible for strategic direction, risk oversight, and unitholder interests. Management’s stated philosophy emphasizes disciplined capital allocation, balance sheet strength, and long-term value creation through ownership of dominant retail assets.

Key members of the leadership team include:

• Alex Avery – Chief Executive Officer
• Darren Krolewski – Chief Financial Officer
• Patrick Sullivan – Chief Operating Officer
• Lindsay Rippin – Chief Leasing Officer
• Shawn McKillop – Senior Vice President, Development

The executive team collectively guides leasing strategy, redevelopment planning, financial management, and operational execution across the trust’s national portfolio.