Luxury seniors housing deal eclipses Aveo sale at $4.7B

Welltower has completed a multibillion-dollar expansion into Canada’s luxury seniors housing market, taking ownership of a portfolio of Amica Senior Lifestyles communities in Ontario as part of a US$4.6 billion transaction.

The Ohio-based real estate investment trust and S&P 500 company had flagged the deal in March last year, outlining plans to acquire a large portfolio of high-end seniors housing assets and development sites from Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan.

The transaction includes dozens of operating communities, as well as projects under construction and future development opportunities across key urban markets.

The assets are concentrated in some of Canada’s most affluent regions, including Toronto, Vancouver and Victoria, and form part of a new long-term partnership with Amica, which will continue to operate the communities.

The scale of the deal places it among the largest in the global seniors living sector, exceeding recent transactions such as Brookfield Asset Management’s $3.85 billion sale of Aveo in Australia in mid-2025.

Welltower has significantly accelerated its investment activity over the past year, with more than US$23 billion deployed across multiple markets, including major seniors housing portfolios in the United States and the United Kingdom.

The company’s pipeline now includes more than 170 communities either under development or in lease-up.