Boardwalk Real Estate Investment Trust Stock

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Boardwalk Real Estate Investment Trust Second Quarter 2026 Earnings Call. [Operator Instructions] This call is being recorded on Wednesday, July 29, 2026.

I would now like to turn the conference over to Eric Bowers, VP Finance and Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

Thank you, Joelle, and welcome to the Boardwalk REIT 2026 second quarter results conference call.

With me here today are Sam Kolias, Chief Executive Officer; James Ha, President; Gregg Tinling, Chief Financial Officer; Samantha Kolias-Gunn, Senior VP of Corporate Development and Governance; and Samantha Adams, Senior VP of Investments.

We acknowledge the traditional lands on which we live and work and our shared commitment to respect, stewardship and community. Before we get to our results, please note that this call is being broadly distributed by way of webcast. If you have not already done so, please visit us at bwalk.com/investors, where you will find a link to today's presentation as well as PDF files of the Trust's financial statements, MD&A and quarterly report.

Starting on Slide 2, we would like to remind our listeners that certain statements in this call and presentation may be considered forward-looking statements. Although the expectations set forth in such statements are based on reasonable assumptions, Boardwalk's future operation and its actual performance may differ materially from those in any forward-looking statements. Additional information that could cause actual results to differ materially from these statements are detailed in Boardwalk's publicly filed documents.

I would like to now turn the call over to Sam Kolias.

Thank you, Eric. Starting on Slide 4, welcome, everyone, to our Boardwalk Family Forever and to our Q2 2026 results. Redefining BFF, Boardwalk Family Forever is at the top of our organizational chart. Family is everything. Affordable multifamily communities have always been an essential product and service. Together with our residents, our associates, investors, partners, capital, environment, community, we are all essential and interconnected family members with our true north, where love always lives.

Together, we go far. Our leaders put our team first and our team puts our resident members first. Guided by the golden rule, we have a peak-performing customer service culture that creates exceptional results as we can see on our next Slide 5. Our continued solid performance with GAAP and non-GAAP measures increasing from the same quarter last year. Same property rental revenue increased 1.7% and same property net operating income increased 1.7%, reflecting resilient operating results and fundamentals.

Our operating margin remains strong at 67.6%. As a result of our recent asset sales, our funds from operations are down slightly. Our asset sales provide capital for our Normal Course Issuer Bid program, which has helped to increase our FFO per unit by 2.6%, demonstrating the impact of strategic capital allocation and continued growth in cash flow and value creation for our unitholders. Profit is down as a result of a noncash reduction in our IFRS net asset value.

I would like to now pass it over to Samantha Kolias-Gunn.

Thank you so much, Sam. We are extremely grateful for our teams, our Boardwalk families, perseverance, performance and continued commitment to our purpose, bringing our resident family members home to love always.

Continuing on to Slide 6, our operational stability and commitment to affordable housing. Rental market fundamentals in our core markets are competitive. Demand continues for more affordable housing despite supply deliveries focused on higher-end luxury product to justify high construction costs. We are grateful for our partnership with CMHC and our federal government that have implemented effective public policy to build more supply that has resulted in a balancing of the rental markets across Canada, providing more affordability to all Canadians.

We continue to deliver on our commitment to provide much-needed affordable housing in a more competitive environment with our experienced peak-performing team, exceptional product quality with over $1 billion invested since 2017 in rebrand and repositioning efforts and dedication to our Boardwalk family as responsible community providers.

Our self-regulation provides us with continued steady results across various market cycles as we remain flexible with our rental rates, producing greater stability in occupancy, margins, NOI and reputation. Paired with our strong financial foundation, minimum distribution policy resulting in maximum reinvestment and free cash flow growth, strategic repositioning, unparalleled customer service and on our foundation of strong family values, we remain in a position to deliver solid performance. This is what sets us apart, bringing you home to where love always lives. Boardwalk strives to be the first choice in multifamily apartment communities to work, invest and call home with our Boardwalk Family Forever.

Moving on to Slide 7. Our strategic rebranding enhances our resident member experience and exceptional quality at an affordable price, keeping our occupancy high at 97%. Per Rentals.ca data, our average occupied rents of $1,612 for a 2-bedroom apartment are attractive, especially relative to the Canadian average of $2,159.

Moving on to Slide 8. Alberta continues to see positive population growth with small relative amounts of nonpermanent residents. Affordability continues to drive positive population and leading economic growth in our core markets of Alberta and Saskatchewan, reflected in our appendix. Quebec has delivered exceptional results despite negative population growth, further evidencing the strong demand for affordable housing.

Ontario remains stable. We are strategically in all the right places at the right time. Please refer to our appendix for more data on the resilience of the Alberta economy and the renewed Alberta Advantage and Alberta's role within Canada as both an energy leader and a strategic engine for Canada's long-term prosperity. Alberta has had a transformative month with the announcements of 2 major pipeline proposals as well as a $4.6 billion natural gas power plant to energize a $13 billion investment from Meta for Canada's largest data center. The combination of energy, security, economic competitiveness and infrastructure investment provides a foundation for job creation, population inflows and sustained economic activity across our core markets.

We would like to now pass the call on to Gregg Tinling, who will provide us with an overview of our quarter results, strong balance sheet, fair value and ESG. Gregg?

Thank you, Samantha. Slide 9 shows our key operational metrics. The Trust retained high occupancy during Q2 2026 by focusing on retention and by leveraging its vertically integrated operating platform to limit the time to complete suite turnovers. Trust's approach to strategically moderate its lease renewal rates over the last number of years, while markets were heavily undersupplied, also contributed to maintaining higher occupancy in a more balanced market. Overall, demand remains strong for affordable housing.

Average occupied rent increased sequentially and when compared to the same quarter a year ago. Although vacancy loss increased, the Trust was able to reduce incentives that helped contribute to the higher revenues reported for Q2 2026 compared to the same period a year ago. These results reflect the success of our strategic initiatives aimed at maximizing free cash flow and diversifying our product offering, delivering meaningful financial performance.

Slide 10 provides an overview of leasing spreads for new and renewed leases under our self-regulated resident-friendly centric model. This approach continues to drive strong retention and referrals while keeping turnover and operating expenses low. On a year-over-year basis, leasing spreads have moderated, reflecting a more balanced supply-demand environment. Positive market rent adjustments were implemented in some communities where rental fundamentals were strong. In other communities, market rents were adjusted downward in pockets that have experienced higher deliveries of new supply and where rents were on the higher end of the price spectrum.

On a blended basis, leasing spreads remained positive, reflecting effective resident engagement and retention strategies in a more competitive market. Our strategic flexibility with new rental rates enabled us to preserve high occupancy while maintaining solid operating margins and net operating income. We will continue to focus on maintaining high occupancy and maximizing resident retention. This strategy reinforces our commitment to providing affordable resident-friendly housing in our core markets while also reducing costs and steadying operational performance, delivering long-term value for all stakeholders.

Slide 11 shows sequential quarterly rental revenue growth. Rental revenue growth was flat in Q2 2026 compared to Q1 2026, but has improved slightly compared to Q4 2025. With increased competition, Boardwalk focused on maintaining high occupancy while balancing market rents and rental incentives in order to achieve its NOI optimization strategy.

Turning to Slide 12. For Q2 2026, same property net operating income increased by 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year, with revenue growth of 1.7%. Same property NOI for Alberta, the Trust's largest region, increased 1% with revenue growth of 1.1%. Total rental expenses increased by 1.9% year-over-year, mainly due to higher building repairs and maintenance, bad debt expense and property taxes, partially offset by lower insurance premiums and utilities expense.

Slide 13 outlines Boardwalk's mortgage maturity schedule. The Trust debt portfolio is well staggered, with approximately 99% of the mortgage balance carrying NHA insurance through CMHC. This insurance remains in place for the full amortization period and backed by the Government of Canada, enables access to financing at rates below conventional mortgage levels with a current estimated 5-year and 10-year CMHC rate of 3.80% and 4.20%, respectively.

Although current interest rates are above the Trust's maturing rates over the next couple of years, the Trust maturity curve remains staggered, reducing the renewal amount in any particular year. Lastly, the Trust has an interest coverage of 2.97 in the current quarter. To date, in 2026, of the $815 million of 2026 mortgages maturing, we have renewed or forward-locked $457 million at an average rate of 3.78% and an average term of approximately 6 years.

Combined with our cash on hand as well as our unused credit facilities, we are well positioned with strong liquidity available. Current underwriting criteria in our most recent submissions to CMHC and our lenders has remained in line with our historically conservative estimates.

Please refer to Slide 49, which summarizes our 2026 mortgage program completed.

Slide 14 illustrates the Trust's estimated fair value of its investment properties, excluding adjustments for IFRS 16. As of June 30, 2026, the fair value of investment properties totaled $8.4 billion compared to $8.6 billion as at December 31, 2025. Decrease in overall fair value is the result of asset sales completed as well as an overall fair value loss adjustment recognized in the period. Current estimated fair value of approximately $243,000 per apartment door remains below replacement cost.

As it does every quarter, the Trust will continue to review completed asset sales transactions and market reports to determine if adjustments to cap rates are necessary as well as consult with our external appraisers. Most recent published cap rate reports suggest that the cap rates being utilized by the Trust for calculating fair value are within their estimated ranges.

Slide 15 highlights our ESG initiatives. We'd like to highlight our 2025 GRESB score of 72, which represents a 7.5% increase compared to the prior year. Using a disciplined capital allocation approach, we are focused on reducing emissions through reduced utilities consumption and therefore, reducing utilities costs while always promoting social and governance initiatives. We encourage our stakeholders to view our 2025 ESG Report available on the Trust's website.

I would like to now turn the call over to Samantha Adams to highlight our capital allocation initiatives.

Thank you, Gregg. Disciplined patience and tactical equity deployment continue to guide our 2026 capital allocation strategy. Consistent with prior quarters, we remain focused on maximizing free cash flow and directing capital towards the strongest risk-adjusted opportunities. A key capital allocation priority remains our value-add and repositioning program.

As highlighted on Slide 16, reinvesting free cash flow into our communities strengthens the value proposition for our resident family members. Of the 16 projects planned for 2026, 6 are completed or nearing completion and all are focused on cost-effective, high-impact common area and amenity upgrades that support long-term asset quality, enhance the resident experience, maintain affordability and improve retention. Driven by market demand, this program delivers strong value across our 3 brands and helps ensure our properties remain competitive in their respective markets.

Slide 17 summarizes our transaction activity and capital allocation for the first half of 2026. With $492 million of sales completed or announced and in conjunction with our repositioning program, we continue to advance our strategy, our strategic portfolio renewal. Once all of the transactions are closed, these sales will have generated approximately $272 million in net proceeds and reduced near-term capital spending by approximately $26 million.

Slide 18 provides further detail on our year-to-date sales activity, including the recently announced sale of a 2-property portfolio in London and our new co-ownership agreement with Desjardins. Our London portfolio was sold at a slight premium to IFRS value with a $40 million sale price representing a 4.5% exit cap rate based on our trailing 12-month NOI. Overall, our dispositions have been completed at pricing in line with our fair value, providing capital to redeploy towards the strongest risk-adjusted opportunities, the majority of which has been allocated to our unit buybacks.

As shown on Slide 19, our capital allocation during the quarter was focused on the NCIB, reflecting the continued disconnect between our unit price and the underlying value of our portfolio. The NCIB remains an important capital allocation tool, and we have remained active year-to-date, investing $204 million at a weighted average price of $65.51.

With private market transactions in our core markets occurring in the 4.75% to 5.25% cap rate range, repurchasing our units at implied cap rates above 6% remains the most accretive use of our capital today.

On Slide 20, we are very pleased to present the highlights of our strategic co-ownership with Desjardins Global Asset Management and its Canadian private real estate funds. For Boardwalk stakeholders, this co-ownership validates the quality and value of our portfolio and platform through the commitment of a long-term institutional partner. Desjardins is acquiring a 50% interest in the seed portfolio at an implied value of $292 million or approximately $446,000 per suite, which is in line with our IFRS values.

Just as importantly, this transaction allows us to recycle capital while continuing to participate in the future upside of these properties as Boardwalk will retain a 50% ownership interest. With no fixed targets or equity commitments going forward, this structure provides both parties greater capital flexibility to pursue future acquisitions together when market conditions are aligned and we find the best opportunity. Boardwalk will continue to oversee day-to-day operations with our proven operating platform, allowing us to maintain our focus on the resident family member experience and overall property performance.

We will also earn a 4.25% property management and administrative fee on effective gross revenue, which is expected to provide an approximate 25 basis point yield improvement on our proportionate share. Ultimately, this co-ownership reaffirms the value of our portfolio, the strength of our exceptional operating platform and overall investment strategy. It also supports our long-term objective of combining operating excellence with disciplined capital allocation to grow free cash flow and create lasting value for our stakeholders.

I would now like to turn the call over to Eric Bowers to discuss our track record of creating value.

Thank you, Samantha. Slide 21 highlights our track record of compounding FFO per unit and distribution growth over the last several years as a result of the Trust's maximum cash flow retention policy. This approach has enabled the Trust to reinvest its cheapest source of capital, internally generated cash flow into its communities to more than double FFO per unit since 2018 and compound distribution growth at an annual rate of approximately 12% since 2021. We are pleased to confirm our regular monthly distribution equating to $0.15 per Trust unit or $1.80 per Trust unit on an annualized basis for the months of September, October and November 2026.

On Slide 22, we highlight the strength of the Trust balance sheet and the continued progress we are making on decreasing our financial leverage over time. In Q2, the Trust's debt-to-EBITDA ratio improved to 9.3x down from approximately 10x in Q4 2025, while debt to assets remains at approximately 43%. The Trust's liquidity is estimated at just under $375 million at the end of Q2.

Slides 23 and 24 illustrate the exceptional value that the Trust's units continue to represent relative to private market valuations and the Trust's NAV per unit. At the current unit price of approximately $65, the Trust's implied value of $194,000 per suite and implied cap rate in the mid-6% range provides the Trust with an amazing opportunity to invest on an accretive basis and countercyclically in its own high-quality portfolio at a significant discount as previously highlighted by Samantha Adams.

I would like to now turn the call over to James Ha to discuss the Trust's latest financial guidance and provide closing remarks.

Thank you, Eric, and thank you to our entire Boardwalk team for your service and commitment to our resident members. Our focus on delivering the best quality and affordable communities is why our residents make Boardwalk their first choice as a place to call home and reward our team with continued high occupancy and high retention rates.

Slide 25 provides a review of our 2026 outlook as we continue to demonstrate the strength of our platform and the resilience of affordable housing. Across the country, we continue to see strong demand for affordably priced homes, while more expensive housing options remain competitive. Our positive blended lease spreads so far this year are a reflection of our high affordability, and we anticipate our leasing trends to remain similar for the remainder of the summer leasing season.

Since our last report, we are seeing our overall bottom line results in line with our expectations. Same property revenue is tracking toward the lower end of our original growth estimate. However, our outlook for same property expense growth has improved despite the large property tax increase we will be seeing in the second half of the year. With this, we are pleased to reiterate our outlook for the year with anticipated same property NOI growth of between 1% to 3.5% and FFO per unit of between $4.60 and $4.80 for the year. Please note that this is forward-looking guidance, and we will be regularly updating and refining this outlook as the year goes on.

Lastly, Slide 26 highlights a few key metrics that our team has and continues to work toward improving. As shared earlier, Boardwalk offers the best value in housing and some of the most affordable rents in the country at just over $1,600 a month. Our operating margins have improved significantly as we continue to find new ways to optimize our NOI. Our unique business model retains and compounds cash flow, allowing us to organically improve our balance sheet with now one of the lowest debt-to-EBITDA ratios in Canada.

Our unique platform, disciplined approach to capital allocation, geographic advantage and experienced team continues to demonstrate our ability to create value for all our stakeholders, and we would like to thank again our resident members, our team, our partners and all our stakeholders for making us your first choice in housing.

We would now like to open up the line for questions. Joelle?

[Operator Instructions] And your first question comes from Dean Wilkinson with CIBC.

Maybe a question on the new joint venture probably for Samantha. This looks like an opening gambit in something that could be much larger. I realize you don't have targets around it. But looking at the current portfolio, and it seems like this is geared towards newer build assets, do you have a sense of how much of what you have existing could go into this? And what's your appetite for how large this could be?

Dean, yes, thanks for the question. In terms -- like Desjardin approached us initially with an idea of creating this partnership or co-ownership looking at core, core-plus communities. So when we took that back and sort of went through our portfolio, we were able to sort of match their investment criteria with the seed portfolio that we've just presented. There might be a couple of other properties that we currently own that would fit the criteria.

But the intent over time is to grow through third-party acquisitions, so buying from a third party, excuse me, when the markets are aligned and the best, as we like to say, the best opportunity comes our way. So there's no -- to your point, there's no fixed or set capital deployment on an annual basis or a target, but an agreement to work together for the foreseeable future.

And I'm assuming that this is open-ended, it doesn't have sort of a 5-year horizon or something like that on it.

Correct.

