Building More Than Homes: Lépine’s Commitment to Community

A home is more than four walls and a roof. It is part of a community, and strong communities are built when people are willing to invest in one another.

For more than 70 years, Lépine Apartments has been building homes and communities across Eastern Ontario and Montreal. Its involvement in the community, however, extends beyond the properties it builds and manages.

Through a growing portfolio of charitable partnerships and hands-on initiatives, the Lépine family has supported Canadian Armed Forces veterans, people living with disabilities, children and youth, Northern communities, and programs that use sport to bring people together. Much of that work has a personal, hands-on quality.

Rather than only providing financial support, Lépine has often taken part directly — whether that means welcoming veterans into a hockey arena, helping adaptive athletes get onto the ski slopes, working alongside students, or travelling to a remote Northern community.

For Lépine President and Master Builder France Lépine, giving back is closely connected to values that have shaped the enterprise and the people within it over the years: community, inclusion, opportunity, and a belief in creating something that lasts.

“Supporting the community and involvement are a natural part of the Lépine family and why the company takes a hands-on approach,” says Lépine.

Honouring Those Who Serve

ABOVE: For many families, attending the Hero’s Ridge suite at an Ottawa Senators game marks the first time their CAF service has been recognized in such a big, public, and warm, friendly way.

One of Lépine’s best-known community initiatives is Hero’s Ridge, a longstanding partnership with the Ottawa Senators that began more than a decade ago. At each Senators home game, a Canadian Armed Forces veteran and their family are welcomed into Hero’s Ridge, a 200-level suite at Canadian Tire Centre. During the game, fans rise to recognize the veteran’s service. More than 500 veterans, with over 7,000 of their family and friends, have been welcomed into Hero’s Ridge over the years.

It is a simple gesture, but one with powerful meaning. For veterans and their families, it provides an opportunity to be recognized publicly for their service. For hundreds of thousands of hockey fans, it creates a moment to pause and acknowledge the men and women who have served Canada.

The program has become an important Lépine tradition — and an example of how a corporate partnership can create a direct connection between a company, its community, and the people it is intended to recognize.

The Lépine connection to Canada’s military community has also expanded through sport.

In 2025, Lépine Apartments became the presenting partner of the new PGA TOUR Americas Commissionaires Ottawa Open. Over $100,000 each year in tournament proceeds go to Soldier On, a Canadian Armed Forces program that supports the recovery of ill and injured serving members and veterans through sport, recreation, and creative activities. Lépine has committed to returning as presenting sponsor for the following years, continuing a partnership that brings together professional sport, the local community, and support for Canada’s military family. It is another example of the company using its involvement in sport to support a cause that extends beyond the event itself.

Breaking Barriers on the Slopes

Sport is also at the centre of another Lépine partnership: Canadian Adaptive Disabled Snowsports, or CADS. Founded in 1976, CADS is a registered charity that oversees adaptive ski and snowboard programs in Eastern Ontario and Western Quebec. Its mission is to make winter sport accessible to people living with disabilities and to create opportunities for participation, confidence, and inclusion.

Above: France Lépine hits the slopes with Emilie as part of Canadian Adaptive Disabled Snowsports.

Lépine supports CADS’ adaptive ski program, its golf tournament, and day programs for youth and adults living with disabilities in the Ottawa area. The programs use adaptive equipment and techniques that allow people with a range of physical and cognitive disabilities to experience alpine skiing. For someone who has never had the opportunity to ski because of a physical limitation, the experience can be transformative. The challenge is not necessarily the mountain itself, but finding the equipment, instruction, and support needed to access it.

That idea also has a connection to Lépine’s approach to accessibility in its residential communities. Two Lépine communities — the Normand in Kanata and Lépine Lodge in Renfrew — have received Rick Hansen Foundation Accessibility Certification. The company says accessibility standards are incorporated more broadly across all of its portfolio.

