Greater Toronto's Top Employers (2025) Magazine - Flipbook - Page 62
62
( 2025 )
SPONSOR CONTENT
First Capital fosters future real estate leaders
W
hen Spence
Goodwin began as
an intern at First
Capital REIT,
he was just finishing his second
year of university. He remembers
looking up to the people working
in his role now. “I never imagined
I’d be here six years later,” says
Goodwin, now a leasing manager.
A Toronto-based commercial
real estate company, First Capital
owns, operates and develops
open-air centres that are anchored
by grocery stores in neighbourhoods in key markets across
Canada.
“At First Capital, we believe if
you put your people and your
customers first, manage your
property assets proactively, and
exercise disciplined financial
management – these are the key
ingredients for success,” says Neil
Downey, executive vice-president
enterprise strategies and chief
financial officer.
Downey describes First Capital
as a friendly and collaborative
place to work where new ideas
are encouraged. He feels a unique
aspect of the company’s culture is
the internship program.
“We received nearly 6,000
applications in 2024 for a program
where we can typically take on 10
to 18 interns,” says Downey. The
program follows a diverse group of
students placed in different areas
of the company through their
university education.
Downey is one of two executive
leaders for the capstone projects
– real-world assignments where
teams of interns come up with
a strategy to solve a company
challenge. “My role is as a coach,
mentor and subject matter
expert,” he says.
Goodwin remembers a capstone
project in which he and his team
focused on a specific development
property. “We looked at what
tenants we might bring in –
something new and different,
such as emerging brands,
technologies and services to
elevate the customer experience,”
he says.
Each capstone project team
comes up with a 20-minute presentation for the executive leadership team. “We tell our interns
the presentation is in a low-risk
environment,” says Downey. He
coaches the interns through a dry
run of the presentation. Then, the
big day is an interactive session
with questions coming from
executives and the other teams.
“At First Capital, we believe
if you put your people and
your customers first, manage your property assets
proactively, and exercise
disciplined financial management – these are the key
ingredients for success.”
— Neil Downey
Executive Vice-President
Enterprise Strategies and Chief
Financial Officer
First Capital offers an internship program in which students solve a real-world company challenge as part of
their capstone project.
“One of the intangibles of
the teamwork is the relationship-building and bonding,” says
Downey. “In Canadian business,
it seems the circles are small and
I still run across people I worked
with 30 years ago.”
Downey says First Capital endeavours to promote from within.
It starts from the beginning when
an intern transitions to permanent
employment.
Goodwin joined the internship
program in 2018 and became an
employee in 2021. “I was brought
on full-time as a coordinator in
Toronto,” he says. A year later,
he was offered an opportunity
to become a leasing manager in
Montréal.
Goodwin’s colleagues have
been supportive, especially when