Okay. Would this also open the door for completion of developments like The Marin and Marda Loop, Island Highway, would those be kind of assets that would probably be something that could go into the JV?

It's possible, but the development economics today are really hard to make sense of. So it's possible, but today, it's very tricky.

Okay. I'm sure others have a lot of questions on this, so I won't monopolize it. Maybe a question just for Gregg on the debt maturities. It looks like some of the more recent roles you did in June and July, shorter duration, like 2 years. Was there something asset-specific there? Or was it just trying to minimize the rate grind on a renewal?

Dean, it's Eric. Yes, we always take our asset plans into account in terms of structuring that. And on our overall ladder, we did have a little bit of a gap in 2028, so just looking to fill in some of that.

Okay. That makes sense. And then I would assume that you're looking longer term on what's left for the rest of the year.

Yes. I think you'll see us do a combination across the ladder, but you can see within our existing ladder where some of those gaps are. So I think you'll see us generally err towards longer in the balance of the year.

Your next question comes from Jonathan Kelcher with TD Cowen.

Going back to the Desjardins transaction, when they came to you, was it with a size that they wanted to invest?

It's sort of a ballpark size, but not a specific target, no. It was more about coming together and aligning sort of strategically on what our mutual investment criteria could look like. That's really where the conversation started, and then we took it back. And the result is, as you can see, we decided to start our relationship with this amazing seed portfolio. But no, they didn't have a target in mind.

Okay. And if we look at the cash proceeds you're going to get from this and then as well as the sale of the London assets, are you still looking at the NCIB as the best way to spend money? Or with the extra 25 bps you get with Desjardins, are you starting to look harder at acquiring assets from third parties?

Jon, it's James. Certainly, as Samantha said in her prepared remarks, there is just no better place to buy apartments right now than on the stock market with -- under the ticker symbol BEI. I mean we're trading at over 6% cap rate with a mid-7% FFO yield. To us, it is a great accretive place to redeploy those proceeds from dispositions.

Okay. Fair enough. And then just one on the operations. The incentives -- your incentives ticked up quarter-over-quarter in Q2. Was there any market in particular? And how do you expect that to trend going forward here?

Jonathan, James again. Pretty broad-based across the country. Really, those incentives are made up of what we call just move-in bonuses, incentives that we offer our leasing team to close deals and bring residents home into our Boardwalk communities. And so you saw some usage of that. It was pretty well broad-based across the country. The good news is as we're looking at rentals now, we are seeing a pretty strong July from a volume standpoint. August is typically quite a strong month. We're happy with our occupancy levels, as you saw, reported at about 97%, but we have room to grow there.

And so our priority here for the balance of the summer months is to grow that occupancy and see if we can get that closer to 97.5% or 98%. And so far, with the way July is shaping up, things are looking great.

Your next question comes from Brad Sturges with Raymond James.

I guess I'll ask my joint venture question here now. Just on the -- how the structure works, the plan is, I guess, over time to grow through third-party acquisitions. But in the event that you would want to sell one of the assets within the JV, do both parties have ROFO rights? Or how would that in theory work?

Yes. Brad, yes, I would say they're fairly standard JV clauses in that respect, and we do have ROFO rights built in, yes.

Got you. And just looking at the wholly-owned portfolio, obviously, you guys have been pretty active on selling noncore assets. Like how much more do you think is left to do? Like where -- or I guess, what percentage of the portfolio would you deem as noncore today where you don't see the returns or the CapEx profile is not what you're looking for, where in theory, you could continue to be opportunistic in selling more assets?

I think that's a better way of putting it, we'll continue to be opportunistic. There is still incredible strength in the private market for our noncore properties at values in line with our book value. So the team has done an amazing job of reaching our -- at the high end of our initial target of $500 million. So while I don't have anything to report on today, we remain open to the opportunities to continue the program of selling some of our noncore properties as long as the private market is there, which it is today.

Your next question comes from Jimmy Shan with RBC Capital Markets.

James, I think you mentioned that your stock still represents the best opportunity. So I just wanted to clarify that I guess it would be wrong for us to assume that this new JV would lead you to allocate a lot less to NCIB in favor of acquisitions, just given -- assuming the current pricing stays where it is. Is that fair?

It depends. And so right now, the best place to buy apartments is in our NCIB. The good news is that we have a business model that spits out free cash flow. And so we have allocation decisions with that. We have a very active and strong private market where we're able to sell noncore assets and bring capital back and look for the best place to deploy that capital.

Right now, it's stock buyback. If our team is able to find acquisition opportunities that provide equal or better returns, we're certainly going to look at those as well. But as of right now, the best thing that we are seeing is our stock today. And that's why we are investing as heavily as we are in our NCIB.

Right. Okay. And then a question just on one of the slides. I noticed Fort McMurray out-of-town rentals really shot up in Q2. I guess one is what's going on there? And then two, I know in the past, Fort McMurray was somewhat of a canary in the coal mine. I don't know if it is today anymore. But would that -- what would that imply in terms of rental activity for Calgary and Edmonton?

Well, we've been around a while. Jimmy, we've been around a while. Haven't we too? I remember our little canary in the coal mine. And just in the past, it absolutely was a canary in the coal mine and more specific the Tim Hortons in Fort McMurray and the traffic in the Tim Hortons and the lineup there.

And we certainly are seeing a pickup in migration there in rentals and occupancy and rental fundamentals. Absolutely. Fort McMurray is seeing a positive reaction to all the excitement on how much opportunity we have as Canadians to increase our energy production and energy security equals growth economic ESG. Let's keep that in mind. And so as Canadians, we're really, really happy to see the partnerships we're making to buy more Canadian energy from Alberta, and that's with our recent news with our premier in Ontario and Manitoba.

And all this is really good because buying energy and becoming energy-independent coast to coast is going to put Canada in a similar economic footing as to our neighbor who's never looked really back at an economic contraction since becoming energy-independent. And so it's really important for us to be become energy-independent coast to coast. You heard me say this, but it's super important.

As Canadians, we have to get this done. So yes, Fort McMurray, our energy, our announcements, very positive for Canada. And I want to reiterate that Canada is going to really benefit from this. Big news. Big news. It is big news for all Canadians, Jimmy. It really is. It's great.

[Operator Instructions] Your next question comes from Mario Saric with Scotiabank.

Just on the operational side, I may have missed it, but maybe, James, if you can touch on how the July kind of new and renewal spreads are looking so far?

Mario, we're seeing generally the same trends as we're seeing -- as you've seen for the months of kind of May and June, generally intact. As we have our outlook into August as well, we're generally seeing similar pricing trends there as well.

Okay. And then coming back to capital allocation, in terms of the partnership, what are -- like what are the targets? Like when you talk about core, core-plus assets, how should we think about that from a return perspective? Like is the 4.7% seed portfolio? I'm not sure if that's a trailing 12-month or an NTM in terms of the cap rate one, but this is -- or is that what we should think about in terms of core, core-plus type returns?

Mario, I mean from a property perspective or target acquisition perspective, as James spoke to earlier, whatever returns we are looking at need to be as good, if not better, than what we can currently do today under the NCIB. So that's our target going forward. And our partners are very aligned with sort of similar return criteria.

The characteristics though of future acquisitions would be very similar to the properties that we have seeded joint venture with. So newer construction with large units, well-amenitized in the key target markets of Western Canada. And today, that includes Edmonton, Calgary and Victoria.

Got it. So if we just step back and think about it, like the target properties effectively have slightly better or expected, slightly better NOI growth rates than your existing portfolio today in order to make up the gap between kind of going in cap rate and the 6% implied cap rate on your units today.

Sorry, Mario. We're not following that. Maybe I missed it. Could I get...

Yes. From a Boardwalk standpoint, like your implied cap rate today is, call it, 6% or 6% plus depending on your estimates. If the going-in yields on some of the acquisition opportunities are 100 basis points lower in that 5% range, just ballpark numbers, is it fair for us to assume that if we do see acquisitions being done, it would be for properties that have structural NOI growth profiles that are 100 basis points, 200 basis points, 300 basis points lower than the overall portfolio today?

Sorry, Mario. Yes, 100%. I mean if we're making that decision between acquisition versus stock buyback. And you know what, Central Parc is a great example of that. Central Parc acquired last year. The cap rate was lower than what our implied cap rate was, and it was a unique opportunity where it hit a geographic profile we were looking to have at large suite sizes that provided a product that we weren't offering in Quebec that allowed us to provide a diversified product in that region that had really attractive financing.

And so the FFO yield on our invested capital there was phenomenal. And so that's where an example of an acquisition that made sense when we compare it to our stock buyback. Again, I know our investments team is pounding the pavement looking for opportunities every single day, but it's hard to compete with the stock buyback today. To your point, though, Mario, you're right. If we are making an acquisition, it's because there is a good growth outlook or there's an attractive return on invested capital.

And, maybe just as a follow-up in one of the prior responses, kind of segregated cash flow from potential noncore dispositions going forward, there still are some and then free -- and retained free cash flow given the very low payout ratio that you have. Should we think of each of those as a separate bucket in terms of funding the NCIB versus future third-party acquisitions? Or should we think about it from a combined perspective?

I think we think about it from a combined perspective because we are thinking about where is a great place to reallocate that capital, right? So it really depends on where can we put that money to work. And right now, with the buyback, I mean, there's -- we're looking for -- we're looking to take advantage of that arbitrage that exists today between that private and public market. So as we said before, there's no other place where we can buy our quality of apartments for less than [ $200,000 ].

There are no further questions at this time. I will now turn the call over to Sam Kolias for closing remarks.

Thank you, Joelle. As always, if there are any further questions or comments, please do not hesitate to contact us. With gratitude, we would like to thank our entire team that puts the extra in ordinary day in and day out. Our team is truly extraordinary.

Thank you, loyal residents, CMHC, our lenders, partners and of course, our unitholders from foreign wide and local. And a special warm welcome to our new partner, Desjardins Global Asset Management Group. It really is all about our BFF, our Boardwalk Family Forever, whose huge shoulders we stand. And as leaders, we continue to do everything we can to support continued growth in extraordinary.

We really can't thank our extraordinary team and great leaders enough. We are pleased with our resilient results on a foundation of exceptional value, service and experience we continue to provide our resident family members, investors and all stakeholders. We conclude home is where our heart is, our heart is where our family is, and our family is where love always lives.

There are many choices today on where we choose to live. There is only one place to call home, home to love always. Our future is Boardwalk Family Forever. What can be more important when choosing where to call home? God bless us, and now more than ever, grant us all peace, our greatest prize of all.

Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes your conference call for today. We thank you for participating and ask that you please disconnect your lines.

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Boardwalk Real Estate Investment Trust First Quarter 2026 Earnings Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] This call is being recorded on Wednesday, May 6, 2026.

I would now like to turn the conference call over to Mr. Eric Bowers, VP Finance and Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

Thank you, Kelsey, and welcome to the Boardwalk REIT 2026 First Quarter Results Conference Call. With me here today are Sam Kolias, Chief Executive Officer; James Ha, President; Gregg Tinling, Chief Financial Officer; Samantha Kolias-Gunn, Senior VP of Corporate Development and Governance; and Samantha Adams, Senior VP of Investments. We would like to acknowledge on behalf of Boardwalk, the treaties and traditional territories across our operations and express gratitude and respect for the land we are gathered on today, and we now know as Canada. We respect indigenous peoples and communities as the original stewards of this land. We come with respect for this land that we are on today for all the people who have and continue to reside here and the rich diversity of First Nation, Inuit and Métis peoples.

Before we get to our results, please note that this call is being broadly distributed by way of webcast. If you have not already done so, please visit bwalk.com/investors, where you will find a link to today's presentation as well as PDF files of the Trust's financial statements, MD&A and quarterly report.

Starting on Slide 2, we would like to remind our listeners that certain statements in this call and presentation may be considered forward-looking statements. Although the expectations set forth in such statements are based on reasonable assumptions, Boardwalk's future operation and its actual performance may differ materially from those in any forward-looking statements. Additional information that could cause actual results to differ materially from these statements are detailed in Boardwalk's publicly filed documents.

I would like to now turn the call over to Sam Kolias.

Thank you, Eric. Starting on Slide 4, Welcome, everyone, to our Boardwalk Family Forever and to our Q1 2026 results. Redefining BFF Boardwalk Family Forever is at the top of our organizational chart. Family is everything. Affordable multifamily communities have always been an essential product and service. Together with our residents, our associates, investors, partners, capital environment community, we are all essential and interconnected family members with our true north, where love always lives. Together, we go far. Our leaders put our team first and our team puts our resident members first. Guided by the golden rule, we have a peak performing customer service culture that creates exceptional results as we can see on our next Slide 5.

Our continued solid performance with GAAP and non-GAAP measures increasing from the same quarter last year, same-property rental revenue increased 2.8% and same-property net operating income increased 6.8%. Our operating margin increased by 230 basis points to 65.8% as well as our funds from operations per unit increasing by 8.5%. Profit is down as a result of a non-cash reduction in our IFRS net asset value. Our net asset value per unit at $95.93, representing exceptional value in our current unit price that is trading well below this.

I would like to now pass it over to Samantha Kolias-Gunn.

Thank you so much, Sam. We are extremely grateful for our team, our Boardwalk families, perseverance, performance and continued commitment to our purpose, bring our resident family members home to love always.

Continuing on to Slide 6, our operational stability and commitment to affordable housing. Rental market fundamentals in our core markets are more competitive. Demand continues for more affordable housing despite supply deliveries focused on higher-end luxury products to justify high construction costs. We are grateful for our partnership with CMHC and our federal government that have implemented effective public policy to build more supply that has resulted in a balancing of the rental market across Canada, providing more affordability to all Canadians. We are well positioned to deliver on our commitment to provide much-needed affordable housing in a more competitive environment with our experienced peak performing team, exceptional product quality with over $1 billion invested since 2017 in rebrand and repositioning efforts and dedication to our Boardwalk family as responsible community providers.

Our self-regulation provides us with continued steady results as we remain flexible with our rental rates, producing greater stability in occupancy, margins, NOI and reputation, paired with our strong financial foundation, minimum distribution policy, resulting in maximum reinvestment and free cash flow growth, strategic repositioning, unparalleled customer service and on our foundation of strong family values, we remain in a position to deliver solid performance. This is what sets us apart, bringing new home to where love always lives. Boardwalk strives to be the first choice in multifamily apartment communities to work, invest and call home with our Boardwalk Family Forever.

Moving on to Slide 7. Our strategic rebranding enhances our resident member experience and exceptional quality at an affordable price, keeping our occupancy high at 97.1%. Per rentals.ca data, our average occupied rents of $1,601 for 2-bedroom apartment are attractive, especially relative to the Canadian average of $2,197.

Moving on to Slide 8. Alberta continues to see positive population growth with small relative amount of nonpermanent residents. Affordability continues to drive positive population and leading economic growth in our core markets, Alberta and Saskatchewan, reflected in our appendix. Quebec has delivered exceptional results, despite negative population growth, further evidencing the strong demand for affordable housing. Ontario remains stable. We are strategically in all the right places at the right time. Please refer to our appendix for more data on the resilience of the Alberta economy and the renewed Alberta advantage.

We would like to now pass the call on to Gregg Tinling, who will provide us with an overview of our quarter results, strong balance sheet, fair value and ESG. Gregg?

Thank you, Samantha. Beginning on Slide 9. Occupancy remains strong, as we enter the spring and early summer season, supported by continued growth in occupied rent. While vacancy loss increased, the trust effectively reduced leasing incentives, which contributed to the higher rental revenue reported in Q1 2026 compared to the same period last year. These results reflect the success of our strategic initiatives aimed at maximizing free cash flow and diversifying our product offering, delivering meaningful financial performance.

Slide 10 provides an overview of leasing spreads for new and renewed leases under our self-regulated resident-friendly centric model. This approach continues to drive strong retention and referrals while keeping turnover and operating expenses low. On a year-over-year basis, leasing spreads have moderated, reflecting a more balanced supply-demand environment. Increased supply in select portfolio markets, particularly at the higher price points, has led to greater competition and vacancy.

On a blended basis, leasing spreads have gradually improved since the start of the year, reflecting effective resident engagement and retention strategies in a more competitive market. Our strategic flexibility with new rental rates enabled us to preserve high occupancy while maintaining solid operating margins and net operating income. We remain focused on maintaining high occupancy and maximizing resident retention. This strategy reinforces our commitment to provide affordable resident-friendly housing in our core markets while also reducing costs and steadying operational performance, delivering long-term value for all stakeholders.

Slide 11 shows sequential quarterly rental revenue growth, including a 0.4% decline in Q1 2026 compared to Q4 2025. With increased competition and a return to seasonality in the winter months, Boardwalk focused on managing occupancy and positioning ourselves favorably for the spring, early summer season.

Turning to Slide 12. Same property net operating income increased by 6.8% in Q1 2026 compared to the same quarter last year, with revenue growth of 2.8%. Alberta, the Trust's largest region, contributed meaningfully to this performance with a 7.3% increase in net operating income with revenue growth of 2.3% Total rental expenses declined by 4.1% year-over-year, primarily due to lower utility costs with the removal of the federal carbon tax, alongside lower insurance premiums.

