About this report

Company profile

Oxford Properties Group (“Oxford”) is a leading global real estate investor, asset manager and business builder. It builds, buys and grows defined real estate operating business with world-class management teams. Established in 1960, Oxford and its portfolio companies manage approximately $80 billion of assets across four continents on behalf of their investment partners. Oxford’s owned portfolio encompasses office, logistics, retail, multifamily residential, life sciences and hotels; it spans more than 150 million square feet in global gateway cities and high-growth hubs. A thematic investor with a committed source of capital, Oxford invests in properties, portfolios, development sites, debt, securities and real estate businesses across the risk-reward spectrum. Together with its portfolio companies, Oxford is one of the world’s most active developers with over 100 projects currently underway globally across all major asset classes. Oxford is owned by OMERS, the Canadian defined benefit pension plan for Ontario's municipal employees.

For more information on Oxford, visit www.oxfordproperties.com.

General

Oxford’s annual Global Sustainability Report provides information related to the environmental, social and governance (ESG) aspects of the organization and outlines how the organization engages with its stakeholders. The period covered by this report is January 1, 2015 to December 31, 2020. This report provides an overview of our framework, priorities and select initiatives. Our report is aligned with leading disclosure standards and frameworks: GRI Standards, GHG Protocol, GRESB and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This material references the Consolidated set of GRI Sustainability Reporting Standards, 2016, and Disclosures: GRI 305: Emissions 2016 (305-1a, 1b, 1d, 305-2a, 2c, 2d, 305-4, 305-5, CRE-3); GRI 302: Energy 2016 (302-1a, 1c, 1e, 1f, 302-3, 302-4, CRE-1); GRI 301: Materials, 2016 (301-2a); GRI 303: Water, 2016 (303-1a, 1b, CRE-2); GRI 306: Effluents and Waste, 2016 (306-2a, 2b); GRI 403-2: Occupational Health and Safety 2016 (403-2a, 2b); Specific standards are listed within each commitment area’s performance data. In addition, we are working with our parent pension organization, OMERS, to align our climate change risk and resilience reporting with the recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD).

Oxford continues to be recognized as a leader in sustainability. In 2020, we achieved 5-Star ranking by the Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark (GRESB). We ranked in the Top 7% out of about 1200 global companies and funds.

Boundaries

Organizational boundaries

Oxford uses an Operational Control approach to set its Organizational Boundary.

Operational Control is defined as “the ability to introduce and implement operating policies, health and safety policies and/or environmental policies” (in line with guidance from the Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark (GRESB)).

Oxford is deemed to have the ability to introduce and implement these policies for buildings that Oxford directly manages OR where Oxford has a 25% or greater ownership interest in the building.

Oxford’s organizational boundary for Oxford’s annual Global Sustainability Report is defined as follows:

INCLUDED EXCLUDED
  • Office (multi-tenant)
  • Retail (enclosed centres, high street)
  • Multi-residential
  • Hotels
  • Directly managed (single-tenant)
  • Industrial
  • Retail (open air, non-strategic)1
  • Indirectly managed (single-tenant)
  • Investments with <25% ownership
  • Credit investments
  • Select newly acquired assets2

Operational boundaries

Environmental performance indicators

Environmental performance indicators are calculated for all assets (whole building) within Oxford’s boundary, on an annual basis.

Energy includes electricity, natural gas, steam, propane, deep lake chilled water and diesel. Energy intensity is the key performance metric reported by Oxford.

Greenhouse gas emissions refer to human activities, such as the burning of fossil fuels, which release greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. GHG Emission intensity is the key performance metric reported by Oxford.

Oxford reports on the following greenhouse gases, consistent with the GHG Protocol:

Direct (SCOPE 1) Indirect (SCOPE 2) Other Indirect (SCOPE 3)
  • Natural Gas
  • Other Fuels
  • Refrigerants
  • Electricity
  • Steam
  • Deep Lake Chilled Water
  • Emissions from indirectly managed assets and tenant space

Oxford updates emission factors on an annual basis, from generally recognized sources, as new factors become available.

