At the 2025 BOMA Canada Awards in Halifax, several properties stood out for an unexpected reason: bees. By partnering with Alvéole, building owners have turned rooftops, courtyards, and gardens into ecosystems that support pollinators and people alike. The result? National recognition and a shift in how sustainability is judged in commercial real estate.
Bottom line: Properties that weave biodiversity programs into daily operations, like beehives or pollinator gardens, are now being noticed by BOMA. Instead of vague “operational excellence,” judges are rewarding tangible ESG outcomes: healthier habitats, visible tenant engagement, and real sustainability metrics.
BOMA BEST Prestige Award Winners
Yorkdale Shopping Centre
Owner: Kilroy Realty Corporation
Location: Toronto, ON – View Building
Award: BOMA BEST Prestige Award – Enclosed Shopping Centre
Yorkdale set the bar for retail sustainability by embedding environmental standards across its operations. As an Alvéole partner, the property went beyond efficiency metrics, inviting visitors and tenants to engage with their hives that connect urban shopping to urban biodiversity.
Trilogy on King
Owner: Woodbourne
Location: Toronto, ON – View Building
Award: BOMA BEST Prestige Award – Multi-Unit Residential
This recognition demonstrates how mixed-use developments can leverage integrated ESG frameworks to create exceptional value across different tenant demographics.
TOBY Award Winners
1929 Bayview Avenue
Owner: Crestpoint Real Estate Investments
Manager: Avison Young Real Estate Management Services LP
Location: 1929 Bayview Avenue, Toronto, ON – View Building
Award: TOBY Award – Medical Building Category
Medical facilities face strict operational requirements, making sustainability more complex. Crestpoint’s property demonstrated that it can be done – from hive programs that educate patients and staff to engagement initiatives that connect healthcare and environmental stewardship.
Park Place Shopping Centre
Owner: Primaris Management Inc.
Manager: Park Place Mall Holdings Inc. (Primaris REIT)
Location: Lethbridge, AB – View Building
Award: TOBY Award – Enclosed Mall Under 1M sq. ft.
Sustainability isn’t limited to major markets. Park Place in Alberta proved that regional retail properties can achieve national recognition by embracing biodiversity programs that connect with local communities.
Taunton Gardens
Owner: Canada Post Pension Plan
Manager: Triovest, a Colliers Company
Location: Whitby, ON – View Building
Award: TOBY Award – Open Air/Strip Mall Category
At Taunton Gardens, tenant engagement was the difference maker. Pollinator programs gave local shops and their customers a shared point of pride, helping this strip mall earn recognition for operational excellence and community connection.
Scarborough Town Centre
Manager: Oxford Properties Group
Location: Toronto, ON – View Building
Award: TOBY Award – Enclosed Mall Over 1M sq. ft.
Scarborough Town Centre’s win reinforced Oxford Properties’ broader commitment to sustainability. By scaling nature-based programs across multiple sites, Oxford demonstrated that biodiversity can be embedded consistently across an entire portfolio.
The Lightworks Building
Manager: Warrington PCI Management
Location: Vancouver, BC – View Building
Award: TOBY Award – Under 100,000 sq. ft.
Sustainability isn’t reserved for large properties. The Lightworks Building showed that even smaller footprints can support pollinators and engage tenants while still meeting operational and environmental goals.
How Alvéole strengthens sustainability strategies
Each of these award winners partnered with Alvéole’s urban beekeeping programs to add measurable biodiversity outcomes to their sustainability playbooks. Judges are increasingly rewarding these initiatives because they deliver both environmental and business value.
Nature-based solutions provide:
- Quantifiable environmental benefits through pollinator support and biodiversity metrics.
- Tenant engagement via hands-on education and community programs.
- Certification credits supporting LEED, BREEAM, and BOMA BEST.
- ESG reporting data aligned with global reporting standards
- Property differentiation through unique nature-based amenities that increase property value
Setting the standards for the future
The 2025 BOMA Canada Awards made one thing clear: sustainability leadership now includes biodiversity. Properties that integrate pollinator programs and other nature-based solutions are not only supporting the environment, they are also achieving recognition, stronger tenant relationships, and higher property value.
As building performance standards become more stringent, hose investing in comprehensive sustainability strategies will continue to stand out.
Ready to position your property for BOMA recognition? Discover how Alvéole’s urban beekeeping services can help you build stronger ESG outcomes, engage tenants in meaningful ways, and position your property for the next round of BOMA recognition.