Slide 13 outlines Boardwalk's mortgage maturity schedule. The Trust's debt portfolio is well staggered with approximately 96% of the mortgage balance carrying NHA insurance through the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. This insurance remains in place for the full amortization period and backed by the government of Canada enables access to financing at rates below conventional mortgage levels with a current estimated 5-year and 10-year CMHC rate of 3.9% and 4.3%, respectively. Although, current interest rates are above the Trust's maturing rates over the next few years, the Trust's maturity curve remains staggered, reducing the renewal amount in any particular year.

Lastly, the Trust has an interest coverage of 3.04% in the current quarter. To date, in 2026, of the $823 million of 2026 mortgages maturing, we have renewed or forward locked $346 million at an average rate of 3.75% and an average term of approximately seven years. And combined with our cash on hand as well as our unused credit facilities, we are well positioned with strong liquidity available. Current underwriting criteria in our most recent submissions to CMHC and our lenders has remained in line with our historically conservative estimates. Please refer to Slide 48, which summarizes our 2026 mortgage program completed.

Slide 14 illustrates the Trust's estimated fair value of its investment properties, excluding adjustments for IFRS 16. As at March 31st, 2026, the fair value of investment properties totaled $8.6 billion compared to $8.7 billion as of December 31st, 2025. The decrease in overall fair value is the result of an increase in cap rates and a decrease in market rents in Calgary, reflecting elevated risk from incoming supply and competitive pressure on market rents at the higher market level.

As well as adjusting quality classifications in Ontario for certain assets based on comparable transactions, along with an upward adjustment for vacancy assumptions in select markets. These adjustments were partially offset by higher market rents, most notably in Grand Prairie, Fort McMurray, Regina and Saskatoon. Current estimated fair value of approximately $245,000 per apartment door remains below replacement cost.

As it does every quarter, the Trust will continue to review completed asset, sales, transactions, and market reports to determine if adjustments to cap rates are necessary, as well as consult with our external appraisers. Most recent published cap rate reports suggest that the cap rates being utilized by the Trust for calculating fair value are within their estimated ranges.

Slide 15 highlights our ESG initiatives. We would like to highlight our 2025 GRESB score of 72, which represents a 7.5% increase compared to the prior year. Using a disciplined capital allocation approach, we are focused on reducing emissions through reduced utilities consumption, and therefore, reducing utilities costs, while always promoting social and governance initiatives. As part of our 2025 annual reporting, the Trust will be publishing its ESG report in May 2026, which will be available on our website.

I would like to now turn the call over to Samantha Adams to highlight our capital allocation initiatives.

Thank you, Gregg. Following a transformational 2025, during which Boardwalk completed $829 million of transactions, we have entered 2026 focused on disciplined capital allocation, maximizing free cash flow and directing capital to the best risk-adjusted opportunities. We are continuing our value-add and repositioning initiatives, as well as asset sales of our non-core communities that will generate the liquidity for accretive capital recycling.

Slide 16 highlights how reinvesting our free cash flow back into our communities strengthens our value proposition for our resident family members. 16 projects are planned for 2026, prioritizing cost-effective, high-impact common area and amenity upgrades that enhance our resident experience while maintaining affordability and operating flexibility. These investments are designed to support long-term asset quality, standardize the experience across the portfolio, and improve cash flow over time through stronger retention, pricing power, and resilience across cycles.

On Slide 17, we are pleased to announce that Aspire, our beautiful development in Victoria, BC, is now over 44% leased, ahead of our projected time line, and the third and final building received occupancy at the end of March.

Slide 18 underscores the continued disconnect between our unit price and the underlying value of our portfolio. Our NCIB remains a key capital allocation tool, and we have remained active with our buyback strategy. Year-to-date, we have deployed $102 million under the NCIB at a weighted average price of $65.92. At implied cap rates of over 6% based on our recent trading price, investing in our units on our platform remains a highly accretive use of capital today.

Slides 19 and 20 summarize our recently announced asset sales. We have sold or announced the sale of $306 million of our non-core properties in Edmonton, Saskatoon, Regina, Quebec City and Montreal at a weighted average cap rate of 5.3% with an average vintage of 1975. These sales were completed at pricing in line with our fair value and have provided us with the capital to redeploy into the strongest risk-adjusted opportunities.

And as shown on Slide 20, our capital allocation during the quarter was focused on the NCIB. Looking ahead, we expect to execute our non-core disposition program at a pace above 2025 levels, supported by sustained private buyer demand for our older non-core assets at favorable valuations. This will enable us to actively reinvest in our own undervalued portfolio through the NCIB while retaining optionality to capitalize on external growth opportunities that may present in a changing cap rate environment.

I would now like to turn the call over to James Ha to discuss our track record of creating value and our updated 2026 guidance.

Thank you, Samantha, and thank you to our entire Boardwalk team for your service and commitment to our resident members, which has resulted in our strong operating performance we are sharing here today. Our focus on delivering the best quality and affordable communities is why our residents make Boardwalk their first choice as the place to call home and reward our team with continued high occupancy and high retention rates.

Slide 21 provides an update to our 2026 outlook as we build off our base of disciplined capital recycling and strong operating platform. With the housing market that is more balanced, we continue to see strong demand for affordably priced homes, while more expensive housing options remain competitive. We are pleased to see positive blended lease spreads so far this spring leasing season and anticipate our leasing trends to remain positive for the spring and summer leasing season. Since our last report, estimated tax rates have been provided by most of our municipalities.

In Alberta, our provincial government has recently announced a significant provincial education tax increase to better support the near-term needs of our outsized population growth. In most of our Western Canadian provinces, we are now anticipating double-digit property tax increases. These increases are higher than we had originally anticipated and are now expecting a same-property portfolio property tax increase of between 8% and 9%. We remain active in appealing our 2026 assessments.

Despite this significant property tax increase, we are only slightly revising our 2026 estimates and now anticipate same-property NOI growth of between 1% to 3.5% and FFO per unit of between $4.60 and $4.80. Please note that this forward-looking guidance includes the redeployment of capital from our $306 million of announced sales, and we will be regularly updating and refining our outlook in the quarters to come.

Slide 22, we are pleased to confirm our regular monthly distribution equating to $1.80 per trust unit on an annualized basis. Since 2021, our distribution has increased at a compounded annual growth rate of over 10%, while still retaining an industry high proportion of our cash flow to reinvest and compound growth. Our formula has extended our FFO per unit track record, and we have more than doubled our FFO per unit in just eight years.

On Slide 23, this FFO growth, along with our approach to maximum cash flow retention, has improved our leverage metrics to provide Boardwalk with one of the strongest and most flexible balance sheets. By retaining and recycling our own cash flow, we are able to compound growth while also consistently improve our leverage metrics, which provides the Trust with significant flexibility and liquidity to take advantage of opportunities that arise. One of these opportunities is shown on Slides 24 and 25, which highlight the exceptional value that our trust units represent.

Current trading price equates to less than $200,000 per apartment door and a mid-6% cap rate. Both metrics are exceptional when considering our product quality, locations, spread to financing costs and consistent cash flow growth as shared in our outlook. Recent private market transactions and our own sales continue to be supportive of our estimated net asset value of $247,000 per door or $96 per trust unit. Our team continues to be active in capital recycling, sourcing increased cash flow and crystallizing value in non-core asset sales. As a result, we have strategically increased our available cash to opportunistically invest and enhance cash flow and value for our stakeholders.

With the significant value our trust units represents, we anticipate continuing to prioritize investing in our own assets through our normal course issuer bid with approximately $100 million already invested so far. Our recent asset sales has added capital to be recycled, and we are now anticipating to invest over $200 million in our NCIB and our own high-value platform in 2026.

In closing, our team continues to be focused on delivering the best quality and value in housing to our residents. Our unique operating platform and experienced team continues to demonstrate our ability to create value for all our stakeholders, and we would like to thank again our resident members, our team, our partners and all our stakeholders for making us your first choice in housing.

We would now like to open up the line for questions. Kelsey?

[Operator Instructions] Your first question comes from Brad Sturges from Raymond James.

I guess on the guidance revision, it sounds like it was predominantly on the property tax side. Would there be much of a change on the same-store revenue growth assumptions?

Hi, Brad. It's Gregg. On the revenue side, we're projecting the range of 1.5% to about 2.5%, and that would be with Q1 being at the lower end of the range there.

Okay. And with the leasing spreads, the comment about staying positive through the spring and summer, I guess, how would we think about that from a new leasing spread perspective? -- you've seen, I guess, a recovery on some of those spreads, but they're still negative. So do you see that staying in negative territory? Or could we get back to more, call it flat or positive, at some point later in the year?

Hey, Brad, it's James. It really depends on which product type. What we're seeing is in our more affordable products, continued positive spreads. Where we are seeing competition, as we've discussed, is at the upper end of the rental market, and this is why retention is so important. Retaining our residents, keeping occupancies high, giving us the best chance to continue to obtain those positive spreads. And so it's really going to depend on which type of unit turnover. I think as we've seen some really positive momentum hitting into the spring, and as we're working through May, we're continuing to see really strong volumes and demand. Just looking at our dashboards here this morning, we're six days into the month, and we've covered about 25% of our turnover already. And so spring leasing season continues to be quite active, and our team is doing a great job of keeping our occupancies high.

And compared to last year, how does the demand picture look this year? Is it similar to what you would have saw last year? Or would there be much of a variation?

Yes, similar in terms of traffic. Again, have to give our team a ton of credit on the retention front in our strategy and approach through the winter months where, again, we really prioritized occupancy, prioritize that retention, which put us into this position where we can be a little more aggressive with our rentals through the spring/summer leasing season.

And your next question comes from Jonathan Kelcher from TD Cowen.

Jonathan?

Sorry about that. Just sticking with the spring leasing, how is it shaping up versus your expectations?

You know, as Gregg pointed out, in the first quarter, we were tracking towards the bottom end of our expectations. Now that we're into the spring/summer leasing season, we did anticipate a return to positive blended spreads, which you see here on Slide 10. So far, traffic is within our expectations. Again, we are prioritizing retention where we are seeing the strongest spreads, where we are able to reduce our operating costs as well. And so far, as Gregg had mentioned, it is tracking within our expectations.

And what about by market? Are there any markets that are particularly stronger or softer?

You know, it's really price specific. Edmonton, our most affordable market, continues to be quite strong. Saskatchewan as well, one of our more affordable markets, continues to be quite strong. Fort McMurray and Grande Prairie, again, we have great teams out there. We continue to see strength in demand for our product. Ontario, we're continuing to see competition at our 45 railroad site, again, or community, pardon me, where we are priced at that upper end. Our team continues to be very flexible with our residents to maintain our high occupancy.

In British Columbia, as Samantha talked about in our prepared remarks, Aspire, we're seeing really strong demand in terms of our lease-up there, where, you know, -- we were 44% on the slide, but again, just checking our dashboard this morning, we're actually closer to 50%. And so we continue to see really good, strong demand for our product where there's really high value. And so I hope that answers your question, Jonathan. It's really a matter of what's your price point and what value are you offering at the end of the day, that's where we are seeing really strong resilience in the housing market.

Okay. That's, that is helpful. And then just on the property tax, that starts to hit you guys in Q3, correct?

That's right. That'll be a second half event. We expect our property tax number in the second quarter to be very similar to what we had in the first quarter. And then coming second half, that's where we will see property taxes increase. So the full extent of that 8% to 9% year-over-year property tax increase will be entirely in the second half of 2026.

Okay. So it should be a decent Q2, same-property NOI, and then four quarters of more challenging, correct?

Yeah. You know, we're going to work really hard. Gregg talked about the revenue growth side being towards the lower end of our expectations. Well, our team is really focused in on making the same-store operating expense side, again, on the lower end of our expectations as well in terms of that growth rate. And so when you put that all together, that's why we were able to, despite an 8% to 9% property tax increase, really only modestly adjust our full year guidance range.

And your next question comes from Sairam from ATB Cormark Capital Markets.

Just probably looking at operating expenses. Obviously, it's been a key driver of your growth so far in terms of reduction on these expenses. But looking ahead, especially in the second half, how do you see like utilities and other costs kind of drop off versus property taxes?

Hi, Sairam, it's Gregg. So we're projecting for the year, like total rental expenses will be in the range of 2% to flat. On the utility front, we're trying to keep water conservation initiatives that we're looking at. Yes, property taxes are gonna increase. Again, that 2% to flat that does account for the property tax increase, and we also have appeals that are in progress, so we're hoping for some favorable outcomes there.

And then yes, on the operating expense side, we're investing in our operating platform. We're increasing our in-house trades to have less reliance on third-party contractors. And of course, we're just doing what we do best, and that's control costs and focus on our resident family members and provide them with the best value to increase satisfaction and retention, and then of course, keep occupancy high and reduce turnover costs.

And your next question comes from Mario Saric from Scotiabank.

Just wanted to come back to the same-store revenue discussion. It looks like based on what Gregg highlighted, the expectations for '26 are down about 125 basis points, relative to the Q4 call. Is that primarily on expected blended lease spreads coming down a little bit relative to the 3% to 4% you had to count before? Or is some of it also related to perhaps occupancy being a bit lower than you expected?

Hey, Mario, it's James. Primarily, the blended lease spread as we referred to. Occupancy, as you know, is something that we won't compromise on to Gregg's point, that is key to us reducing our operating expenses and keeping turnover costs low. And so occupancy will remain high. Again, our team is doing a great job of maintaining that low availability. But to do so, I think, we're seeing those blended lease spreads. Although we are seeing them increase, we're looking for kind of the 1% to 2% blended lease spreads over the next several months.

Got it. Okay. And then just in terms of like your incentives remain very low, and they're actually down year-over-year. Is the expectation for the breadth of the incentive offering to really just reside within new construct? Or are you having to start increase incentives on renewals in older product in any of the markets?

Not really on the more affordable product, Mario. Again, we're focused on net rents. And so our approach really is to be very dynamic on our market and our ask rents, being flexible to our residents as well. We did trial some call it 1-month incentives in some of our newer communities or more higher-priced communities. And what we found was that residents that were shopping were actually looking for the lower net price, as opposed to providing that one month free. So, our team -- our team's approach in terms of just adjusting market rent or adjusting net rents will likely be the strategy we take through this leasing season.

I think for incentives, I would expect that number to stay flat or perhaps even come down further to this, frankly, a fairly negligible figure. And we'll focus in on what our net occupied rents going forward.

Got it. Okay. My last question, just pertaining to the Alberta immigration referendum slated for October. Are you getting any sense that that's having any impact whatsoever in terms of migration into the province at this stage? And how do you see that playing out over time?

You know, we're really not, Mario. I mean what we're seeing is, frankly, across the country, immigration levels lower from our federal level plan. That's pretty well impacting all markets as we know. But here in Alberta, again, we talked about reviewing our dashboards and traffic. Traffic continues to be quite strong. We're getting a lot of inquiries. The difference is residents have a lot more choice because there is more supply and more availability in the broader market.

In Alberta, when we look at where our phone calls are coming from and where inquiries are coming from, we continue to see several and lots of calls from BC area codes, from Ontario area codes, from Manitoba area codes. And so the Alberta advantage is still there. Our property taxes are going to be higher, yes, but that's a function of this population growth that we've had. And so we're working closely and sharing information and data with our government leaders so we can make the best decisions going forward here.

Fortunately, we do have some potentially higher resource revenue here going forward. And so we'll -- we are optimistic that we will not be seeing this type of volatility in our -- in our taxes over the coming couple of years. But sadly, with the increase that we have so far this year, we've had to make some other adjustments, which is allowing us to frankly still deliver strong NOI growth by making adjustments elsewhere.

And your next question comes from Jimmy Shan from RBC Capital Markets.

So first, just on the guidance, are you assuming the $200 million unit buyback?

Yes, that is included in our guidance here, yes, that we will deploy the additional roughly $100 million this year.

Okay. And then maybe just a big picture question. Oil prices are elevated still and a lot of discussions on more energy investments, pipeline, data center, et cetera. So the Alberta macro picture looks good, at least from my perspective. Do you expect to feel the impact of these sort of macro factors on rental demand in the near term? How do we think about that?

Jimmy, it's Sam. We are absolutely feeling the positive of the macro necessity, where we have to build a pipeline to have a Canadian independent energy nation. We have to build data centers, and the most affordable energy produces the most affordable data centers and to be quite honest, the most affordable manufacturing. So energy is everything, and we're seeing geopolitically how important it is to have energy independence. And it's essential. And so absolutely, with what's going on, we have to step up and build these pipelines and become energy independent as a nation.

Right. Do you feel like that's probably a few years away, though, before we see that translate into your business?

It's happening now with pipelines getting approved, gas distribution infrastructure getting approved. So we're seeing the permits come through, and we need to just partner up as a government and as a nation, we need to become partners with this critical infrastructure, just like we are with roads and housing. CMHC is a great example of how we partner together to build more housing and look -- and it is proven our rents are coming down and our housing is more affordable because of our partnership with our government.

