Forum Student Living Fund I, along with sponsor Forum Asset Management, have closed its inaugural capital raise after securing $46.7 million in total gross equity proceeds in about two months.

The trust is an unincorporated investment trust established to invest in a portfolio of Canadian purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) properties.

“Investor appetite has been strong across the board,” Forum managing director of alternative assets Domenic Gallippi told RENX.

Immediately following the closing of the offering, the trust indirectly acquired interests in three income-producing PBSA properties and a preferred interest in one PBSA development. It also committed to acquire an interest in a fourth income-producing property once its development is complete.

“Our evergreen fund, which is the Forum Real Estate Income and Impact Fund (REIIF), is entering into a co-ownership arrangement for three of the income-producing assets,” said Gallippi. 

“The other assets are at present owned by Forum on the balance sheet. The assets are being transferred with independent appraisals at fair market value.”

Fund’s first acquisitions

The Student Living Fund’s first acquisitions of completed buildings, all in Ontario, are:

• ALMA Sandy Hill, near the University of Ottawa at 87 Mann Ave., which has 62 units and 63 beds;
• 417Nelson, near the University of Ottawa at 417 Nelson St., which has 53 units and 94 beds;
• and West Village Suites, near McMaster University at 1686 Main St. W. in Hamilton, which has 107 units and 449 beds.

The development projects, both in Ontario, are:

• QUAD at York Phase 3, on Haynes Avenue near York University in Toronto, which will have 841 beds in 586 units in two eight-storey buildings that will be completed in time for the beginning of this school year in September;
• and ALMA Guelph Phase 2, on Scottsdale Drive near the University of Guelph, which will have 784 beds in 382 units in two seven-storey buildings when it’s completed in 2028.  

“There are five student housing assets focused on Ontario universities, and they’ve all seen strong enrolment growth,” said Gallippi. “A portion of the assets are right on the campus of the universities and others are within immediate walking proximity. 

“They’re institutional-quality, terrific assets that are highly oriented to student living, fully amenitized and strongly programmed for the student in mind.”

Capital raise components

Forum Student Living Fund I is a distinct, closed-ended investment vehicle separate from other investment funds managed by Forum and its affiliates, including the REIIF, a privately offered, non-traded, open-ended fund that has approximately $2.9 billion in assets under management and continues to accept new investor subscriptions.

“We have historically never commingled income-producing properties with a development property in one fund,” said Gallippi. “We've had strong demand for both in our platform, and this marked the first opportunity that we brought them under one structure.”

The capital raise consisted of: 

• an initial public offering of trust units valued at $43.3 million;
• a non-brokered private placement of Class C units valued at $700,000;
• a non-brokered private placement of Class B limited partnership units in a subsidiary of the trust valued at $300,000;
• and a co-investment by an affiliate of Forum, funded directly from Forum's balance sheet.

The trust has also received commitments for a private placement offering of Class B limited partnership units that’s expected to close in October. 

Subscriptions to the private placement will continue to be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis subject to availability. The trust has received commitments of $3 million in total equity proceeds pursuant to the private placement so far.

The remaining net proceeds from the offering and the private placement will fund the fourth acquisition, with any excess used to increase the trust's interests in the other portfolio properties.

The trust units in the offering were offered to the public through a syndicate of agents led by CIBC World Markets. It also included iA Private Wealth, Wellington-Altus Private Wealth, Canaccord Genuity, CI Investment Services, Desjardins Securities, Raymond James and Richardson Wealth.

PBSA in Canada

The top 20 Canadian universities grew full-time enrolment by more than three per cent from the 2024-25 to 2025-26 academic years, according to Gallippi.

Ontario recorded 168,919 undergraduate applicants for this fall, representing a 50-year high, according to the Ontario Universities’ Application Centre. The non-traditional applicant cohort — which includes mature, transfer and out-of-province applicants — reversed a two-year decline and increased by 12.4 per cent for this upcoming cycle.

“Generally, universities house first-year students in their residences,” Gallippi explained. “And then in the second, third and fourth year, and for graduate programs, they tend to look for off-campus housing.

“We think this record enrolment intake provides terrific runway and pipeline for the future of an asset class that continues to see limited new supply coming online relative to the demand.”

Past acquisitions and future developments

Forum, an affiliate of Forum Investment and Development Corporation, is an investor, developer and asset manager that’s been operating across North America for more than 30 years. 

It focuses on real estate, self-storage, private equity and infrastructure, with a strategic concentration in housing. The enterprise value of Forum's assets under management exceeds $3.8 billion. 

Forum’s REIIF acquired Alignvest Student Housing Real Estate Investment Trust's nationwide 17-property PBSA portfolio with 7,159 beds for $1.686 billion in 2024.

Gallippi said Forum is “constantly evaluating the market and seeing opportunities” and has an active development pipeline that exceeds $4 billion in completion value that it’s looking to deliver over the next three to five years. 

“Our platform continues to grow both via acquisition as well as our proprietary development pipeline,” said Gallippi. “Our evergreen fund is prohibited from owning any development assets within the fund, so this new fund structure allows us to commingle both income-producing and development exposures.

“We think there's a terrific opportunity for delivering additional much-needed supply to the market while also providing investor opportunities to invest alongside Forum.”