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To compare Canadian apartment REITs, look beyond the headline distribution yield: calculate yields using the same unit-price date, pair them with a clearly labelled FFO or AFFO payout ratio, and compare debt and occupancy only after checking each issuer’s definitions and portfolio scope. CAPREIT and Killam’s 2025 figures illustrate why matching percentages are not automatically like-for-like comparisons.
How do I compare Canadian apartment REITs by yield, debt, and occupancy?
Build the comparison from each issuer’s filings and investor materials, recording the reporting period and exact metric label. A useful screen separates three questions: what cash distribution a unit’s price implies, how that distribution relates to a cash-flow measure, and how the trust reports leverage and property operations.
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The figures below are company disclosures, not sector benchmarks or an investment recommendation. They cover CAPREIT and Killam; they are not a complete ranking of Canadian apartment REITs.
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Example figures from issuer materials
| Trust | Distribution yield | Distribution coverage | Debt and financing | Occupancy |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CAPREIT | 4.2%, from Canadian Apartment Properties REIT’s February 2026 investor presentation, calculated using the February 12, 2026 closing unit price; a dated snapshot, not a current yield. | 2025 FFO payout ratio: 60.8%. | Total debt / gross book value: 39.3% at December 31, 2025. | Canadian residential same-property occupancy: 97.3% at December 31, 2025. |
| Killam | Not stated in the reviewed result excerpts on a same-date price basis. Calculate it using the current distribution rate and a common unit-price date. | 2025 AFFO payout ratio: 69%. | At December 31, 2025: total debt / total assets 41.9%; interest coverage 2.93x; debt / normalized EBITDA 9.66x; weighted-average mortgage interest rate 3.58%; weighted-average years to debt maturity 3.6. | 2025 same-property apartment occupancy: 97.3%. |
Sources: Canadian Apartment Properties REIT investor materials and Killam Apartment REIT financial reports. The same 97.3% occupancy headline does not establish that the trusts counted the same properties or used identical definitions.
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Is a higher REIT yield better?
Not by itself. Yield measures the cash distribution relative to unit price; it does not establish whether the distribution is sustainable or what total return an investor will earn. A higher figure can reflect a lower price as well as a higher distribution, so it needs context rather than a stand-alone ranking.
Calculate every yield on one date
Use the annualized cash distribution per unit divided by the unit price, and state the price date. For a peer comparison, confirm each trust’s distribution rate and use unit prices from the same market close. CAPREIT’s 4.2% figure is based on its February 12, 2026 closing price, so it should not be compared with another trust’s yield calculated from a different date or described as today’s yield.
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Check distribution coverage beside yield
Read the payout ratio with its cash-flow basis attached. CAPREIT reported a 60.8% FFO payout ratio for 2025; Killam reported a 69% AFFO payout ratio for 2025. FFO and AFFO are different measures, so these percentages are useful issuer-specific context, not directly equivalent scores.
What debt ratio should I compare for a REIT?
There is no safe shortcut of comparing two percentages without their labels and denominators. CAPREIT reported total debt to gross book value of 39.3% at December 31, 2025. Killam reported total debt as a percentage of total assets of 41.9% on that date. Because gross book value and total assets are different denominators, those figures should not be ranked as if they were the same calculation.
Add debt-service and refinancing context
Where issuers report and define them, consider interest coverage, debt relative to EBITDA, borrowing cost, and weighted-average maturity alongside leverage. Killam’s December 31, 2025 figures were 2.93x interest coverage, 9.66x debt to normalized EBITDA, a 3.58% weighted-average mortgage interest rate, and 3.6 years weighted-average years to debt maturity. Killam identifies several such ratios as non-IFRS measures; preserve the issuer’s definitions because the labels may not have standardized meanings across trusts.
How should I interpret occupancy?
Occupancy is a measure of occupied rental capacity under an issuer’s definition, not a stand-alone score for rent growth, tenant demand, or valuation. Record the reporting date, geography, property type, and whether the figure describes same-property assets or the full portfolio.
CAPREIT reported 97.3% same-property occupancy for its Canadian residential portfolio at December 31, 2025. Killam reported 97.3% same-property apartment occupancy for 2025. CAPREIT’s quarterly disclosures explain that its same-property cohort excludes certain assets acquired, disposed of, or classified as held for sale, so a matching headline percentage does not prove identical property sets. See CAPREIT investor disclosures and Killam financial reports.
Pair occupancy with same-property rent and NOI trends, leasing conditions, and supply in the trust’s markets. The reported figures do not establish one common Canadian apartment-sector occupancy definition; retain each issuer’s wording rather than silently treating the measures as identical.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How to build a fair peer comparison
- Set the comparison date. Choose a common quarter for operating and balance-sheet measures and a single market close for unit prices.
- Verify the distribution rate. Use each issuer’s current annualized cash distribution per unit for the selected date; do not carry forward a dated presentation yield as current.
- Calculate and label yield. Divide annualized cash distribution per unit by unit price and record the price date.
- Show the payout basis. Record FFO or AFFO exactly as reported and avoid treating unlike measures as equivalent.
- Preserve debt definitions. Include the numerator, denominator, measurement date, and issuer definition. Add coverage, EBITDA-based leverage, borrowing cost, and maturity only where the issuer reports and defines them.
- Specify occupancy scope. Note geography, property type, same-property or total-portfolio basis, and reporting period; check cohort exclusions.
- Mark gaps instead of estimating. If a comparable value is unavailable, identify it as not stated and consult the issuer’s latest reports before drawing a peer conclusion.
Why this is not a complete sector ranking
Boardwalk REIT lists its 2025 annual report on its financial reports page, but comparable current figures for Boardwalk and every major Canadian apartment REIT are not established by the examples here. Refresh the comparison from a common period and the issuers’ exact definitions before ranking a wider peer group.
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