Welltower (NYSE: WELL) is acquiring a 38-community senior living portfolio managed by Amica Senior Lifestyles in Canada in a deal valued at $4.6 billion CAD.

The Toledo, Ohio-based real estate investment trust (REIT) noted in an announcement Sunday it is buying the 38-community “ultra-luxury” portfolio along with nine entitled development parcels from the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan for an equivalent of about $3.18 billion USD at today’s exchange rate.

The portfolio includes communities in “highly affluent neighborhoods” in Toronto, Vancouver and Victoria, Canada and spans the care continuum from independent living to memory care, with an average length of stay between three and four years, according to Welltower’s announcement.

Welltower anticipates the deal will close in the fourth quarter of 2025. The REIT noted it is in conjunction with the deal assuming a $560 million CAD loan with an average interest rate of 3.6% and a four-year weighted average maturity.

The REIT also is acquiring a minority interest in Amica’s management company, with the Amica management team holding on to a majority ownership stake.

“Amica Senior Lifestyles Co-founder, Robert Ezer, and CEO, Jens Cermak, share our vision on delivering a killer value proposition for residents through the offering of premium hospitality and care and providing a dynamic environment for site level employees to grow and thrive,” Welltower CEO Shankh Mitra said in the announcement.

Amica CEO Cermak said he is “thrilled” to enter into the partnership with Welltower.

“Our premium communities appeal to an affluent and sophisticated population across Canada where seniors are empowered to live with freedom, optimism and peace of mind,” he said. “Our portfolio has witnessed exceptional growth in recent years, and we strongly believe that this momentum can be sustained well into the future.”

Welltower is with the transaction slated to gain a portfolio of 31 in-place properties which includes 24 stabilized communities and seven recently opened communities in lease-up. Welltower noted that the in-place portfolio is changing hands “at a substantial discount to estimated replacement cost.”

“Welltower and Amica have paved the path for a significant future expansion of Amica’s ultra-luxury, higher acuity product … under a highly aligned RIDEA 5.0 contract,” the company wrote in its announcement.

Welltower’s acquisition also includes seven under-construction communities that the REIT noted “have been meticulously planned and curated throughout development timelines that have stretched nearly a decade.” Welltower is acquiring the communities when they gain certificates of occupancy, which the company expects to happen “in stages between 2025 and 2027.”

“This structure allows Welltower to eliminate development risk while enabling the company to own trophy assets with untrended stabilized average RevPOR of over $12,000 [CAD],” the company’s announcement reads. “The nine development parcels Welltower plans to acquire are located in highly affluent and supply constrained neighborhoods and have been entitled through elongated and onerous processes that have spanned over five years on average, providing Welltower with significant future optionality.”

The average home value within a kilometer of Amica’s communities ranges from about $2.2 million to $4 million CAD, the REIT noted in a March 2 business update. The 31 stable communities in the portfolio carry “significant pricing power, achieving a high-single digit RevPOR growth CAGR over the past five years, outperforming even the total Welltower SHO portfolio,” Welltower’s update reads.

“Amica’s focus on ultra-luxury, higher acuity properties in Toronto, Vancouver, and Victoria provides a natural complement in Canada to the lower acuity model of Cogir, Welltower’s best-in-class growth partner,” the update reads.

Welltower has in the last few years expanded its holdings in Canada. The company in 2023 expanded its relationship with Canadian and U.S. operator Cogir in conjunction with its announcement to grow a new management platform north of the U.S. border. The REIT noted in its most recent financial filings it had 134 properties in Canada as of the end of 2024, before the deal with Amica.

The company also has ramped up its investments as of late. In the first 45 days of this year, the REIT had closed or secured under contract deals representing $2 billion in value. In January, the company launched a new private funds management business and announced the new business is acquiring NorthStar Healthcare Income and its 40 senior housing communities in a $900 million transaction.