Podcast: Real Estate Forums

Industry Leadership with Benjamin Shinewald of BOMA Canada

CRE Podcast · Industry Leadership with Benjamin Shinewald of BOMA Canada

We are joined by Benjamin Shinewald, the President and CEO of BOMA Canada (Building Owners and Management Association of Canada). Benjamin will admit he doesn’t “technically work in real estate” but his job at BOMA Canada is to support real estate and make it thrive.

Benjamin tells us about BOMA Canada’s role as a sustainability driver and the services they offer to real estate management. We hear about the pandemic guide that BOMA had begun developing during the SARS outbreak and how it has come into play during COVID-19.

Topics covered include:

The experience Benjamin has that made him the right fit for BOMA.
BOMA’s history and the services that they provide.
BOMA emblems, what they represent, and why they are becoming more popular.
Why sustainability is of particular importance in real estate.
The relationship between LEED and BOMA.
What buildings need to do to become certified and simple changes thet can start with.
The pandemic guide that was first developed during SARS.
How climate change impacts the way that real estate businesses are managed.
Flooding as a serious issue in Canada and how it can be mitigated.
Emerging issues outside of climate change.
A guide Benjamin helped create about cybersecurity and building operations.
A story about a cyber breach in Las Vegas.
BOMA Canada’s place within BOMA International.
Canada’s increasing competitiveness on the global sustainability stage.

More about our guest:

Benjamin L. Shinewald is the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Building Owners and Managers Association of Canada. Among other things, Benjamin’s responsibilities include BOMA BEST, Canada’s leading environmental assessment and certification program for commercial real estate. During his tenure, BOMA BEST has grown rapidly and is now expanding worldwide.

Prior to joining BOMA in 2012, Benjamin served as the CEO of Canadian Jewish Congress.

Earlier, he served in the Privy Council Office in Ottawa and practiced law in Toronto at Torys. He also served as a Law Clerk to the Chief Justice of Israel, worked for the Leader of the Democratic Party of Hong Kong, served in the Canadian Mission to the OECD in Paris and worked for the Winnipeg Jets Hockey Club.

Benjamin has won various awards including an Action Canada Fellowship, which named him “one of Canada’s best and brightest emerging leaders,” and a European Union Visitors Programme Fellowship, which recognized him as a “young, promising leader.”

Benjamin was educated at the University of Toronto, the London School of Economics, the University of Manitoba and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He is regularly published in leading newspapers and appears as a commentator on radio and television.

Benjamin is active in the community, serving on various community boards including Ve’ahavta: A Jewish Humanitarian Response to Poverty. He lives with his wife and two daughters in Toronto.

Released: June 1, 2020