Leyad, one of Canada’s fastest-growing vertically integrated real estate platforms, has expanded its senior leadership team with a series of appointments and promotions.

Anthony Casalanguida has been named vice-president, retail. With over 25 years of experience leading retail, office and mixed-use portfolios, Casalanguida will oversee strategic growth, leasing, property operations and tenant experience across Leyad's retail platform.

Prior to joining Leyad, Casalanguida spent 16 years at Oxford Properties Group, where he most recently was vice-president, retail, overseeing a $4-billion portfolio and leading a team of over 400 professionals. He previously served as general manager of Yorkdale Shopping Centre, directing more than $500 million in development activity and annual retail sales exceeding $1 billion. He also served as general manager of The Well in Toronto.

Dina Lianos has been named director of operations, joining Leyad from Colliers where she developed experience in property operations and asset performance. Lianos will focus on enhancing operational efficiency and supporting the growth of Leyad's national portfolio.

Internally, Gregory Castiel was promoted to senior vice-president, commercial properties. He will oversee Leyad's national commercial portfolio, comprising approximately $2 billion in assets, and lead a team of leasing, operations and property management professionals.

Blair, Thompson nominated to Extendicare board

Extendicare Inc. (EXE-T) announced Josh Blair and Leslee Thompson have been nominated to its board of directors. Pending approval at the company’s AGM in April, they will succeed departing chair Alan Torrie and board member Donna Kingelin.

Torrie’s leadership during his nine years as chair enabled the transition of Extendicare from its real estate focus to a new business model focused on health services. Kingelin has chaired the HR and the quality and risk committees during her tenure. 

Current director Samir Manji is to be appointed board chair following the company’s AGM. Manji is the executive chair of RFA Financial Inc. and founder and CEO of Sandpiper Group. 

He has been involved in over $10 billion in hospitality, seniors’ housing and multifamily transactions and has over 30 years of experience in the industry including as founder, chair and CEO of Amica Mature Lifestyles Inc. Manji has been a board member and major shareholder of Extendicare since 2019.

Blair is the co-founder and CEO of Impro.AI, a high-tech company that enables corporations and their employees to accelerate growth through AI-powered workforce insights and performance mentoring. He brings more than 30 years of experience in executive and board roles across multiple industries, including AI and data services, health care and telecommunications.

Thompson is a corporate director, independent consultant and health care expert. She most recently served as president and CEO of Health Standards Organization and Accreditation Canada. Thompson was CEO of Kingston General Hospital (2009–2016), and served as a senior executive at Medtronic Canada, Cancer Care Ontario, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, University Health Network and the Capital Health Authority in Edmonton.

Schonfeldt moves to Primaris

Primaris REIT (PMZ-UN-T) has hired longtime Canadian Apartment Properties REIT (CAPREIT) senior executive Julian Schonfeldt as its chief investment officer, effective April 1.

Schonfeldt will oversee Primaris’ investment activities and capital allocation initiatives, including acquisitions, dispositions, portfolio optimization and investment underwriting.

Most recently, he served as CIO at CAPREIT, where he played a key role in advancing investment strategy and capital allocation. During his tenure at CAPREIT, Schonfeldt executed more than $6 billion of transactions. 

Prior to joining CAPREIT, he held senior roles in investment banking, advising real estate and corporate clients on capital markets and strategic transactions.

Smith becomes interim CFO at RioCan

RioCan REIT (REI.UN-T) has appointed Franca Smith as its interim chief financial officer during the temporary medical leave of CFO Dennis Blasutti.

Smith joined RioCan in 2017 as vice-president, finance, and has served as senior vice-president, finance since 2022. She leads the trust’s financial reporting and controls, corporate taxation, accounting and internal audit functions.

Smith previously served as RioCan’s interim CFO from May to September 2021, providing continuity of financial leadership and effective oversight of the finance function. RioCan will benefit from her prior experience in the role, together with her institutional knowledge and understanding of its business and strategy.

Chard hires Chouinard to chief legal position

Vancouver-based Chard has announced Roger Chouinard as chief legal and strategic initiatives officer. 

He will partner with the leadership team to structure acquisitions, strengthen investment partnerships, guide financing and development strategy, and enhance governance as the company continues to expand its development pipeline. 

Throughout his 25-year career, Chouinard has worked across real estate investment, development and capital markets. Most recently, he served as chief legal officer and a founding executive at QuadReal Property Group, where he helped scale the company from inception to over $95 billion in AUM, leading global legal and governance strategy. 

Prior to that, he acted as general counsel at First Capital REIT. 

Chung takes new role at Avison Young

Nick Chung has joined Avison Young as principal and senior director – corporate accounts, overseeing major client groups for the firm.

Based in Toronto, Chung will lead a global office occupier portfolio of over 300 locations in more than 30 countries across multiple service lines, including transaction management, lease administration, project management and workplace strategy.

Chung has worked within the CRE industry for 20 years. His experience includes serving as the SVP of integrated portfolio services at a major global CRE firm, as well as roles of increasing responsibility at a global real estate consultancy.

Chung holds the designation of MRICS from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, is a graduate of DePaul University's Kellstadt Business School MBA program, and of Western University, with a bachelor in business administration. 

CFO Capital continues to grow

Minh Le has moved to Toronto’s CFO Capital as vice-president, business development for Toronto. He brings over 10 years of experience in real estate and mid-market banking, most recently serving as director, real estate banking at Scotiabank.

At Scotiabank, Minh built expertise across multiple commercial real estate asset classes, including income-producing properties, owner-user assets, land and lowrise and highrise construction financing. He managed a $2-billion credit portfolio spanning land development, servicing and residential construction, and acted as agent on multiple nine-figure condominium construction syndications. 

Lennard announces hirings, promotions

Lennard Commercial Real Estate has made a series of hires and promotions among its executive team. Among the new additions are Brandon Buziol in Vancouver and Nick Yanovski in Toronto.

Buziol brings seven years of experience on B.C.'s North Shore, with expertise spanning commercial leasing, acquisitions, dispositions, investment sales and land development across industrial, retail and office asset classes.

Yanovski was named executive vice-president at the Toronto – Downtown office. Before joining Lennard, he was with Avison Young’s Toronto Capital Markets group. Prior to that, he was Cushman and Wakefield’s managing director of capital markets.

Lennard also promoted Mariano Covello and Sasha Ischenko to senior vice-president roles.

OREA names new president and board

Sault Ste. Marie-based realtor Kim Fairley is the new president of the Ontario Real Estate Association.

She will lead its advocacy efforts to build more homes and work to strengthen transparency, accountability and public confidence in Ontario’s real estate market.

In addition, Millbrook-based real estate broker of record Meredith Kennedy was elected 2026 president-elect and will also serve as provincial director for Central Ontario.

Three new directors-at-large were appointed to the board: Curtis Fillier, Wasim Jarrah and Stan Reljic.

The following board members are returning or continuing the second year of their two-year term: Rick Kedzior, past-president; Paul Etherington, director-at-large; and provincial directors Tehreem Kamal (Central Ontario), Mark Malinoff (Eastern Ontario), Don McColl (Northeastern Ontario), Randy Pawlowski (Western Ontario), Dustin Davis, (Southern Ontario) and Ryan Humble (Northern Ontario).