And guess what, CMHC is one of the most profitable government organizations in the nation. So it works. We've got -- and our Trans Mountain pipeline is a really good example of that, too. That's helping increase revenues, and our treasury is benefiting as a result of that investment that we Canadians and the people have made. And so we just have to -- and we're very pleased with the current federal administration that recognizes the importance of investing in critical infrastructure that we've needed 10, 20 years ago, to be quite honest. But I'm getting off track, and I'm going to just end it right there.

And your next question comes from Matt Kornack from National Bank Financial.

Just a quick modeling one to start off. In terms of Aspire, can you give us a sense as to the number of units that are still on lease and kind of the cadence of those units being leased over this year?

Hey, Matt, it's James. Aspire, we've got about 120 left to lease. We would've assumed roughly a 12-month lease-up. We're a little ahead of that schedule. Our team is going to push to see if we can get that in the kind of 10 to 12-month window. But we don't actually want it to be too far ahead because we ideally like our residents, when we are moving into a new community to have the best experience, as well as staggering lease maturities. And so we would anticipate the 10 to 12 months fully.

Okay. That makes sense. And then just from a capital allocation standpoint, you're a little bit more active on the disposition front than I think we expected. But seems like the best use of -- to Jimmy's point, the best use of that capital is buying Boardwalk's existing portfolio at a 6.3% cap rate. But what are you seeing outside of Boardwalk's portfolio in terms of acquisition opportunities as well?

Hey, Matt, it's Samantha Adams speaking. We remain fully engaged with the brokerage community, and it's interesting as we see cap rate shift depending on which market you're referring to across the country. And we're always looking for the best or most exceptional opportunities that will help us improve our free cash flow, provide operational efficiencies and enhance our FFO. So we're always looking. But today, where our current stock price is, we remain very focused on our unit buybacks.

That makes sense. And then just lastly, on the property tax side. I know this isn't the U.S. where you have these huge swings in terms of getting reimbursements. But what has been your past kind of track record in terms of engaging with the city and reducing the burden?

Hey, Matt, it's James. Historically pretty good. We're all about -- we're happy to pay our fair share. But at the end of the day, we're just -- we're working with our municipalities in terms of making sure that our assessments are representative on a -- on a equity basis, so on a comparable basis. Stay tuned. We'll let everybody know, but we are active in those assessment appeals as we speak, in both Alberta and Saskatchewan.

And your last question comes from Kyle Stanley from Desjardins.

Just on the new supply side of things, as you speak with developers in Calgary and Edmonton, how are they thinking about the current supply-demand environment today? And is there a view that the level of competition maybe doesn't require more supply? Just trying to think about how we look at the, I guess, the supply picture over the next 12, 18 months.

Hey, Kyle, it's James. Maybe I can start. Certainly, in our conversations with supplier, with developers, one great way we can see this is the number of phone calls that we get on this, where we're being asked to partner or to equitize. That's really increased. And so part of that is at the end of the day, the math just is a lot tougher to make work when you have higher property taxes, when you have higher availability and a higher competition and lower net rents, especially at that upper end.

And so I think when you have developers who are doing this, they're figuring out pretty quickly that especially if you're projecting out a couple of years, which is what -- how long it takes to bring these buildings from ground up, that all of a sudden, that math might not work anymore. And so as a result, you are seeing -- and we are expecting under construction figures to continue to decrease and decline. You are seeing the start of that in Calgary and Edmonton, and we would anticipate that to continue in the absence of significant national population growth levels.

Okay. That tracks well. Just one more for me. Obviously, historically, you've been quite good at self-moderating your rent growth, particularly on renewals. But now as you're getting these higher taxes pushed through, do you potentially have the ability to pass a little bit more of that on via a little bit higher of a renewal rent increase? Or would that have more of a material, I guess, negative impact on turnover at this point, which is obviously, as you said, not what you're looking to do?

Kyle, it's Sam. And over the last 20, 30, 40 years, rents track consumer price index. And so it's all going to get washed out in inflationary adjustments that we've seen over the many, many decades. And so it all rebalances eventually. But right now, we're really, really what we call yoga flexible with our renewals and want to drive high satisfaction and a high renewal and retention and a super high referral as well. And that, as we've seen, creates the best margin and bottom line as well. What's good for our resident family members is also good for our bottom line, too. It goes hand in hand, and we have to be patient, and over time, everything works out and balances out.

And we continue and will continue to take a very resident family member-centric approach to making adjustments and treat everybody as individuals, and everybody has a different situation, and be sensitive to everybody's situation. Because what we're providing is essential product housing. It's very personal, it's essential, and we recognize that. And Trust is everything, and that's why we have to continue to be so resident family member focused.

There are no more further questions at this time. I will turn it back over to Mr. Sam Kolias for closing remarks.

Thank you, Kelsey. As always, if there are any further questions or comments, please do not hesitate to contact us. With gratitude, we'd like to thank our entire team that puts the extra in ordinary. Day in, day out, our team is truly extraordinary. Thank you, loyal residents. CMHC, our lenders, partners and, of course, our unitholders from far and wide and local. Really is all about our BFF, our Boardwalk Family Forever, whose huge shoulders we stand. And as leaders, we continue to do everything we can to support continued growth in extraordinary.

We really can't thank our extraordinary team and great leaders enough. We are pleased with our solid results on a foundation of exceptional value service and experience we continue to provide our resident family members, our investors and all our stakeholders.

We conclude home is where our heart is, our heart is where our family is, and our family where love always lives. Our occupied average rent $1,601 our love always priceless. Welcome home to love always. Our future is Boardwalk Family Forever, what can be more important when choosing where to call home? God bless us, and now more than ever, grant us all peace, our greatest prize of all.

Ladies and gentlemen, this does conclude your conference call for today. We thank you very much for your participation, and you may now disconnect. Have a great day, everyone.

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Boardwalk Real Estate Investment Trust Fourth Quarter 2025 Earnings Call. [Operator Instructions] This call is being recorded today, Friday, February 20, 2026. I would now like to turn the conference over to our first speaker today, Eric Bowers, Vice President of Finance and Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

Thank you, John, and welcome to the Boardwalk REIT 2025 Fourth Quarter Results Conference Call. With me here today are Sam Kolias, Chief Executive Officer; James Ha, President; Gregg Tinling, our Chief Financial Officer; Samantha Kolias-Gunn, Senior VP of Corporate Development and Governance; and Samantha Adams, our Senior VP of Investments. We would like to acknowledge on behalf of Boardwalk, the treaties and traditional territories across our operations and express gratitude and respect for the land we are gathered on today, and we now know as Canada. We respect indigenous peoples and communities as the original stewards of this land. We come with respect for this land that we are on today for all the people who have and continue to reside here and the rich diversity of First Nations, Inuit, and Métis peoples.

Before we get to our results, please note that this call is being broadly distributed by way of webcast. If you have not already done so, please visit us at bwalk.com/investors, where you will find a link to today's presentation as well as PDF files of the Trust's financial statements, MD&A and annual report.

Starting on Slide 2, we would like to remind our listeners that certain statements in this call and presentation may be considered forward-looking statements. Although the expectations set forth in such statements are based on reasonable assumptions, Boardwalk's future operation and its actual performance may differ materially from those in any forward-looking statements. Additional information that could cause actual results to differ materially from these statements are detailed in Boardwalk's publicly filed documents.

I would like to now turn the call over to Sam Kolias.

Thank you, Eric. Starting on Slide 4, welcome, everyone, to our Boardwalk Family Forever and to our year-end 2025 results. Redefining BFF, Boardwalk Family Forever is at the top of our organizational chart. Family is everything. Affordable multifamily communities have always been an essential product and service. Together with our residents, our associates, investors, partners, capital environment, community, we are all essential and interconnected family members with our true north where love always lives. Together, we go far. Our leaders put our team first and our team puts our resident members first. Guided by the golden rule, we have a peak performing customer service culture that creates exceptional results as we continue to see on our next Slide 5.

Our continued impressive performance with GAAP and non-GAAP measures increasing from the same quarter last year, same-property rental revenue increased 5.8% and same-property net operating income increased 9%. Our operating margin increased by 190 basis points to 66.4% as well as our funds from operation per unit increasing by 11.2%.

I would like to now pass it over to Samantha Kolias-Gunn.

Thank you so much, Sam. We are extremely grateful for our team, our Boardwalk families perseverance, performance and continued commitment to our purpose, bringing our resident family members home to love always.

Continuing on to Slide 6, our operational stability and commitment to affordable housing. Rental market fundamentals in our core markets are balanced. Demand continues for more affordable housing despite supply deliveries focused on higher-end luxury products to justify high construction costs. We are so grateful for our partnership with CMHC and our federal government that have implemented effective public policy to build more supply that has resulted in a balancing of the rental markets across Canada, providing more affordability to all Canadians. We are well positioned to deliver on our commitment to provide much-needed affordable housing in a more competitive environment with our experienced peak performing team, exceptional product quality from the $1 billion invested since 2017 in rebrand and repositioning efforts and dedication to our Boardwalk family as responsible community providers.

Our self-regulation provides us with continued steady results as we remain flexible with our rental rates, producing greater stability in occupancy, margins, NOI and reputation paired with our strong financial foundation, minimum distribution policy, resulting in maximum reinvestment and free cash flow, strategic repositioning, unparalleled customer service and on our foundation of strong family values, we remain in a position to deliver solid performance. This is what sets us apart, bringing new home to where love always lives. Boardwalk strives to be the first choice in multifamily apartment communities to work, invest and call home with our Boardwalk Family Forever.

Moving on to Slide 7. Our strategic rebranding enhances our resident member experience and exceptional quality at an affordable price, keeping our occupancy high at 97.6%. Per rentals.ca data, our average occupied rents of $15.90 per 2-bedroom apartment are attractive, especially relative to the Canadian average of $22.45.

Moving on to Slide 8. Alberta continues to see positive population growth with small relative amounts of nonpermanent residents. Affordability continues to drive positive population and leading economic growth in our core markets, Alberta and Saskatchewan, reflected in our appendix. Quebec has delivered exceptional results, further evidencing the strong demand for affordable housing. Ontario remains stable. We are strategically in all the right places at the right time. Please refer to our appendix for more data on the resilience of the Alberta economy and renewed Alberta advantage.

We would like to now pass the call on to Gregg Tinling, who will provide us with an overview of our quarter results, strong balance sheet, fair value and ESG. Gregg?

Thank you, Samantha. Beginning on Slide 9, occupancy remains strong, supported by continued growth in occupied rent. While vacancy loss increased, the trust effectively reduced leasing incentives, which contributed to the higher rental revenue reported in Q4 2025 compared to the same period last year. These results reflect the success of our strategic initiatives aimed at maximizing free cash flow and diversifying our product offering, delivering meaningful financial performance.

Of note, the decrease in rental revenue shown for Q3 2025 as compared to the second quarter is due to properties that were sold -- that were previously included in the same property portfolio as reported in Q2 2025. Slide 10 provides an overview of leasing spreads for new and renewed leases under our self-regulated resident-friendly centric model. This approach continues to drive strong retention and referrals while keeping turnover and operating expenses low. On a year-over-year basis, leasing spreads have moderated, reflecting a more balanced supply-demand environment. Increased supply in select portfolio markets, particularly at the higher price points has led to greater competition and vacancy.

Q4 2025 reflected a return to typical seasonality, coupled with reduced migration activity, this led to softer traffic, prompting us to concentrate on our priority of sustaining strong occupancy levels. Our strategic flexibility with new rental rates enabled us to preserve elevated occupancy while maintaining solid operating margins and net operating income. We remain focused on maintaining high occupancy and maximizing resident retention. This strategy reinforces our commitment to providing affordable resident-friendly housing in our core markets while also reducing costs and steadying operational performance, delivering long-term value for all stakeholders.

Slide 11 shows sequential quarterly rental revenue growth, including 0% growth in Q4 2025 compared to the previous quarter. The change over each quarter is a reflection of Boardwalk's strategy, striving toward balancing the optimum level of market rents, rental incentives and occupancy rates in order to achieve its NOI optimization strategy.

Turning to Slide 12. Same property net operating income increased by 7.3% in Q4 2025 compared to the same quarter last year. Supported by revenue growth of 4.5%, Alberta, the Trust's largest region, contributed meaningfully to this performance with a 4.4% increase in rental revenue, driven by stronger in-place occupied rents and reduced leasing incentives. Total rental expenses declined by 0.6% year-over-year, primarily due to lower utility costs with the removal of the federal carbon tax, alongside reductions in property taxes and insurance premiums.

Slide 13 highlights administration costs and deferred unit-based compensation. Overall, total administration costs for the year increased 2.4% compared to 2024, mainly due to inflationary wage adjustments at the onset of the year. Deferred unit-based compensation decreased 11.7% year-over-year due to an $850,000 onetime true-up adjustment in the prior year to recognize unvested deferred units that would automatically vest if the participants who are eligible were to depart from Boardwalk.

Slide 14 outlines Boardwalk's mortgage maturity schedule. The Trust's debt portfolio is well staggered with approximately 96% of the mortgage balance carrying NHA insurance through the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. This insurance remains in place for the full amortization period and backed by the Government of Canada, enables access to financing at rates below conventional mortgage levels with a current estimated 5-year and 10-year CMHC rate of 3.45% and 4%, respectively. Although current interest rates are above the Trust's maturing rates over the next few years, the trust maturity curve remains staggered, reducing the renewal amount in any particular year. Lastly, the Trust has an interest coverage of 3.08 in the current quarter.

In 2025, the Trust renewed $403 million at an average interest rate of 3.72% and with an average term of 6 years. In addition, the Trust made mortgage principal repayments totaling $79 million during the year. To date, of the $832 million of 2026 mortgages maturing, we have renewed or forward locked $228 million at an average rate of 3.72% and an average term of approximately 8 years. Combined with our cash on hand as well as our unused credit facilities, we are well positioned with strong liquidity available. Current underwriting criteria in our most recent submissions to CMHC and our lenders has remained in line with our historically conservative estimates.

Please refer to Slide 49, which summarizes our 2025 mortgage program completed and Slide 50 for additional details on our 2026 mortgage program. Slide 15 illustrates the Trust's estimated fair value of its investment properties, excluding adjustments for IFRS 16. As of December 31, 2025, the fair value of investment properties totaled $8.7 billion compared to $8.2 billion as of December 31, 2024. The increase in overall fair value is the result of new acquisitions during the year and increases from rental rate growth while being slightly offset by dispositions of noncore assets and increase in cap rates in select markets, along with an upward adjustment for vacancy assumptions in Calgary to reflect a more balanced market. Current estimated fair value of approximately $247,000 per apartment door remains below replacement cost.

In consultation with our external appraisers, the cap rates used in determining Q4 2025 fair value increased from Q4 2024 and Q3 2025, as cap rates were increased in Ontario, Victoria as well as the Trust's secondary markets in Alberta. The increase in cap rates were in response to either increased pressure on market rents or to reflect slightly higher risk fundamentals. As it does every quarter, the Trust will continue to review completed asset sales, transactions and market reports to determine if adjustments to cap rates are necessary. Most recent published cap rate reports suggest that the cap rates being utilized by the Trust for calculating fair value are within their estimated ranges.

Slide 16 highlights our ESG initiatives. We'd like to highlight our 2025 GRESB score of 72, which represents a 7.5% increase compared to the prior year. Using a disciplined capital allocation approach, we are focused on reducing emissions through reduced utilities consumption and therefore, reducing utilities costs while always promoting social and governance initiatives. We encourage our stakeholders to view our 2024 ESG report available on the Trust's website.

I would like to now turn the call over to Samantha Adams to highlight our capital allocation initiatives.

Thank you, Gregg. 2025 was a year of tactical, disciplined capital recycling and allocation. As we move into 2026, we are maintaining this approach and continue to focus on our value-add repositioning initiatives, targeted dispositions of our noncore communities and unit repurchase program under the NCIB.

Slide 17 illustrates how the reinvestment of our free cash flow back into our communities significantly increases the value proposition for our resident family members by upgrading common areas and adding meaningful amenities to enhance our overall experience. These renovations in turn help us strengthen market share in a more balanced market, boost retention and improve occupancy, ultimately enhancing our NOI and operating margins. In 2025, we completed the repositioning of 20 communities and since 2017, have undertaken renovations across the majority of our portfolio. Our strategy is to continue with our renovation program and have 16 projects planned for 2026.

Slide 18 demonstrates the ongoing disconnect between our unit price and the value of our portfolio. Our NCIB continues to be a key capital allocation tool, helping to drive our compounded FFO per unit growth by over 12% per year since 2021. Over the past year, we invested $57.3 million into our unit repurchase program at an average price of $63.81. We have remained active with our buyback strategy. And to date in 2026, we have tactically deployed $18 million under the NCIB at a weighted average price of $67.63. This investment in our units and our platform remains the most accretive use of our capital today at implied yields exceeding 6%.

Slides 19 and 20 present a summary of the acquisitions and dispositions successfully completed or recently announced. In 2025, we acquired $551 million in new properties located in Montreal, Calgary, Regina and Saskatoon at an average cap rate of 5%, representing our lifestyle and community brands. We also completed the sale of $241 million of noncore properties in Quebec City and Edmonton. And subsequent to year-end, we have completed or announced the sale of an additional $84 million of noncore properties. Two are located in Montreal and 3 are located in Edmonton.

