Ed Sonshine, Founder & CEO, RioCan REIT, joined us on REALtalk to reflect on 30 years of strategy and adaptation at RioCan. Ed discussed the past, the present and future, from the great 1990-1995 recession to today’s pandemic, and all the changes in strategy along the way.

The episode covers:

• His experiences creating strategy


• The impact of the internet on real estate strategy


• The Big Box phenomenon


• Moving from pure retail to mixed use


• Evolving strategy in light of COVID-19

Ed Sonshine is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust, and is a graduate of the University of Toronto and Osgoode Hall Law School. He is the Chairman of Chesswood Group Limited and a Director of Sinai Health System.

Ed was a Director of Cineplex Inc. from 2011 to May 2020 and a Director of the Royal Bank of Canada from 2008 to 2017. In addition, he was Chair and a Director of Canada Israel Securities as well as Co-Chair of the annual campaign of the United Jewish Appeal and a member of the Top Gifts Cabinet of the United Way. He is also a past Trustee of the International Council of Shopping Centers. He was appointed Queens Counsel in 1983, a member of the Order of Ontario in 2011, and in 2013, he was honoured as Canada’s Outstanding Chief Executive Officer of the Year.