The Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan (HOOPP) honoured five of its property managers and three tenants for excellence in energy performance and environmental sustainability at a ceremony last night in Ottawa.

The annual LEAP (Leadership in Environmental Advancement Program) awards were presented at 150 Elgin Street, a property co-owned by HOOPP and Morguard Corporation. The awards are part of the HOOPP real estate group’s leading sustainability program which relies on collaboration with management partners and tenants. The goal of the awards, said HOOPP’s President & CEO Jim Keohane, is to recognize the outstanding efforts and achievements of HOOPP’s property managers and tenants with regard to sustainability.

Lisa Lafave, HOOPP’s Senior Portfolio Manager, Real Estate, said that “by building healthy, energy efficient and high-performing buildings, we are delivering a long-term benefit to our tenants and to HOOPP’s members.”

Keohane noted that real estate is “an important asset class” for the pension plan. HOOPP, he said, is a large real estate investor, with over $8 billion in assets and more than 180 properties in Canada and around the world. Making the buildings energy-efficient, he added, is of critical importance. “We are ensuring that the buildings we own are healthy buildings,” he said.

MP Robert Sopuck praised HOOPP for its focus on environmental issues. “It is through efforts like yours that businesses are taking up those tools and technologies and Canada is becoming a leader in creating and implementing advanced energy solutions,” he said.

As a long-term investor, HOOPP’s real estate group has established a sustainability program designed around industry best practices to enhance property values and manage portfolio risks by investing in and developing healthy, resource efficient, and high-quality buildings. This is ideal for a pension plan serving 286,000 active and retired healthcare workers.

Keohane said real estate investing is an important way that HOOPP pays pensions – real estate produces regular monthly income, which aligns perfectly with HOOPP’s need to provide pension benefits for its more than 286,000 active and retired members.

HOOPP has more than $51.6 billion in net assets and is fully funded.

The nine awards are presented in the categories of Performance, Collaboration and Innovation. The winners this year were:

About the Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan

Created in 1960, HOOPP is the pension plan of choice for Ontario’s hospital and community-based healthcare sector with over 470 participating employers. HOOPP’s 286,000 members and pensioners include nurses, medical technicians, food services staff and laundry workers, and many other people who work hard to provide valued Ontario healthcare services.

As a defined benefit plan, HOOPP provides eligible members with a retirement income based on a formula that takes into account a member's earnings history and length of service in the Plan. Once eligible members start receiving a pension, they receive it for life. About 80 cents of every pension dollar paid out comes from investment returns.

HOOPP is governed by a Board of Trustees with representation from the Ontario Hospital Association (OHA) and four unions: the Ontario Nurses' Association (ONA), the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), the Ontario Public Service Employees' Union (OPSEU), and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). The unique governance model provides representation from both management and workers in support of the long-term interests of the Plan.