Our dispositions were sold at an average cap rate of approximately 5% and represent an average vintage of 1982. These successful dispositions completed at pricing in line with our fair value have enabled us to strategically redeploy capital towards the strongest risk-adjusted opportunities as summarized on Slide 21. And today, we anticipate remaining active under the NCIB and continuing the disposition program of our noncore properties at levels comparable to or exceeding 2025.

I would now like to turn the call over to James Ha to discuss our track record of creating value and our updated 2026 guidance.

Thank you, Samantha, and thank you to our entire Boardwalk team for your service and commitment to our resident members, which has resulted in the strong 2025 results our team is sharing today. Our focus on investing in and delivering the best quality and affordable communities is why our residents make Boardwalk their first choice as the place to call home and reward our team with continued high occupancy and high retention rates.

Slide 22 introduces our 2026 outlook as we build off our base of accretion-focused capital allocation and strong operating platform that provides resident-friendly affordability, product value and value in our communities. With the housing market that is more balanced, we continue to see that the demand for affordable housing remains resilient, and our outlook for the upcoming year is positive. 2026, we are anticipating same-property NOI growth of between 1.5% and 4.5% and FFO per unit of between $4.65 and $4.90. Please note that this forward-looking guidance does not include any potential asset dispositions, and we will be regularly updating and refining our outlook in the quarters to come.

On Slide 23, we are pleased to announce an 11% increase to our regular monthly distribution equating to $1.80 per trust unit on an annualized basis beginning in March. Since 2021, our distribution has increased at a compounded annual growth rate of over 10%, while still retaining an industry high proportion of our cash flow to reinvest and compound growth. Our formula has extended our FFO per unit track record. And in 2025, we have more than doubled our FFO per unit in just 8 years.

On Slide 24, this FFO growth, along with our approach to maximum cash flow retention has improved our leverage metrics to provide Boardwalk with one of the strongest and most flexible balance sheets. By retaining and recycling our own cash flow, we are able to grow while also consistently improve our leverage metrics, which provides the Trust with significant flexibility and liquidity to take advantage of opportunities that arise. One of these opportunities is shown on Slides 25 and 26, which highlights the exceptional value that our trust units represent. Our current trading price equates to less than $200,000 per apartment door at a mid-6% cap rate on a forward basis. Both metrics are exceptional when considering our product quality, locations, spread to financing costs and consistent cash flow growth as shared in our outlook.

Recent private market transactions continue to be supportive of our estimated net asset value of $247,000 per door or $96 per trust unit. With the value our trust units represent, we are currently prioritizing investing in our own assets and platform through our normal course issuer bid with a planned minimum investment of $100 million to take advantage of this very attractive pricing and valuation in our own high-value platform.

In closing, our team continues to be focused on delivering the best quality and value in housing to our resident members. Our unique operating platform and experienced team continues to demonstrate our ability to create value for all our stakeholders as we consistently deliver leading organic and FFO per unit growth that is increasing our free cash flow and operating margins. We would like to thank our resident members, our team, our partners and all our stakeholders for an exceptional 2025. We are looking forward to continuing our track record of growth into 2026, providing communities that our resident members are proud to call home. We'd now like to open up the line for questions.

[Operator Instructions] Our first question comes from the line of Dean Wilkinson from CIBC.

Maybe just high level, the news last night, probably not a surprise to anybody. But can we just sort of get your thoughts on what you think a referendum could mean just for population growth, demand, things like that? I know the outcomes could be varied and very hard to peg, but just how are you thinking about that?

Thank you, Dean. It's Sam. And it's hard to see very many lineups and crowds just anecdotally on referendum. And I'm not too sure which referendum because there was a number of referendum questions yesterday, and then there's also the referendum on separation. And the good news over the summer, there was a lot of crowds on the petition for Canada and to keep Canada together. And personally, I saw a lot of people, and we saw the most sign-ups on keeping Alberta in Canada, more signatures than we've ever received. So that's what we're looking at, and we're not really aware and the friends that we have are for Alberta in Canada. I don't really know very many personally. It's best that we stay together. That's a good public policy.

And the referendum that we just got yesterday with immigration, on that immigration or referendum question, we agree with the best case examples on public policy that are premier noted during our Harper administration. And the positive migration, the economic growth that came with it and the very sustainable immigration policy that we did have during the Harper administration where a lot of folks that we need to build more schools help us with our hospital, health care teachers, all the trades that we continue to need. That has been proven public policy that our premier is pointing out that is for everybody's benefit and what our premier is championing for that, by the way, we are champions of sustainable population growth that we need. And so that's our thoughts on the 2 referendum questions.

Yes. I guess it's an issue that you wouldn't have to talk about it if everyone didn't want to be there. So it's a positive, I suppose. Maybe on a little more of an esoteric note. Sam, you've kind of embraced technology in the past. You've made technology platform investments. AI has been -- is kind of rolling through the market as this disruptive force over the past couple of weeks. How are you guys thinking about what AI could do for the business and perhaps how that could help managing multifamily as we go forward? Because I would imagine it's not a disruptor, but perhaps more of an enabler.

Correct. It's Sam again, Dean. And we use our tools and technology to increase our productivity, to decrease our costs, to increase our resident member experience. And we've seen some positive time-reducing benefits from the tools that we've developed. We've also seen and we've all experienced the challenges with AI and anybody on this call that's tried to deal with a chatbot alone shares our collective frustrations with just AI. So it's absolutely clear that the choice is essential and human intelligence is still superior to artificial intelligence. And together, we have to use artificial intelligence as a tool and recognize that and always provide the choice for our resident members to channels that quickly allow access to either one of our amazing personal service associates, managers versus a chat box that for some tasks are acceptable and simple.

So I guess it's more us as a tool, our productivity. The information, the reports that we see, the dashboards, very, very helpful to see the data that we continue to use and harvest to make the best decisions for our productivity and our resident member experience.

Great. You and I are both big fans of human intelligence.

Your next question comes from the line of Fred Blondeau from Green Street.

I'll keep the subject of referendums for the [indiscernible]. A question for James here. Just looking at your SPNOI guidance. I was wondering if you could give us a sense of the main assumptions on each end of the spectrum because it looks a bit wide on our end.

Sure, Fred. It's James. Let me start and the team feel that we're missing anything. But when we look at same-property NOI, the approximate breakdowns are revenue between about 2.5% and 4%. And then on the operating expense side, generally between 2% to 4%.

Got it. And would you say you see greater risks on the demand side for '26 or more on the supply side or a mix of both?

It's certainly a mix of both, Fred. We, for the first time in a long time, are seeing a much more balanced housing market across Canada. And where is that coming from? Well, that's coming from the additional supply that we as Canadians needed in the housing market. As you know, most of that supply that's being -- that has been delivered and is being delivered is primarily at the upper end of the rental market because of the cost of construction. And so we do see the upper end of the rental market continuing to be competitive. Where we are seeing strength and resilience, though, is affordable housing. And fortunately, with our portfolio average rent of below $1,600, we think the majority of our portfolio is going to continue to see the benefits of that.

And so through the winter months on the demand side, as Gregg talked about in his prepared remarks, we did slower traffic this winter, kind of the return to seasonality. We had cold weather pretty well across the country and we saw that reflected in terms of traffic. With February now and as we get into the spring rental season, we have seen that pick up. And so February so far, so good. In the first 19 days of February, we're almost 90% covered of our turnover, which is a great sign. And so we are seeing the early signs today of what could be a good return to spring rental season.

Your next question comes from the line of Brad Sturges from Raymond James.

Just to maybe expand on that line of questioning that Fred had there. Just I guess -- and I appreciate the chart you gave on leasing spreads to date. Just in terms of what's occurred in January and February, can you give a sense of the type of turnover you're seeing? I know that the focus is more on retention, but is there a little bit more specific breakdown you can give in terms of the breakdown of the suites turning either by affordability price point or other metrics?

Brad, we don't have the exact stats to be able to deliver them right now. However, we have looked at the type of turnover that we're getting, and we're seeing primarily at the upper end. Again, as we talked about, what we're seeing is that our more affordable product, the availability of that remains very close to 0. We've shared this story before. If anybody was looking to move to Alberta and Saskatchewan and you needed to move here for March 1 and your budget was $1,500, I would say, hey, we're going to have to do some work to find you that apartment. If you came to Alberta or Saskatchewan and your budget was $2,200, there's availability at that price point.

And so as a result of that, because there is more availability, more choice at that upper end, that's where you are seeing more velocity and movement from a resident standpoint. But we did add on that leasing spreads graph, our volume and number of leases completed in each month. And so as we can see there, the winter months are slower. We remain focused on retention. And as we talked about with the pickup so far with what we're seeing in February, we do anticipate an improvement in those new leasing spreads.

Right. That's helpful. I guess, can you comment also in terms of like incentives have been trending down to the end of the year? Like how are you using incentives, I guess, within Q1? And then how would you expect that to trend over the rest of the year?

Yes, fairly sporadically. I mean our team always has the ability -- our leasing team always has the ability to use what we call pocket incentives. But our approach has really just been to adjust market rents when needed. Obviously, through the winter months, our strategy and approach was to maintain our high occupancy. And so we remain really flexible with those incentives. I think going forward, as we move into the spring rental months or pardon me, the spring rental season, we'll adjust market rents up or down accordingly depending on how the leasing season goes. The outlook for incentives, though, our team has done a remarkable job, a phenomenal job in terms of bringing those down. Going forward, we'll likely just focus on what that net rents number is and make those adjustments to face rents as appropriate.

And just last question on the revenue guidance there, the 2.5% to 4%. Could you break that down just by renewal spreads, new leasing and what you're expecting for occupancy?

Yes. Occupancy, our strategy is always to maintain high occupancy. And so we're very happy with our occupancy levels today of almost 98%. We'd love to see that creep a little bit higher. But practically speaking, the 97% to 98% mark is a good mark to have and a target that we have built into our forecast. Renewal spreads, again, we've been quite consistent there. As we look forward, our team and our retention teams are already negotiating renewals into April and May, and we're seeing very consistent results. And then on the new leasing spread side, again, as we get into the spring rental season, we would be looking for those to improve. And that only happens because we are going into the spring rental season with 98% occupancy or very close to 98% occupancy. And so when I look at the cadence there, we expect renewals to remain consistent and then an improvement from what you saw in December and January for new leasing spreads as we move into the spring.

Your next question comes from the line of Golden Nguyen-Halfyard from TD Securities.

Just to add on to the same-property NOI question from earlier. What do you think are some of the drivers that would put you guys on the top end of the range versus the bottom end of the guidance you guys provided?

Yes. Great question, Golden. It's James again. Certainly, a strong spring rental season would allow for that. Again, we see continued strong demand for the more affordable product. I think if we can see a strong influx of demand in our markets during spring/summer, that could set us up well to hit the upper end of that revenue range that we talked about earlier. In addition to our team is always focused in on our controllable costs. As we know, our team has been -- has performed very well on that each year over the last several years. And on the controllable side, we have initiatives that we're driving that -- we're aiming to improve on those as well. And so if we can get some wins on those, that could potentially help us move towards that upper end.

On the noncontrollable side, property taxes is a big one that Gregg and team and we flagged last November. We are forecasting a slightly elevated property tax increase this year. And again, we're active on assessments, appeals and working with our city counselors at the municipal level to see if we can bring those property taxes to more sustainable levels going forward. And so each of those components, Golden, are inputs into that, and we'll be working very hard on our side to outperform, as always, our forecast here.

Great. Maybe one more from my end, just on capital recycling. You've made good progress last year. Maybe if you could talk a bit about how you're feeling about the disposition environment for 2026. And maybe add a bit on the acquisition market and what you're seeing today and maybe the pace you can expect to see for 2026.

Golden, it's Samantha Adam speaking. Yes, we foresee a similar program as we rolled out in 2025 and 2026 in terms of the dispositions. So we suspect levels will be similar or exceeding 2025. And then in terms of the acquisitions, we're not active today on the acquisition front. It's been relatively quiet, I would say, over the last couple of months. But we're always open to opportunities. But as of today, we're not actively pursuing anything.

It's hard to compete with our stock buyback right now and the opportunity that we have with the exceptional value our stock represents the 6.5% cap rate on a forward basis that we're trading at, our stock looks like a great place to be recycling capital into, Golden.

Your next question comes from the line of Sairam Srinivas from ATB Capital Markets.

Just probably looking at your comment on new leasing spreads, James. When you look at tenants moving out in the last couple of months now, are you seeing many of them compete with these newer assets? And when you are looking at your new leasing spread coming down, what are these competing assets like over there?

Yes. I mean there is more availability in the marketplace that upper end with deliveries. And again, this is across the country. We saw -- because of the lower traffic in December, January, pretty well across the country, we saw lower volumes and lower guest cards, lower traffic, which, again, to maintain our high occupancy, there was great deals that we had provided residents that moved in during those months. But the new competition for the most part, we're seeing at our more expensive product within our portfolio. That's where we're seeing the most competition. In our more affordable product, again, that's where it remains fairly resilient, and we continue to see strong demand and strong occupancies and spreads there. I don't know if that answers your question?

It does, it does. And I'm just thinking from the perspective of the higher-end units in the market right now coming down, competing because -- and thanks to incentives, I guess. Are you actually seeing a lot of these competing units being incentivized by the supply coming in?

Yes. On a net rent basis, I mean, you see incentives in the marketplace. I mean all you have to do is go to RentFaster or Apartments.ca, and you can see 1 month, 2 months being offered in those newer products that are getting delivered. Again, this is pretty well what we're seeing across the country. Good news in Alberta, Saskatchewan specifically, we are seeing with the increased traffic with the spring rental season and some of those buildings are pulling back. Even ourselves included, if I think of our 45 railroad community in Brampton, we've had to provide some strong incentives and strong discount offerings over the winter months to obtain our full occupancy status that we have there. But getting to that full occupancy status allows us [indiscernible] then pullback on those discounts. And so you're starting to see that in the new builds that have gone through absorption. But it's really dynamic and fluid though, Sai. I would say, again, we anticipate that upper end, that north of $2,000 price point to continue to remain competitive.

Sorry, it's Sam. And Slide 46 on move-outs is pretty descriptive of what we're seeing. So Q-over-Q, we're seeing a drop in turnover. And one of the reasons for moving out, which we're really pleased about is the reason for cost. That's going down, as you can see, from 271 in Q4 move-outs because of cost down to 191 due to cost. So the affordability is key, and we're seeing higher wages, inflation in wage pressure, settlements increase and [indiscernible] updated the average wage as much higher, too. And our rents just aren't going up as fast anymore across the country. And so that affordability, that balance we're seeing in the marketplace is very healthy because an affordable housing market and especially affordable rental housing market is mission-critical to a solid economy.

Your next question comes from the line of Mike Markidis from BMO.

I guess, so you clarified that on the dispositions, you expect to be as active, if not more active this year. And then it sounds like you're going to lean more into the NCIB with proceeds this year. What's changed? Because last year, you guys bought over $500 million and just looking at the stock chart, like on a range-bound basis, your stock was kind of at a similar level. So what makes it more attractive today than last year?

Mike, it's James. I mean, for one, our earnings are about 10% higher already versus this time last year, and we continue to see growth, as you can see in our guidance for 2026. And so the yield on that continues to be higher. In addition to, I think from an acquisition standpoint, as Samantha had talked about, we're looking for opportunities. We're always going to be open for opportunities, but we're also looking for those best deals as well. And so as of right now, as Samantha had shared, we haven't found that one yet. And with our cash flow model, we have capital and liquidity to invest every single day. And so right now, with what we're seeing, stock buyback looks like a great place to be allocating capital and proceeds from dispositions.

Okay. And just a follow-up on that. You guys obviously did a great job bringing down your leverage from in excess of 13x to the current level of around 10. Is that sort of considered to be the new normal going forward for Boardwalk, absent material change in your cost of equity? Just how are you guys thinking about that?

Mike, it's James. The new normal for Boardwalk, which is declining debt-to-EBITDA is going to be the new normal, but at 10, that's not our goal. We continue to strive to reduce that debt to EBITDA. And again, that naturally is going to happen because of our cash flow model -- cash flow retention model and cash flow growth model for that matter. And so when you put those 2 together, we organically will continue to reduce that debt to EBITDA and look forward to continuing to execute on that.

Okay. And then just last one for me. You've guys been able to push your turnover down. It keeps trending lower. You've got good visibility into the spring leasing season. So from now, I guess, is there anything to suggest that turnover will continue to grind lower? It's going to stay stable or in the spring will we start to see that tick back up?

Yes, we'd like it to be lower, Mike, because as we know, in Alberta and Saskatchewan, specifically, our team does a great job with our retention and balancing that turnover with spreads and costs. As we look into the spring season, historically, you generally see a little bit of a higher turnover in the spring and summer months, which I would expect that. But overall, on a trend basis year-over-year, we would aim to continue to lower that turnover on a year-over-year basis.