Water includes the total volume of water withdrawn from municipal supplies, groundwater, or rainwater collected and stored by the organization. Water intensity is the key performance metric reported by Oxford.

Waste denotes materials generated on site for disposal, both hazardous and non-hazardous, excluding wastewater.

Waste diversion is the process of diverting waste from landfills and incineration through waste re-use, recycling (including composting), or through waste-to-energy. Assets in less mature recycling markets contributed to a decreased diversion rate in our managed portfolio. Waste diversion (expressed as a %) is the key performance metric reported by Oxford.

Social and governance indicators

Reporting around Oxford employees includes full-time, part-time, contract and unionized employees across Oxford’s global platform (unless otherwise noted).

Performance data for health & safety metrics are applicable to employees across Canada only at this time.

Methodologies

Reporting period

Oxford reports on its sustainability performance dating back to the base year. The base year for the sustainability report is 2015.

All new and acquired assets within our reporting boundary are included in the current year – and subsequent reporting – once they have been owned for a full calendar year.

All disposed assets within our reporting boundary are removed from reporting for the calendar year in which they were disposed.

Oxford restates its base year to adjust for an acquisition or disposition (single transaction that may include one asset or group of assets) where the impact to the portfolio carbon intensity is greater than a 20% increase or decrease.

Data modifications

Oxford reports on any changes to previous years’ performance data within its annual sustainability report, when new or more accurate information is available.

Modifications could be attributed to updated emissions factors, replacement of estimated data with newly obtained actual data, and changes to data coverage. These modifications result in improved data quality.

Data normalization

Data reported in the Sustainability Report is not normalized for vacancy, weather, market conditions or other factors.

Gross Floor Area (GFA)

Gross Floor Area is defined as the area between the outside surfaces of the exterior walls of the building(s). This includes all areas inside the building(s) including supporting areas. GFA is not the same as rentable space, but rather includes all area inside the building(s).

Material aspects

We focus on the sustainability issues that matter most to our customers, employees, stakeholders and co-owners.

The materiality matrix below provides an overview of how we have assessed the relative importance of sustainability issues in collaboration with our customers. The matrix is used to guide our target setting and reporting and to drive results in the areas where we can have the greatest impact.

Move your mouse or tap, if using a touch-screen device, over the hot-spots for more information.

material issue: water
Water
material issue: waste
Waste
material issue: climate and energy
Climate and
Energy
material issue: green buildings
Green
Buildings
material issue: health and wellbeing
Health
and Wellbeing
material issue: employee engagement
Employee
Engagement
material issue: biodiversity
Biodiversity
material issue: community
Community
material issue: urban spread
Urban Spread
material issue: diversity and equal opportunities
Diversity and Equal
Opportunities
material issue: materials
Materials
material issue: professional conduct and anti-corruption
Professional Conduct
and Anti-Corruption


Oxford periodically reviews and documents changes to the materiality matrix based on a range of factors including: customer surveys, customer green team meeting feedback, Oxford management feedback during Steering Committee or other strategy meetings, supplier meeting feedback, best practice research, and competitive analysis.

Additional information

This report includes select ESG matters of importance to our stakeholders.

Information profiled in this report rotates periodically, and additional information is available upon request.

Contact

The contact point for questions regarding this report or its contents is: Marlee Kohn, Manager, Sustainability, at sustainability@oxfordproperties.com.

1 Includes fully open-air shopping centres (e.g. Dix 30) and pads on enclosed shopping centres (e.g. Scarborough Town Centre, Square One); non-strategic retail is classified as a short-term hold to be prepared for sale (e.g. US Shopping Centers).

2 Includes assets with complexity and/or data quality issues that are still being resolved (e.g. International mixed-use) and where comparable assets are not available for accurate estimations.