Starlight Investments is outperforming many of its competitors when it comes to energy and water retrofits, the company’s latest sustainability report indicates.

Toronto-based Starlight’s 2025 Sustainability Report shows that the multi-family investment, development and property management company has invested $2.6 billion in building enhancements and expanding its portfolio since 2019.

“I think that [finding] really captures that effort we have [made] since our baseline year of 2019 to maintain, upgrade and expand on our portfolio because that has grown as well from the $2.3 billion that we shared in our 2024 report to now the $2.6 billion,” said Marlee Kohn, Starlight’s vice-president of environmental and social governance, in an interview with Connect. “That includes new development and our building retrofit program. I think that just demonstrates our commitment to sustainability and providing quality residential housing to a growing population.”

The report shows Starlight invested $22.5 million in energy and water retrofits in 2025, compared with $48.3 million invested in energy and water reduction initiatives in 2024. The annual figures fluctuate with changes to Starlight’s portfolio. Spending associated with properties that are sold comes off the books, while newly acquired buildings may not require significant energy or water retrofits. The movement reflects portfolio activity as much as the pace of work.

A broader measure shows Starlight has invested $2.6 billion in maintaining, upgrading and expanding its portfolio since 2019, up from $2.3 billion reported the previous year. The figure includes the full scope of the company’s building retrofits and improvements and reflects its investment in developing and maintaining quality, resilient buildings.

Starlight reduced its buildings’ emissions 26.8% between 2019 and 2025, but the properties saw what the company calls a 1.7% like-for-like emissions increase in 2025.

“That’s a reflection of our [electricity] grid and our emissions grid not getting so much cleaner from 2024 to 2025,” said Kohn.

In 2025, Starlight handily exceeded United Nations Principles of Responsible Investment (PRI) median score performance across all evaluated modules: policy, governance and strategy; real estate; and confidence-building measures, says the report.

Starlight earned an 86% policy, governance and strategy assessment compared with the global median of 66%. Meanwhile, the firm’s PRI real estate score of 81% was well above the 72% median, and the company’s confidence-building measures achieved a 92% PRI rating versus the 80% median.

“I think [the strong PRI performance] is a testament to our governance,” said Kohn. “PRI is very much based on how we govern sustainability and our targets and our plans associated with our program and our strategy as opposed to our [individual] performance numbers and how our buildings at that level are performing.”

Starlight’s strong PRI results came after the firm became one of the first companies to begin aligning its sustainability reporting with the Canadian Sustainability Disclosure Standard 2 (CSDS 2), an offshoot of International Financial Reporting Standards S1 and S2 sustainability measures.

CSDS 2 calls for countries to set their own sustainability standards, with organizations reporting on how they are performing in relation to them. Although Starlight has begun aligning its sustainability report with CSDS 2, such an alignment is not yet mandatory, said Kohn.

“There are a set of standards that we are aligned with for [IFRS] S2, which is specifically around your climate-risk disclosures,” said Kohn. “So, we chose to align [with CSDS 2] to get ahead of it.

“Granted, when we first started aligning with it, we thought maybe that mandatory rule was coming sooner than we think now. But it still is pending and it’s still something that we see in high regard because we do believe that this is the highest level of standard that we could align with in terms of our sustainability disclosure. So, we chose to continue aligning with that.”

The company aligned even further with CSDS 2 reporting in 2025 in terms of climate-risk assessments, review and mitigation planning, she added.

“That allowed us to move from certain standards within that to go from partial to full disclosure on particular items,” she said. “So, I think that it’s been a really helpful benchmark for us and [helpful in terms of] standards to follow.

“That guidance, even in the absence of it being mandatory, shows to our investors that we are ahead of the curve and aligning ourselves, and holding ourselves accountable, to something that exists outside of our organization.”

Starlight’s strong 2025 sustainability performance came as the company pressed forward with its ESG project despite a loosening of global ESG regulations.

Kohn told Connect in 2025 that the firm would not be swayed by changing political attitudes toward ESG, which have been shaped largely by U.S. President Donald Trump’s disdain for such regulations and programs. At that time, she said Starlight’s business still faced risks and opportunities related to climate change, which could affect Starlight’s properties in both Canada and the U.S.

Pictured: Starlight multi-family property the Lively in North Vancouver.

Photo: Courtesy of Starlight