Your next question comes from the line of Kyle Stanley from Desjardins.

Just kind of sticking with the commentary around spring leasing. Can you quantify maybe the uptick in demand you're seeing so far into the spring and how that may compare versus what you saw last year? And is there anything else driving it other than seasonality? Just trying to really understand the confidence in really seeing the demand pick back up.

We were looking at our guest cards, which is traffic. And when we look at guest cards so far in the first 19 days of February versus the first 19 days this time last year, we're about bang on -- and so that compares when we're looking at our guest cards for December and January, we were down about 20% year-over-year. And so we have seen that pick up. We've asked our teams on the ground. Is this -- how does this feel team? Is it more immigration? Is it pent-up demand? And from our team's perspective, so far, again, this is just what we're hearing from the ground is a little bit of both. When we look at our phone inquiries, we still continue to see a lot of 416, 905, 604 area codes calling into our sites.

Certainly, weather plays a part of this, Kyle. We had cold winters across the country in December. And so there is -- that plays into that seasonality. But so far, so good. With what we're seeing in the first 19 days of February, again, I quoted earlier how much of our turnover has already been leased up. With what we're seeing right now, we do see some increased traffic and velocity heading into the spring. And again, our confidence on this comes from starting at close to 98% occupancy. And so we're not having to fill up at the same time. We really like being full heading into this busier season.

Right. Okay. No, that's helpful and kind of brings me to my next question, I guess, your ability to not have to fill up while also leasing, does that give you confidence that the negative 5% new leasing spread, does that trend closer to flat as we get into the stronger months? Or do you expect new leasing spreads to maybe stay in the negative range for the bulk of the year?

We are seeing improvement on it right now as we speak. Again, that's in the first 18 days of February. And I'm quoting 18 because our data does lag a day or so. But let's not forget that 75% of our deal flow comes from retention and renewals. And so you see the renewal spreads there. They remain positive. Again, we're negotiating 2, 3 months in advance already, and we're seeing consistent results there. And so retention is key in our markets. And so far, so good on that front as well, Kyle.

Okay. I appreciate that. And just one last one, just on your kind of higher level outlook for market rent. I mean it seems like most of the focus today is on the timing for positive rent inflection. I just love your thoughts on when do you see that occurring? Is it a late '26 event? Or do you think that gets pushed into '27? Just love your high-level thoughts.

Yes. High level thoughts, again, it's James here, Kyle. High level, I think it depends on price point and it depends on product type. And so again, as we talked about, we see the upper end of the rental market. So again, north of $2,000 a month remaining very competitive. Where there may be opportunity to see continued improvement in market rents, though remains in the more affordable product. And so communities where market rents are $1,400, $1,500, $1,600 where affordability is so high, that's where we can see some market rent adjustments upwards. And you see that even in our own portfolio, Kyle, if you look and segment by market, you can see that our more affordable markets are seeing market rent increases. In our more expensive markets and expensive product, that's where you've seen us adjust market rents. We see that trend continuing for 2026.

Your next question comes from the line of Mario Saric from Scotiabank.

I just wanted to clarify, James, your comment on the expectation for consistent renewal spreads would consistent essentially be defined as kind of 3% to 4%, which is what you did in Q4?

Yes. Similar -- if we look at Slide 10 there, portfolio-wide tracking in the 3% to 4% range. We are looking for that to remain consistent through the spring.

Got it. And where would you say -- like if you compare, let's say, your sub $2,000 per month portfolio relative to market, given you adopted the gradual or the restrained rent increases over time, where would you characterize your kind of mark-to-market for your -- how much lower are you than peers in terms of your in-place rent today in the affordable portfolio?

Our market rents are fairly dynamic, and we're pricing those all the time. And so I know we get this question regularly, but in non-price controlled markets, I mean, it is quite fluid. And so as we head into the spring rental season -- sorry, let me start with -- as of December, we feel that, that mark-to-market, I think you can find it on Slide 47, is fairly accurate for that point in time. So again, December 31. And keep in mind that mark-to-market doesn't come from just new leasing. It also comes from renewals as well. And so as we head into the spring rental season, I think with the traffic we're seeing, again, in our more affordable product, as we talked about earlier, we see occupied rents continuing to increase, but we also see market rents continuing to increase in that more affordable product.

And so to quantify it, Mario, I think that slide does a pretty good job of it at that point in time. If I had to guess what that's going to look like for March 31, I think you're going to see occupied rent increase because the majority of our portfolio remains in that affordable bucket. And I think you see market rents increase a little bit in that more affordable segment, which again represents the majority of our portfolio.

Okay. Okay. And then just switching from my last question. Within the guidance, you mentioned there's no dispositions included to the extent that you were to kind of hit your target on dispositions for the year based on, I guess, the in-place debt profile, if you were to hit your target and redeploy the proceeds into your NCIB, would that be FFO accretive or kind of neutral or dilutive in your view?

Mario, it's James. It would be accretive subject to timing. And so that math is simple, right? I mean it's -- you can see it even with this Montreal disposition proceeds from January, where we're selling noncore communities that under a 5 cap, we're turning around and buying back stock at 6.5%. That maths subject to timing, of course. And so our note on the disposition side is really just going to be subject to how quickly we can redeploy proceeds, which as more dispositions come through in the year, we'll provide an outlook and a view on that when that time comes.

Okay. I was just thinking more along the lines of an FFO yield without kind of understanding what the debt profile of the potentially disposed assets could be, but it sounds like it would also be accretive from that perspective.

Yes. On a levered basis, FFO yield is a metric that we look at as well, Mario. And of course, it depends on the assets that we're disposing of and what that leverage profile looks like, which is very unique from a community to community. But yes, you pin it bang on our view in terms of disposing noncore assets, that FFO yield and the alternate place where we can redeploy that capital is a huge consideration on our part as well. And yes, Mario, sorry, our expectation is that recycling is accretive.

Your next question comes from the line of Matt Kornack from National Bank Financial.

Just going back to the Montreal disposition; a, was there a mortgage in place on those 2 properties? And if so, kind of where were the interest rates? And then that product hold probably a little bit more challenging to manage, but it is affordable presumably. So how do you make the differentiation between what affordable you want to own versus what you're disposing of at this point?

Matt, it's Samantha Adams speaking. Yes, the debt on the 2 Montreal assets was about just under $23 million at a rate of just under 4%. I think it was about 3.9%.

And just in terms of, yes, just how you think about -- I mean, that product, I looked at it's got some rents sub $1,000 granted. That may not be affordable necessarily for the tenant types that would occupy those properties. But how do you kind of look at affordability and what you want to keep asset-wise versus what is noncore from a disposition standpoint?

Okay. Got it. Affordability sort of involves every decision we make on the acquisition side and on the disposition side. We are all about providing affordable homes to our resident family members. But in terms of decisions, whether or not we dispose of a property, affordability would play a part of it, but it also stems from other factors. There may be capital requirements. The building may no longer allow our incredible experienced team to amend or renovate the property to deliver the type of experience we want to deliver to our resident members. And it also provides a really cost-effective source of cash flow for us, so which we can then redeploy into whether it's our NCIB or ultimately back into new acquisitions. It is a really, really strong use of source of cash flow for us.

Okay. That makes sense. You mentioned, I think, that a portion of your growth is going to come from renewal rates in Quebec. They've been elevated for the last 2 years. The new rent control regime there, I think, favors kind of investment in the properties. Presumably, you're already investing. So is it just the ability to capture a percentage of that CapEx that you're spending in the properties that you think you'll get that excess renewal increases?

We do, Matt. We see a continuation of that for [ 2026 ]. Our team has invested in our Quebec portfolio. We continue to, and we were very happy to see the acknowledgment for those capital improvements and to keep communities affordable in Quebec. And so we do expect elevated adjustments for our Quebec portfolio relative to the [indiscernible] guideline.

Okay. And then on Calgary, I know you gave a broader view as to how you see things evolving. But for that market, in particular, it seems like it's more supply, again, like the population growth is pretty good in Calgary, but it seems to be a more difficult or competitive jurisdiction at this point. What do you think the time horizon is for kind of supply absorption and as an improvement in that market from a market rent standpoint?

Matt, Calgary has benefited and continues to benefit from population growth for all the reasons that we've talked about at length over the past many years. We've invested heavily in our portfolio and our average rents in Calgary as a result of those is $1,900. It's very close to that mark that we were talking about earlier. And so we are in that competitive segment within our own portfolio. We are seeing continued supply deliveries from communities that went under construction 2, 3 years ago. But as we're seeing in other parts of the country, economics matter and development -- peak development economics have come and gone. And so we would anticipate the under construction numbers and the number of projects that are starting to start to taper.

But here in Calgary, because we have population growth, we do need that new supply. And fortunately, again, in Calgary, we are seeing a pretty good balance. We continue to see strong retention within our Calgary portfolio. We continue to prioritize that occupancy. I would anticipate we are starting to lap those -- that period of time where we saw more balance in Calgary. And so we are -- we could see some stabilization in terms of where those market rents are. But again, that's all going to be subject to what does the immigration profile look like? What are we doing with immigration across Canada? We still think Alberta is going to win relative to other places because of the low taxes, the affordable housing, all the things, again, we've talked about in the past. But again, are we going to see more permanent residents in the country? Are we going to see more nonpermanent residents in the country? And that will help define not just for Calgary, but frankly, across the country, what rental rates are going to look like in the short to medium term.

Yes. Makes sense. And then last operational one for me. You've done exceptionally well on NOI margins. I think you've troughed at 51% in 2017 on a trailing basis. You're up to 65%. That's ahead of where you would have been kind of pre-oil correction. Is -- it's sounds like your costs and your revenues are going to track each other, but do you think that's done in terms of margin expansion? Is there a structural ceiling? Or is there a little bit more to push on the margin front at this point?

Definitely more to push, Matt. I mean it's a goal that we've communicated to all of our stakeholders that margin improvement is a big one for us. We still see a path through it. I know we gave ranges for that. But our team is doing a good job on controlling what we can control in addition to on some of our expense items like utilities, as an example, we have, as we talked about in the past, started to shift that consumption -- or pardon me, that expense to our residents who are actually the ones consuming that. And so that's helping keep rents low. It's helping us improve our operating margins. And it's helping us reduce overall consumptions within our portfolio, which is a win-win-win scenario. And so as we look forward, Matt, I think we're just getting started on the margins. We are aiming and building strategies and approaches to continue to improve that going forward.

Just as an update, we didn't hear any cheers on the call. So I just wanted to let you know as proud Alberta Canadians with Team Canada pulled out the win in hockey.

And congratulations to Team Canada.

There are no further questions at this time. I will now turn the call back to Sam Kolias, Chief Executive Officer. Please continue.

Thank you, John. As always, if there are any further questions or comments, please do not hesitate to contact us. With gratitude, we'd like to thank our entire team that puts the extra in ordinary day in and day out. Our team is truly extraordinary. Thank you, loyal family residents, CMHC, our lenders, partners and, of course, our unitholders from far and wide and local. It really is all about our BFF, our Boardwalk Family Forever, whose huge shoulders we stand. And as leaders, we continue to do everything we can to support continued growth and extraordinary. We can't thank our extraordinary team and great leaders enough. We are pleased with our improving results on a foundation of exceptional value, service and experience we continue to provide our resident family members, our investors and all our stakeholders.

We conclude home is where our heart is, our heart is where our family is and our family is where love always lives. Our occupied rent average, $1,590. Our love always, priceless. Welcome home to love always. Our future is Boardwalk Family Forever. What can be more important when choosing where to call home? Well, we heard from Matt, maybe a Canada men's gold medal, but maybe not more important, but it's really high up there. And again, congratulations to our Canadian men's hockey team for winning gold. God bless us, and now more than ever, grant us all peace, our greatest prize of all.

Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes today's conference call. Thank you for your participation. You may now disconnect.

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Boardwalk Real Estate Investment Trust Third Quarter 2025 Earnings Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] This call is being recorded on Wednesday, November 5, 2025. I would now like to turn the conference over to Eric Bowers, Vice President of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

Thank you, Joelle, and welcome to the Boardwalk REIT 2025 Third Quarter Results Conference Call. With me here today are Sam Kolias, Chief Executive Officer; James Ha, President; Gregg Tinling, our Chief Financial Officer; Samantha Kolias-Gunn, Senior VP of Corporate Development and Governance; and Samantha Adams, Senior VP of Investments. We would like to acknowledge on behalf of Boardwalk, the treaties and traditional territories across our operations and express gratitude and respect for the land we are gathered on today, and we now know as Canada. We respect indigenous peoples and communities as the original stewards of this land. We come with respect for this land that we are on today for all the people who have and continue to reside here and the rich diversity of First Nations, Inuit, and Métis peoples.

Before we get to our results, please note that this call is being broadly distributed by way of webcast. If you have not already done so, please visit bwalk.com/investors, where you will find a link to today's presentation as well as PDF files of the Trust's financial statements, MD&A and quarterly report.

Starting on Slide 2, we would like to remind our listeners that certain statements in this call and presentation may be considered forward-looking statements. Although the expectations set forth in such statements are based on reasonable assumptions, Boardwalk's future operation and its actual performance may differ materially from those in any forward-looking statements. Additional information that could cause actual results to differ materially from these statements are detailed in Boardwalk's publicly filed documents. I would like to now turn the call over to Sam Kolias.

Thank you, Eric. Starting on Slide 4, affordable multifamily communities have always been an essential product and service. Together with our resident members, our associates, investors, partners, capital, environment, community are all essential and interconnected with our Boardwalk family forever at our core with our true north where Love Always Lives. A keyword in community. is unity as reflected in our diagram. Together, we go far. Welcome everyone to our Boardwalk family forever and to our Q3 2025 results.

Next slide, our culture. From our humble beginnings, our resident members remain at the top of our organization. Our leaders put our team first and our team puts our resident members first. Guided by the golden rule, we have a peak performing customer service culture that creates exceptional results as we can see on our next Slide 6. Our continued impressive performance with GAAP and non-GAAP measures increasing from the same quarter last year, same-property rental revenue increased 5.1% and same-property net operating income increased 8.6%. Our operating margin increased by 220 basis points as well as our funds from operation per unit increasing by 10.8%. I would like to now pass it over to Samantha Kolias-Gunn.

Thank you so much, Sam. We are extremely grateful for our team's perseverance, performance and continued commitment to our purpose, bringing our resident members home to love always. Continuing on to Slide 7, our operational stability and commitment to affordable housing. Rental market fundamentals in our core markets are balanced. Demand continues for more affordable housing despite supply deliveries focused on higher-end luxury product to justify high construction costs. We are well positioned to deliver on our commitment to provide much-needed affordable housing in a more competitive environment with our experienced peak performing team, exceptional product quality from the $1.5 billion invested since 2017 in rebrand and repositioning efforts and dedication to our Boardwalk family has responsible community providers.

CMHC and our federal government have emphasized the need for 430,000 to 480,000 more homes by 2035 to restore affordability in Canada. Affordability continues to drive positive population and leading economic growth in our core markets, Alberta and Saskatchewan reflected in our appendix. Québec has delivered exceptional results, further evidencing the strong demand for affordable housing. Ontario remains stable. We are strategically in all the right places at the right time. Please refer to our appendix for more data on the resilience of the Alberta economy. Our self-regulation provides us with continued steady results as we strategically moderate our rental rates within a resident-friendly renewal rate band, producing greater stability in occupancy and reputation.

Paired with our strong financial foundation, minimum distribution policy resulting in maximum reinvestment and free cash flow, strategic repositioning, unparalleled customer service and on our foundation of strong family values, we remain in a position to deliver solid performance. This is what sets us apart, bringing you home to where love always lives. Boardwalk strives to be the first choice in multifamily apartment communities to work, invest and call home with our Boardwalk family forever.

Moving on to Slide 8. Our strategic rebranding enhances our resident member experience and exceptional quality at an affordable price, keeping our occupancy high at just below 98%. Per Rentals.ca data, our average occupied rents of $1,582 for a 2-bedroom apartment are attractive, especially relative to the Canadian average of $2,279. We would like to now pass the call on to Gregg Tinling, who will provide us with an overview of our quarter results, strong balance sheet, fair value and ESG. Gregg?

Thank you, Samantha. Beginning on Slide 9, occupancy remains strong, supported by continued growth in occupied rent. While vacancy loss increased slightly, the Trust effectively reduced leasing incentives, which contributed to the higher rental revenue reported in Q3 2025 compared to the same period last year. These results reflect the success of our strategic initiatives aimed at maximizing free cash flow and diversifying our product offering, delivering meaningful financial performance. The decline in rental revenue from the previous quarter is due to property dispositions in Q3 that had previously been included in the same-property portfolio as reported last quarter.

Slide 10 provides an overview of leasing spreads for new and renewed leases under our self-regulated resident-friendly centric model. This approach continues to drive strong retention and referrals while keeping turnover and operating expenses low. On a year-over-year basis, leasing spreads have moderated, reflecting a more balanced supply-demand environment. Increased supply in select portfolio markets, particularly at the higher price points, has led to greater competition and vacancy. In Alberta, renewal spreads reached 3.7% in September 2025. New lease spreads in Calgary were slightly negative as we strategically prioritized occupancy in the city's more competitive, higher-priced segments.

