Spring Living Retirement Communities, one of Canada’s largest senior living operators, has acquired six class-B Ontario retirement residences in three separate transactions during Q4 2025 and so far this year.

The recently acquired properties are:

• the 76-suite Lord Dufferin in Orangeville;
• the 96-suite Grace Hill in Orleans;
• the 156-suite Heritage Orleans in Orleans;
• the 96-suite Kanata Ridge in Kanata;
• the 102-suite Maple Ridge in Carleton Place;
• and the 241-suite Westwood in Ottawa.

The acquisitions expand Spring Living’s operating footprint to 29 properties, representing 3,500 suites, in Ontario and Quebec. The portfolio offers independent living, assisted living, memory care and respite options.

Spring Living was launched in 2021 and is the retirement community platform of the Toronto-based Baz Group of Companies, one of Canada's largest privately owned real estate firms with a portfolio of more than 20,000 units in various stages of development, construction, repositioning and completion. 

Baz Group president and Spring Living chief investment officer Ashi Mathur wouldn’t disclose specific details about the acquisitions but told RENX they were “win-win” deals for all the involved parties. The previous owners were a “mix of owner-operators, institutions and a major player in the industry.” 

Spring Living’s growth strategy

All of these new acquisitions fit well with Spring Living’s growth strategy, which focuses on older properties in primary and secondary markets with opportunities to add value through strategic capital improvement programs or targeted operational improvements.

“We have been the fastest-growing company acquiring private-pay, class-B retirement homes in Canada,” said Mathur, who noted that class-B represents more than 60 per cent of the private-pay seniors housing stock in Canada. 

“Every home has a different strategy. It's got to be tailored and customized to the residents that we’re taking care of in that home and the surrounding market.”

Suites are renovated once they become vacant, which Mathur said can be done in 48 hours so they can be quickly rented again. Amenity spaces can be renovated more gradually to minimize disruptions to residents’ daily routines.

Acquisitions, potential intensification and development

Retirement community ownership is fragmented, with much of the market made up of owner-operators who may not have a succession plan when they're looking to retire.

“We tend to look at groups that may have a larger portfolio and are looking to exit," Mathur said. "We're also in active dialogue with some of the larger seniors housing providers, where they may view some of the assets that would be core to us to be non-core to them."

More than half of Spring Living’s acquisitions have been made off-market.

“Sellers know that, once we provide them with an offer, we're going to close that transaction,” Mathur said.

Some of the recently acquired properties have excess land and Spring Living will explore the possibilities for intensification, since Baz Group’s Marlin Spring arm is a major residential developer, but that’s not a primary focus at this point.

Marlin Spring owns development land and some sites may be appropriate for seniors housing, but Mathur said any new ground-up construction would be done outside of Spring Living.

Growing interest in seniors housing

“The silver tsunami is here,” Mathur said, noting occupancy levels at seniors housing across the industry are higher than they were before the COVID-19 pandemic, which had a major negative impact on the sector. New supply isn’t keeping up with the growing demand.

“The general public is seeing the benefits of retirement living and our population is obviously aging, so those factors are coming together to see a very active market,” Mathur said.

Spring Living has reacted to these positive conditions by increasing the size of its investment team and assembling what Mathur referred to as a “dream team in seniors housing” so it can continue to grow.

This includes: 

• partner and board chair Lois Cormack, the former president, chief executive officer and director of Sienna Senior Living;
• chief operating officer Lisa Kachur, who has held senior roles at Sienna Senior Living, Element Lifestyle Retirement, Revera Inc. and her own management/consulting company, Azure Senior Living;
• and chief financial officer Owen Cartwright, who has experience in seniors housing and healthcare advisory with Stormont Partners, Revera Inc. and Brookfield Asset Management.

“Even though we're a private equity firm, we're always open to new partnerships and new investors if they want to be part of this growth story and generate outsized returns,” Mathur concluded.