(Connect is spotlighting inaugural recipients of the Canadian Women in Real Estate Awards. In this article, we profile Amy Erixon, president of global investment for Avison Young.)

Amy Erixon oversees billions of dollars worth of global commercial real estate investments for Avison Young.

Erixon, who has more than 35 years of industry experience, serves as the Toronto-based full-service firm’s president of global investment as well as a principal of the company. She founded and heads Avison Young’s global investment practice on behalf of major institutional investors.

The group is active across all major, and select, property types in Canada, the U.S., Mexico, Germany and the U.K. Erixon is also a member of Avison Young’s executive committee, which steers the company’s overall strategic direction across all markets and leads its investment committee.

During her career, she has acquired, developed and repositioned portfolios valued in excess of $9 billion and completed large-scale rezoning and development projects in numerous North American markets. While helping clients achieve their portfolios’ financial and non-financial goal, she strives to help them reduce risk and overcome their buildings’ functional obsolescence.

Erixon is a strong advocate for increased real estate technology use, greening strategies and smart cities. She has advised public agencies, pension fund operators, and federal, state and local governments on issues ranging from affordable housing to ecological urbanism.

Erixon is a founding member of the Real Property Association of Canada’s sustainability and fund governance committees and participates in the group’s CEO council. She also sits on the Ontario board of the Nature Conservancy of Canada and formerly served on several REIT boards.

In 2022, she co-chaired the Toronto Real Estate Forum.

Erixon is also an active member of the Urban Land Institute’s responsible property investing council and the Carbon Impact Initiative, and serves as an educational counselor for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, which is one of her alma maters.

Prior to joining Avison Young, she was the president and CEO of Canadian investment and management company IGRI, which was launched with $36 million and generated more than $1 billion of investments in its first three years..

Before then, she held several investment and development leadership positions with companies in Canada and the U.S., including LaSalle and Prudential Insurance.