Edmonton by contrast, continues to deliver positive new lease spreads, supported by sustained development for our high-quality affordable housing offerings. Overall, Alberta's blended leasing spreads for September were 2.3% with portfolio-wide spreads at 3.3%. We remain focused on maintaining high occupancy and maximizing resident retention. This strategy reinforces our commitment to providing affordable, resident-friendly housing in our core markets while also reducing costs and steady operational performance, delivering long-term value for all our stakeholders.

Slide 11 shows sequential quarterly rental revenue growth, including 1.5% growth in Q3 2025 compared to the previous quarter. The change over each quarter is a reflection of Boardwalk's strategy, striving toward balancing the optimum level of market rents, rental incentives and occupancy rates in order to achieve its NOI optimization strategy. During Q3, the Trust closed on acquiring the other 50% interest in our Brio property located in Calgary. Calgary results include 100% of Brio effective August 6, 2025, excluding Brio altogether, the same-property rental revenue growth for Q3 2025 compared to the previous quarter would be 1.1% for Calgary and 1.4% on a total portfolio basis.

Turning to Slide 12. Same-property net operating income increased by 8.6% in Q3 2025 compared to the same quarter last year, supported by revenue growth of 5.1%. Alberta, the Trust's largest region, contributed meaningfully to this performance with a 5.1% increase in rental revenue, driven by stronger in-place occupied rents and reduced leasing incentives. Total rental expenses declined by 1.8% year-over-year, primarily due to lower utility costs with the removal of the federal carbon tax earlier this year, alongside reductions in property taxes and insurance premiums.

Slide 13 highlights that administration costs and deferred unit-based compensation remained relatively stable quarter-over-quarter. The year-over-year increase in administration expenses is primarily attributed to inflation-driven wage adjustments implemented at the beginning of the calendar year, along with higher profit sharing and bonus accruals, reflecting strong year-to-date performance across the portfolio.

Slide 14 outlines Boardwalk's mortgage maturity profile. The Trust's debt portfolio is well staggered with approximately 96% of the mortgage balance carrying NHA insurance through CMHC. This insurance remains in place for the full amortization period and backed by the government in Canada, enables access to financing at rates below conventional mortgage levels with a current estimated 5-year and 10-year CMHC rate of 3.35% and 3.90%, respectively. Although current interest rates are above the Trust's maturing rates over the next few years, the Trust's maturity curve remains staggered, reducing the renewal amount in any particular year. Lastly, the Trust had an interest coverage of 3.10 in the current quarter.

Slide 15 provides an overview of our 2025 mortgage program. To date, the Trust has renewed or forward locked $294 million in financing at an average interest rate of 3.83% and with an average term of 6 years. Current underwriting criteria in our most recent submissions to CMHC and our lenders has remained in line with our historically conservative estimates. Please refer to Slide 55 for additional details.

Slide 16 illustrates the Trust's estimated fair value of its investment properties, excluding adjustments for IFRS 16, which totaled $8.8 billion as of September 30, 2025, compared to $8.2 billion as of December 31, 2024. The increase in overall fair value is the result of new acquisitions during the year and increases from rental rate growth, while being slightly offset by dispositions of non-core assets, along with an upward adjustment for vacancy assumptions in Calgary to reflect a more balanced market. Current estimated fair value of approximately $242,000 per apartment door remains below replacement cost.

And in consultation with our external appraisers, the Cap Rates used in determining Q3 2025 fair value were unchanged from Q4 2024. As it does every quarter, the Trust will continue to review completed asset sales transactions and market reports to determine if adjustments to Cap Rates are necessary. Most recent published Cap Rate reports suggest that the Cap Rates being utilized by the Trust for calculating fair value are within their estimated ranges.

Slide 17 highlights our ESG initiatives. We'd like to highlight our 2025 GRESB score of 72, which represents a 7.5% increase compared to the prior year. Using a disciplined capital allocation approach, we are focused on reducing emissions through reduced utilities consumption and therefore, reducing utilities costs while always promoting social and governance initiatives. We encourage our stakeholders to view our 2024 ESG report available on the Trust's website. I would like to now turn the call over to Samantha Adams to highlight our capital allocation and discuss our development pipeline.

Thank you, Gregg. Throughout 2025, we have maintained a disciplined approach to capital allocation, focusing on value-add rebranding initiatives, targeted dispositions and acquisitions and our NCIB. Slide 18 highlights our reinvestment of free cash flow back into our current communities, which enables us to drive market share and enhance the experience for our resident members. Our goal for 2025 is to complete the rebranding of 15 communities. And by the end of this year, 77% of our communities will have been renovated. These upgrades, including rebranding initiatives, common area improvements and value-add amenities deliver exceptional value to our resident members with minimal impact on per suite rents.

Slide 19 outlines the $733 million of real estate transactions announced year-to-date. This includes $221 million in dispositions of our non-assets with an average vintage of 1987 and average Cap Rates in the low 5% range. We have also completed $512 million in acquisitions comprised of townhomes, mid-rise and high-rise assets in our target growth markets acquired at Cap Rates ranging from the high 4s to the low 5s. From these sales, we have generated $120 million in net proceeds.

Slide 20 details how we have strategically redeployed this capital into new acquisitions and our tactical unit repurchase program. The strength of our balance sheet has provided us with the remaining equity required to complete the transactions. And just a quick update on the Aspire, our development in Victoria, BC. We remain on track to welcome our first resident members December 1 with the remaining building scheduled for completion in early Q1 of 2026. For the balance of the year our focus will remain on dispositions and executing our unit repurchase strategy, while other development opportunities remain paused.

Slide 21 demonstrates the ongoing disconnect between our unit price and the value of our portfolio. Our NCIB continues to be a key capital allocation tool. And to date in 2025, Boardwalk has invested $37 million in unit buybacks, including a recent $7 million repurchase of 102,000 units at an average price of $66.74. This tactical investment represents approximately a 6.9% FFO yield, providing an accretive use of our capital.

Slide 22 summarizes our Q3 dispositions, 6 non-core properties located in Edmonton and Québec City with a weighted average Cap Rate of 5.3% and an average vintage of 1987. These successful transactions at pricing in line with our fair value have allowed us to upcycle the equity into high-quality assets with strong cash flows and lower CapEx requirements in addition to providing capital to support our unit repurchase plan.

Slide 23 showcases the previously announced acquisition of Central Parc in Laval, Québeca 541-unit 3-tower community delivered between 2019 and 2022. With condo quality finishes, U.S.-style amenities, destination retail and a strong suite mix, Central Parc offers affordable luxury at approximately $2.30 per square feet. The acquisition price of $249 million or $460,000 per suite is well below replacement cost and the property benefits from attractive in-place financing at a blended sub-2% rate. Laval continues to be one of the stronger submarkets within the Greater Montreal area, supported by its connectivity to transportation networks and relative affordability.

Slide 24 introduces our latest acquisition, 639 Main Street, located in one of our strongest growth markets, Saskatoon. The province of Saskatchewan has one of the lowest unemployment rates in the country, is one of the strongest markets globally for mining investments and offers food, fuel and fertilizer, all of which the world needs. 639 Main Street is well located and close to downtown, the University and Saskatoon's main retail strip. Acquired for $39 million from the developer at a Cap Rate of 5.5%, this fully stabilized community enhances our product offering in Saskatoon, will benefit operationally from being in close proximity to our other communities and is expected to generate strong cash flows.

I would now like to turn the call over to James to discuss our track record of creating value and our updated 2025 guidance.

Thank you, Samantha, and thank you to our entire Boardwalk team for your service and commitment to our resident members while continuing to deliver consistent and strong performance that our team is sharing. Slide 25 provides an update to our outlook for the remainder of the year. The strength of our platform and ability to outperform in a more balanced housing market continues to show through as the demand for affordable housing remains resilient. And as a result, our outlook for the year has further improved. Our team and platform continues to maintain high occupancy and strong blended leasing spreads. Expense optimization has been a priority as demonstrated in our performance to date.

As we move forward toward closing out 2025, we are anticipating a continued solid revenue profile paired with strong performance in our operating expense management. These lower expenses will help to ensure that our high-quality affordable housing remains the best value for our resident members. With the completion of the third quarter, our 2025 outlook has further improved toward the upper end of our estimates with same-property NOI growth guidance adjusted to 8.5% to 10%, while also increasing our FFO per unit outlook to $4.58 to $4.65. The increase in our FFO per unit outlook is a result of contributions from our strong NOI performance as well as our accretive capital recycling in both acquisitions and our NCIB. This guidance is forward-looking in nature, and we look forward to providing our final results for 2025 and the introduction of our 2026 guidance in February with our year-end results.

On Slide 26, we have confirmed the payment dates of our next 3 regular monthly distributions equating to $1.62 per trust unit on an annualized basis. This represents a 12.5% increase from our distribution a year ago. Since 2021, our distribution has increased at an annual average growth rate of over 12% while still retaining an industry high proportion of our cash flow to reinvest and compound growth. This formula and operating model has extended our FFO per unit track record, and we are positioned in 2025 to more than double our FFO in just 8 years.

Please note, as we near our year-end, our team is in the process of finalizing and conducting our tax review and we'll provide any special distribution update prior to the end of the year to reflect the taxable gains from our dispositions. Our regular distribution review is also conducted at year-end and any increase to our regular distribution is expected to be announced with our year-end results in February.

On Slide 27, this FFO growth, along with our approach to maximum cash flow retention has improved our leverage metrics to provide Boardwalk with one of the strongest and most flexible balance sheets. In the quarter, we assumed an attractive low-cost mortgage as part of our Central Parc acquisition that Samantha highlighted earlier, and this has slightly increased our leverage for the period. As our platform optimizes the NOI from this community and we continue to deliver organic growth from our existing portfolio, we anticipate a continuation of our leverage improvement trend. This solid financial foundation, which includes our current significant liquidity position with over $100 million of cash, provides us with the flexibility to take advantage of opportunities that arise.

One of these opportunities is shown on Slides 28 and 29, which highlights the exceptional value that our trust units represent. Our current trading price equates to less than $190,000 per apartment door, and a mid- to high 6% Cap Rate on a forward basis. Both metrics are exceptional when considering our product quality, locations, spread to financing costs and cash flow growth as shared in our outlook. Recent private market transactions continue to be supportive of our estimated net asset value of $242,000 per door or $98 per trust unit. With this current attractive implied valuation, we anticipate in the near term, our deployment of capital will be focused on investing in our own assets and platform through our normal course issuer bid.

In closing, our team continues to be focused on delivering the best quality and value in housing to our resident members. Our unique operating platform continues to demonstrate our ability to create value for our stakeholders as we consistently deliver leading organic and FFO per unit growth that is increasing our free cash flow. Thank you again to our resident members, our team, our partners and all our stakeholders for making Boardwalk your first choice in providing the best quality homes and communities, and we are looking forward to continuing our track record of growth. We would now be happy to take questions from the line, Joelle.

[Operator Instructions] Your first question comes from Jonathan Kelcher with TD Cowen.

First question, just, James, you finished on capital allocation, so I figure I'd start there. You guys have been selling assets and upgrading through buying newer stuff. It sounds like the NCIB is going to be more of a focus. Will you -- are you going to consider -- are you going to continue rather to sell assets in order to fund that?

Jonathan, it's Samantha Adams speaking. I can take that question, if you don't mind. Yes, the plan is to continue our disposition program into 2026. And today, where our cost of capital is, obviously, those net proceeds would be used to buy our stock back. But we will remain active through 2026.

Jonathan, it's James. Just to add to Samantha's comments, we're seeing a lot of interest and bid and value-add acquisitions. CMHC financing is a big part of that as well. And so our team has done a fantastic job in 2025 meeting the market there as well as finding and unearthing opportunities for us to recycle that capital. We've made some great acquisitions that have provided very additive results to our overall performance. In addition to that, taking what the market is giving us, we're seeing huge opportunity in buying back our stock, and we've done that through September and October and as discussed, expect to continue to do that through the balance of the year.

Okay. Would you -- given that you are going to be selling some or looking to sell some assets into next year, would you take your leverage up near term to fund the NCIB?

I don't think we need to right now, Jonathan. We've got over $100 million of cash on the balance sheet. Our liquidity is as strong as it's been in a long time. And so that provides us the opportunity and optionality to deploy that capital. And as we said, buyback is that best place right now. We're having a tough time finding a better place than 6.5-plus Cap Rates today for our portfolio.

Okay. Fair enough. And then just secondly on -- I know it's a little bit early for 2026 guidance. But how should we think about revenue growth into next year and expense growth, at least on a high-level basis?

I can start with the expense side, Jonathan. And you're right, it is still too early. Normally, we don't give formal guidance until February when we release our year-end results. But I can say that through our preliminary late work and discussions we've had, we are expecting property taxes to be higher next year.

Yes. Just to add, Jonathan, to Gregg's comments, it's James. We're seeing very consistent results. Multifamily, especially affordable residential housing is quite consistent in terms of the demand for our product. You're seeing that through our leasing spreads as an example, pretty well throughout the year, we've seen consistency. And so I would expect that from our team. Our team is always striving for that. We'll keep occupancy high. We'll continue to provide affordable adjustments when we're negotiating our rent adjustments. And from what we're seeing so far, we expect consistent results from what we're seeing here.

Your next question comes from Mike Markidis with BMO.

Just with respect to the Gregg property tax comment being higher next year. I guess what are the drivers? And can you remind us, I think there's been a phase out of the premium on multifamily, and I think it's Edmonton, maybe the rest of Alberta, but just sort of the dynamics at play.

Yes, Mike, we've -- we're very supportive and thankful to our municipal leaders and provincial leaders. We saw very reasonable property tax increases this year. In fact, we saw declines in certain municipalities in Western Canada, and that's a testament to the strong financial position that our provinces have. As we look forward to next year and as we know, property taxes are a product of assessment and tax rate. What we're seeing here is increased assessments in multifamily apartments. So as a result of that, there is some potential we're going to see some property tax increases.

Our team is working really hard right now in engaging with municipalities and negotiating assessments so that we all have sustainable increases for next year so that we can continue to provide and deliver sustainable and affordable rents to our residents.

Okay. And are you concerned at all that -- sorry, go ahead.

Mike, it's Sam. And we work really hard with our policymakers, and we're very vocal about supporting more government or less taxation. And that's a proven public policy because we ask everybody who can spend our super hard earned after-tax dollars better than we can. And we haven't found anybody yet that says somebody else can. So less taxation is a proven public policy that works for everybody. And we're super happy with a big change in our municipal leadership that believes the same because it helps everybody to keep more of our money in our pockets.

And so we're super happy with the results. We've seen positive support and signals from our newly elected policymakers in our municipal governments, both in Calgary and Edmonton because we, the people have spoken. We all believe less taxes is better for all of us. So we're cautiously "optimistic" as per our newly elected mayor in Calgary as about our budget, too.

I just want to go back and add to Gregg's comments on -- as we're thinking about next year, another place where we've had a great track record is delivering below inflation expenses. Last year was not the only year of that. We can go back many years and thank our team for finding innovative ways to reduce that expense growth. Next year is not going to be any different. We're in the midst of working through our budgets now for 2026, and we are striving and pushing our team to look for continued efficiencies so that we can continue to deliver these great results into next year and that's all expense line item.

Yes. No, no, that's great. Just I guess a couple of things before I turn it back. So number one, just on Railroad, it looks like there's a recap there. You pull a little bit of money out, refinanced the construction loan. And I think you had effectively negated the construction loan by extending a loan to the JV on your books. Is there any material change in the FFO contribution from that asset moving forward based on the recap?

No, we're not expecting that any material change. Basically, even our profit this quarter was $900,000 from that asset, and we're projecting for the year-to-date to be around $1.5 million.

Huge -- I know some -- from our team in Ontario are listening in on this call. And so a huge shout out to them. Our 45 Railroad project in Brampton is full. And so great work to that team for leasing that up over the last couple of months.

Okay. Wonderful. And just last one for me, $100 million of cash. So you've got great liquidity. You did push leverage up. This was a consequence of the net investment activity. I guess with the special, is there anything that precludes you from doing it in kind? Or are you going to anticipate you'll have to give some cash back to unitholders would be question one. And then question two, you earmarked for the NCIB, but I guess is there any appetite to bring leverage back down? Or are you just happy to run at a higher leverage on a go-forward basis?

Mike, I'll answer question one for you. Like you're right, given the dispositions we've had in 2025, there will be tax implications of capital gains and recapture. We know we're going to have to do a special distribution by the end of the year. Right now, it's still premature. The team is still working through assessing the full impact, and we'll be planning to get a special distribution before the end of December. But we're right now just going through the analysis required.

And on the leverage front, Mike, as we said in our prepared remarks, we do anticipate our leverage to continue to follow the similar trend we saw previously in terms of that downward trajectory. In this case, we did see leverage tick up this quarter with that Central Parc acquisition, but it was extremely attractive financing. I think as we continue to bring in our platform into Central Parc and you continue to see the growth in our own existing portfolio, we do expect that leverage to continue to tick downwards.

