2025 CanFirst Partner Appreciation Event: An Evening of Insight and Recognition

On Monday, November 3rd, 2025, CanFirst hosted its annual Partner Appreciation Event at the Shangri-La Hotel, in Toronto, an evening dedicated to  show our appreciation towards all our partners who continue to shape CanFirst’s growth.

The night brought together members of the CanFirst community for a rare opportunity to connect in person, reflect on shared progress, and hear forward-looking economic insights from renowned guest speaker Benjamin Tal, Deputy Chief Economist at CIBC.

Throughout his keynote, Tal addressed the complexity of today’s macroeconomic environment, noting:

“We are trying to normalize the abnormal. We are trying to make sense of something that does not make sense. That’s not easy.”

He emphasized the persistence of uncertainty in the market, driven by global trade tensions, inflationary pressure, and demographic shifts while also offering clarity around opportunities ahead:

“What started as a fog of uncertainty is slowly clearing. Canada, in particular, is positioned to recover well heading into 2026 and 2027.”

From tariffs and trade to youth unemployment and housing affordability, Tal’s insights reinforced the importance of long-term, fundamentals-driven strategies, a perspective that aligns closely with CanFirst’s own approach to industrial real estate investment.

“The jobs aren’t coming back. The tariffs aren’t going away. But if we focus on productivity and investment, particularly in AI and infrastructure - we’ll come out stronger.”

The evening also provided a brief update from CanFirst CEO Alan Perez, who shared the latest on Fund 6 and Fund 7, new acquisitions in Fund 8, and the continued growth and resilience of the CanFirst Income Plus Real Estate Fund (“CIPREF”) Fund, which has delivered double-digit annualized returns since inception.

As always, the event was more than a thank-you. It was a celebration of the relationships that continue to define CanFirst’s success and our confidence in what comes next.

To all who attended — thank you for being a part of it.