Greater Toronto's Top Employers (2026) Magazine - Magazine - Page 56
56
( 2026)
SPONSOR CONTENT
First Capital empowers women to mentor and lead
W
hen Alison
Harnick was
offered the
opportunity
to join First
Capital REIT in a senior
management role eight years
ago, she didn’t hesitate. Harnick
already knew that the company
had a great work environment.
As a young lawyer, she had done
some legal work for First Capital
and had been impressed from the
start.
“I knew right away that there
was a culture of respect and
integrity here,” says Harnick,
senior vice president, general
counsel and corporate secretary.
“It’s always stood out to me that
everyone has a voice here. I’ve
always been taken seriously,
trusted with meaningful work,
and given opportunities to lead.”
Interns at First Capital REIT are given the support and access to opportunity needed to thrive within the
organization.
I’ve been given a lot of
opportunities at First
Capital and I’ve always
felt genuinely equal
with my colleagues.
Having that support has
made a huge difference
in my confidence
and continued career
growth.
— Jennifer Arezes
Head of Development and
Construction
First Capital is a retail real
estate investment trust (REIT)
that focuses primarily on owning
and operating grocery-anchored
shopping centres with some
residential developments in the
mix. The company manages a
portfolio of about 22 million
square feet of gross leasable area
spread across six major cities:
Toronto, Ottawa, Montréal,
Calgary, Edmonton and
Vancouver.
First Capital is an outlier of
sorts in the world of real estate. In
an industry typically dominated
by men, the company maintains
a majority of women on staff.
“Women hold 56 per cent of the
management positions here,
which is pretty incredible for a
real estate company,” says Jennifer
Arezes, First Capital’s head of
development and construction.
“Women are very supported
here,” says Arezes, “and it’s not
as if we ever had a policy in
place to ensure we had 50 per
cent women. That has happened
organically.” Rather, First Capital’s
strong culture of balance and
empathy acts like a magnet for
women looking to enter the real
estate profession, she says. “I’ve
been given a lot of opportunities
at First Capital and I’ve always
felt genuinely equal with my
colleagues. Having that support
has made a huge difference in my
confidence and continued career
growth.”
First Capital has long
operated a culture of informal
mentorship, but this year the
company introduced a formalized
mentorship program for the first
time. The just-completed first
run of the program featured five
mentors who connected with
mentees from other parts of the
company.
The mentorship program is
a powerful way of leveraging
First Capital’s unique dynamic,
according to Arezes. “We already
have a strong culture of gender
equity. When women gain
confidence through mentorship,
our hope is that they will pay it
forward when they advance to
more senior levels in their career.
It helps to create a pipeline of
strong women in leadership
roles.”
With offices and employees
across Canada, the mentorship
program will also bring those
employees together to share ideas,
says Arezes. “Being a mentor to
someone in a different part of the