Your next question comes from Kyle Stanley with Desjardins.

Just looking at your incentives for a second. It looks like there was a more significant decline in incentives this quarter. Just given the broader market softness we're seeing, how have you been successful on the leasing front while rolling those incentives back? Is it just adjusting rental rates where needed instead of extending further incentives? Or what maybe is it that you're doing to keep occupancy high?

Kyle, it's James. Again, really proud of our team for reducing those incentives over the past several years. We're on the cusp of having that almost an immaterial number, which has always been our goal. The incentive declines are primarily coming from our renewals and retention and just eliminating those past discounts that were given. On the new leasing front, where you are seeing some incentives in the market across the country really is just at the upper end of the market, more expensive rents.

Our approach and our leasing team's approach has really been more so just to reduce market rents if we are seeing more competitive environments. And so we're not using incentives as much in our leasing activity, really just focused in on that net rent. And just a reminder for everybody, all of our disclosures, all of our leasing spreads, all of our occupied rents are always net rents.

Mike, it's Sam. Kyle, sorry. It's Sam, and there's 1,582 reasons why our incentives are so low, and that's the average occupied in-place rents. And it's always in demand. Larger 2-bedroom unit on average at that low price is always in strong demand. And that's why it's so important for us to continue our self-regulated approach, keep our rents as low as possible, our value proposition as high as possible, our locations, our renovations, our schools that we're nearby, hospitals, employer and employee source locations is what keeps us occupied and our rents being adjusted close to and around inflation is how we continue to do that.

Okay. And maybe just on that self-regulation, we've seen your renewal spreads trend slowly lower, but it seems like we're kind of nearing a trough here. So I'd just love your thoughts on where do you see those renewal spreads trending in the year ahead?

I think very similar to what we're seeing here today, Kyle. On average, our renewal spreads across the portfolio were in the 4s. That's kind of the inflation plus that we've talked about in the past. It's very sustainable, both from us as a community provider and covering our expense growth as well as from a resident standpoint. But first and foremost, we're always going to be flexible. Every resident's case is unique. And of course, we're going to be flexible with any residents who aren't able to afford that.

But we're not seeing that and as the various slides that we have in our appendix and all the macro slides that we've gone through in the past, affordability is not the issue here in our core markets of Alberta and Saskatchewan. We remain some of the most affordable...

Okay. That makes sense. And then just last one. You mentioned strong interest for value-add assets in the market today and looking to continue on the disposition program in the year ahead. Would you say is it still primarily like the smaller mom-and-pop type buyers that are active in the space today? Or are you seeing signs that institutions are beginning to step back in?

Kyle, it's Samantha Adams, and I'll take that question. Yes, we're receiving a lot of inbound calls. Some days, we're almost inundated with inbound calls with interest in our value-add communities, some of our non-core assets. To date, it's been mostly the private buyers, I would suggest, some family offices. But we're starting to hear that perhaps some of the institutions are going to come back into the space, whether they're interested in some of our sort of non-core properties will remain to be seen. But we are starting to see I would say a slightly elevated interest from what we're being told. But to date, the buyers of our communities have been the private buyers. And that interest is still very strong.

Your next question comes from Brad Sturges with Raymond James.

Just following up on that line of question around the disposition program. Now that, I guess, it could go through to the end of '26. I guess how much is left to do in terms of either dollar amount or percentage of the portfolio that you would deem to be non-core that could be considered for divestiture?

Well, where we're sitting today, I mean we've had a very successful 2025 on the disposition front. And I think you could expect us to be as active through 2026. A lot will depend on the market and where interest rates go through the next, call it, 12 months. But I think it'd be fair to say you can expect us to be as active as we've been in 2025.

And it really depends on our stock price, too, Brad. It's very opportunistic right now to continue selling our non-core assets at really the equivalent of a 90-plus unit price and reinvest that at today's unit price in the 60s. That's an incredible window of opportunity. And so that gap is something that we can continue to sell with the high demand of our value-add and non-core apartments and redeploy back into our repositioned and portfolio overall at a big discount. So what a great opportunity.

Okay. That makes sense. Maybe just high level, the budget came out last night, obviously had some different elements between immigration and on the housing side. Just any general thoughts in terms of the implications for demand and supply for the Canadian apartment sector and particularly in your core rental markets?

High level, we really need to increase our productivity. And the more we invest in increasing our productivity, the more jobs we're going to have, the more economic growth we're going to have in prosperity and affordability. And the one really positive is the skilled migration. We need more skilled migrants to build more infrastructure, more affordable housing, more schools, hospitals and energy corridors. We really need to continue to provide, as Samantha Adams noted, fuel, fertilizer and food, really core products. And we have all of that in Canada.

And the more we invest to provide more Canadian energy infrastructure to more Canadian energy and more fertilizer and food, the more productivity and not just Canadian energy for more Canadians, but Canadian energy for our entire world. We need more affordable energy that will drive our economic growth. That's a proven public policy and investment that's always done very well for all of us. And so that's on a big high level what we continue to advocate for.

Your next question comes from Sairam Srinivas with Cormark Securities.

Sorry, guys, I know it's kind of turning out to be a long call, but just one question from me. When you look at the opportunities ahead in '26 in terms of acquisitions and dispositions, and when you think about your preferences across geographies, can you marry the 2 and kind of just comment on where do you see more non-core disposition opportunities versus markets where you would like to expand there?

It's Samantha Adams. We're -- in terms of the opportunities we're seeing from an acquisition perspective, we've been fairly, I think, transparent in terms of where our target markets are. Obviously, our home markets in Saskatoon and Calgary being top there. We announced a beautiful acquisition in Laval as well and the Québec economy continues to grow, positive population growth and job growth. So I suspect it will all depend on the opportunities. But from that perspective, you will probably see some growth there.

And then in terms of the dispositions, it really depends on what the market is doing. But given our size in Edmonton, you'll probably see a few more non-core assets sold out of the Edmonton market. And we're working through our disposition strategy now through for 2026. So I think it -- we'll be able -- be in a much better position to comment on that next year.

Yes, it's James. Just to add, it's going to remain opportunistic as well. To Samantha's point. I think we've got great platforms in each of those markets. There are markets that we like. And we've shown which of those markets are this year with our great upcycling that has been done. But we can't reiterate this enough. As of right now, there is no better opportunity than buying back our stock today.

And then the dispositions, just a little bit more color with respect to the size and the location, typically very small off the beaten path, more difficult to attend to for just that smaller community size. So that's really what we're doing here is increasing our efficiencies and scale and making our whole communities and our team way more efficient to be able to spend way more time with our resident members and our communities than driving from site to site to service small community sizes.

And by the way, small providers are awesome at hands-on operating small communities. And that's where we grew up and came from is with small communities. So it works great. It's a win-win for us. It's a win-win for the smaller operators that are buying our communities. And so it's really a great way to create value, especially when we can buy our apartments all back at a big discount.

Your next question comes from Mario Saric with Scotiabank.

I wanted to circle back just on the spreads. On the renewal spreads, the kind of 3% to 4% or so. I think going into September, October, the range was closer to 3% to 7%. So I just wanted to confirm whether that's indeed the case where you've seen the kind of the top end of the expected renewal spreads come down a little bit? And if so, is that simply due to seasonality? Or are you seeing maybe a little bit more pressure in select markets?

Mario, it's James. It's very market dependent. We're seeing in our most affordable markets continued ability to deliver kind of the upper end of perhaps not that range, but above our average. And then other markets where we have more expensive product where it is more competitive, and we have to also compete on those spreads, and you're seeing the lower end or below our average range. And so it's very market dependent, Mario. At this juncture, though, as you can see over the past several months, we're seeing fairly consistent results. And with renewals, as you know, as we do them 2, 3, 4 months in advance, we expect it to be fairly consistent at this point.

Okay. And then maybe just on the new lease spreads, I think they were close to 2% this quarter. You've highlighted affordability is not necessarily an issue within the portfolio. Most of the portfolio is in markets where rents are some of the lowest in the country, as you point out. What do you think is going to be required to see that 2% inch up over the next 6 to 12 months? Is it supply deliveries coming online? And if so, what's the inflection point from a timing perspective there? Just curious to hear what could be the catalyst to get that number up a little bit.

I think continuing to deliver strong results. As you know, into this -- into the fall here, there is a return to seasonality in the market. We've noticed that. We see that in terms of traffic flow. So is that going to inch up here this winter? Likely not. We're going to focus in on occupancy. We're going to focus in on affordability come this spring, as we start to see more traffic we'll come to the market and see if there is potential to bring that up. But our focus is on retention, Mario. Retention and renewals represent 70% to 80% of our deal flow. And so that's really going to continue to be where we focus.

Okay. My last question is more of a technical question. Just during the quarter, there was a nice sequential revenue bump up to 1.4% for the portfolio relative to prior quarters, which were closer to 1% growth. How much of that delta would have been driven by Québec this quarter?

Mario, it's James. Great point in Québec, exactly the reason why Samantha and team and we are all very excited about Québec and huge opportunity from that value standpoint. We estimate that in July, if you strip out Québec, it represented about -- was it 0.7% of that sequential revenue growth in -- and just for context, about 1/3 of our deal flow in Québec occurs in the month of July.

Your next question comes from Jimmy Shan with RBC Capital Markets.

Just one question with respect to Calgary. What are you expecting in terms of new supply, whether it's condo or purpose-built rental over the next 12 months? I'm just trying to get a sense of where we are relative to peak delivery.

Jimmy, it's Eric. I can speak to that. So Calgary specifically, I think we have at the moment about 11,000 rental units under construction. I would see the deliveries over the next 12 months being pretty close to that range in general. Calgary, specifically, we have seen a little bit of an increase on the condo supply side. Bear in mind that only, call it, 30% of that would go to the rental market. But generally, I would say that's fairly consistent with what we have under construction today.

Okay. And that 11,000 of rental units, how would that compare to a year ago roughly?

I'd say you're probably up about 10% to 15% year-over-year on an absolute basis. What I would say though is in terms of location of deliveries, Jimmy, I would say a year ago, a lot of those deliveries would have been in the Beltline Central core area. And I would say now there's more product being delivered in the more suburban locations of the city that would be outside of our ring road in Calgary.

I'll just add, Jimmy, it's James. We had the Calgary Real Estate Forum here in town last week or the week prior, and it was busy. There was record attendance. But I'll say that the general consensus was that development economics are challenged, and this is no different than any other place across the country right now. If we run that math, hitting performance is going to be tougher. The yields, the already very small yields for developments have compressed even further. And so -- we think we are hitting peak development economics right now for multifamily construction.

Everybody we talk to seems to be pens down on development. And so we would anticipate at some point that the under construction numbers are going to start to tail off, purely just on economics. And again, that's just a little bit of color from what we're hearing from the development community in Calgary.

[Operator Instructions] Your next question comes from Matt Kornack with National Bank.

This call has been pretty thorough, so I don't have much. But turnover did seem to come down sequentially, and it seems like skips and evictions are down, but maybe there's an increase in kind of people leaving for transfers and assignments. At this point, is it population growth that's driving demand? Or is it employment growth? And how are your markets faring on the employment side? And just given the reduction in turnover sequentially, is that by design essentially going into the winter months on your part?

Yes. Matt, it's Sam. And it's really important to come and see us and feel our energy and our economic vibrancy. We have a lot of jobs here. And we're seen a lot of employment, a lot of tech investment in Calgary, a lot of distribution, a lot of moves from Ontario, BC, affordable housing. And everybody seems really busy. Our restaurants, our stores, it just is a good economy. And that is really what we see and feel and affordability continues to be a big driver. And so yes, we're doing well relatively speaking on our economy and especially Saskatchewan, that is a real -- we attended the Saskatchewan real estate Forum and Samantha Adams shared with everybody, fuel, fertilizer and food. We just don't have enough of it for our planet. And we do have a lot of it in Saskatchewan and Alberta. And so our regional economies here continue to be very strong.

Then if you look on Slide 53 in the appendix way back in the back section, average rents of Québec, $1,416 it's so affordable. And when we visited our team and our communities in Québec, it's same very vibrant, restaurants are busy and our economy in Québec seems to be doing really, really well, too. So a lot of increased hiring in teachers, nurses. That's what we need more of, too. And so we're seeing a lot of jobs that are important jobs that are being created. Ontario, we've held our rents really low in London and Kitchener, Waterloo, we're all full in Brampton. You know what there's a shortage of really big low-priced apartments. That's what there's big demand for. And that's what we got. That's what we've been focusing in on for 40 years.

Sorry, Matt, just to expand on that as well. Alberta has experienced a record high immigration for the past few years. So there's simply not enough homes for all these people to live. And the continued economics of affordability will increase the amount of people being attracted to our province. And Alberta is diversifying. As you can see, as Sam pointed out, the slides in our appendix, the jobs in health care, professional scientific and other diverse sectors, we've talked to in past conference calls like the Lufthansa Technik and WestJet partnership continuing to bring jobs in aviation and engineering. We have the skilled labor force to provide to provide those really exceptional well-paying jobs and transform and be the energy superpower in Canada and hopefully, the world.

Yes. The second part of your question, Matt, it's James. On the skips and evictions, awesome observation, that is by design and our team's part as well. A big reason for it is the affordability that Sam and Samantha was talking about and the exceptional value that we offer. But we have to give credit to our team and our screening processes and always being flexible with residents. And so we're happy to see that number decline. Overall turnover has decreased as well. We've seen that trend happen over the past several years. Again, that's by design. It costs a lot of money to turn over suites. It costs a lot of money to acquire new residents. Why aren't we -- strategically, our strategy there is just to keep residents within our Boardwalk portfolio for their entire rental lifespan, and our team is doing a good job of that.

Your next question comes from Dean Wilkinson with CIBC.

Hopefully, I can make this quick. On the topic of affordability, how are you guys looking at the sale of the older assets, which I believe would probably have a more affordable and lower rent versus replacing those with the newer, more amenitized higher rents? Is that affordability metric the same across the assets? Or does it shift over time as you sort of new grade the portfolio?

Dean, it's Sam. And just seeing and we're really looking forward to sharing our Central Parc community in Laval with everybody, really big units at really low price per square foot. And so there's affordability everywhere and especially affordable luxury. That's our nicest community now. And again, we're big fans of the Four Seasons. It's a Canadian brand. And what I'd like to say is if the Four Seasons was ever going to develop an apartment, it would be Central Parc and so inspired by our partners that we purchase from and the value proposition and the insight to build such big apartments and to rent them at such a low and affordable price.

So Main Street in Saskatoon, same, very affordable brand-new product. And so we're all about affordability in every single category. And so it's building up on that. The smaller communities that we are selling, they're older. We would invest a lot more in value-add than some of our competitors would and smaller operators. And so we have a different expectation with respect to our older communities and invest a lot more than most of our competitors in our older communities. And so we think the smaller, older communities are best and smaller providers and our competitors that take a different approach and provide a product that we call and are proud of classic product.

And it's just like classic Coca-Cola always in demand. And so affordable, classic, affordable linoleum carpet, older product has a purpose in our marketplace and provides that choice. And it's all about maximum choices. So it's all about affordability, Dean.

And it comes back, Dean, it's James. Just to add, this comes back to what we were talking about with Matt and trying to retain residents within our Boardwalk portfolio for their entire rental cycle. And part of that is having that diversified product offering. We continue to have -- most of our portfolio remains affordable. But even Central Parc, which we're referring to here, average rents of $2.30 a foot for Four Seasons like model. Again, that's highly affordable and Samantha wants to jump in.

Sorry, James. I was just going to say, I think that when you look at the acquisitions we've announced this quarter and then the most recent one, obviously, being 639 Main Street, our average rents per square foot range from just over $2 a square foot up to sort of $240 a square foot. So I think when you put the Canada-wide lens on rents per square foot, even our new product is still very affordable.

That's great. Everyone loves the classic. I think we're all looking forward to the trip to Laval.

There are no further questions at this time. I will now turn the call over to Sam Kolias for closing remarks.

Thank you, Joelle. As always, if there are any further questions or comments, please do not hesitate to contact us. With gratitude, we'd like to thank our entire team that puts the extra ordinary day in and day out, our team is truly extraordinary. Thank you, loyal residents, CMHC, our lenders, partners and of course, our unitholders from far and wide and local. It really is all about our Boardwalk family forever, whose huge shoulders we stand. And as leaders, we continue to do everything we can to support continued growth and extraordinary.

We really can't thank our extraordinary team and great leaders enough. We are pleased with our improving results on a foundation of exceptional value, service and experience we continue to provide our family resident members, our investors and all our shareholders and stakeholders.

We conclude home is where our heart is, our heart is where our family is and our family is where love always lives. Our occupied rent average, $1,582 our Love Always priceless. Welcome home to Love Always. Our future is Boardwalk Family Forever. What can be more important when choosing where to call home. God bless us and now more than ever, grant us all peace, our greatest prize of all.

Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes your conference call for today. We thank you for participating and ask that you please disconnect your lines.