Giving Children the Chance to Grow

Lépine’s community involvement also extends to children and youth. YMCA Camp Otonabee, located along the Ottawa River in the Dunrobin area, provides children and young people with opportunities to experience nature, develop confidence, and build relationships through activities including canoeing, kayaking, hiking, swimming, and other outdoor pursuits.

Lépine’s involvement began following the devastating 2018 tornadoes that struck the Ottawa Valley. Lépine employees initially helped with cleanup efforts at the camp, but the relationship went beyond the initial emergency. Lépine teams have returned to help with mosquito-infested restoration and improvements to the campgrounds, including clearing dead trees, overgrowth, and underbrush.

The work is practical, but its impact is broader. A well-maintained camp creates a better environment for children to explore, learn, and build memories. It can also help ensure that the facility remains welcoming and accessible to campers with special needs. For Lépine, the connection is straightforward: supporting a place where young people learn, participate, and build relationships is another way of supporting the communities around it.

Supporting an Inclusive Future Through Wheelchair Basketball

Above: Lépine Apartments staff participate in and raise funds for Hoopfest, the signature fundraising event of Wheelchair Basketball Canada.

Lépine’s involvement with accessibility has also found a place on the basketball court. In 2024–2025, Lépine served as Champion Sponsor of Wheelchair Basketball Canada’s Schools Program. The program introduces students and teachers to wheelchair basketball through demonstrations, skills, drills, and games. Importantly, it is designed for all students, with or without disabilities.

Lépine employees have also participated directly. In December 2024, Lépine entered a team in Hoopfest, Wheelchair Basketball Canada’s signature fundraising event. Employees experienced the sport firsthand while helping raise awareness and funds for the organization.

The Schools Program also creates another opportunity: Lépine construction team members can speak to students about careers in the skilled trades. That combination of sport, accessibility, education, and careers reflects a practical approach to community involvement. Rather than keeping those activities separate, the program gives Lépine employees an opportunity to participate while exposing students to both an adaptive sport and potential career paths.

Reaching Canada’s North

Some of Lépine’s support work takes place far beyond Eastern Ontario. In 2019, France Lépine began supporting the charitable work of the Franciscan Missionary Sisters of Mary in Chesterfield Inlet, Nunavut. The small Inuit community has a population of approximately 500 people and faces challenges that are very different from those encountered in Southern Canada. Lépine’s involvement began with a hands-on visit.

France’s daughter, Pascale Lépine, organized a team that travelled to Chesterfield Inlet. During the visit, the group repaired a major leak in the local church lobby and completed a storeroom that would become a Saint Vincent de Paul food bank. The relationship developed from there.

Lépine has contributed building supplies, educational resources, social support, nutritional and health-care expertise, and infrastructure assistance. The longer-term goals include improving food security, supporting basic education and training, developing after-school programs, helping students pursue post-secondary education, and empowering Inuit women.

The approach is deliberately collaborative. Lépine describes the work as “a partnership with local missionaries and residents, with the aim of supporting the community’s own priorities and capacity.”

A New Generation of Canadian Engagement

Lépine’s community involvement is also part of a larger conversation about what it means to contribute to Canada. In 2026, France Charlaine Lépine was among 40 Canadian leaders and public figures who signed onto and supported Engage Canada, an initiative calling for a national service opportunity for young Canadians. The initiative promotes the idea that young Canadians should have greater opportunities to serve their communities and country, building skills, connections, and a stronger sense of civic responsibility.

The Lépine Approach: Showing Up

Across these very different initiatives, a common thread is the decision to be involved beyond writing a cheque. It can mean standing up at a hockey game to honour a veteran. It can mean helping someone discover that a disability does not have to keep them off the ski hill. It can mean introducing an entire classroom to wheelchair basketball. It can mean clearing trees at a summer camp. It can mean travelling thousands of kilometres to help a Northern community address infrastructure and food-security needs.

The causes are different, and so are the ways Lépine participates. What connects them is the belief that community support is most meaningful when it responds to real needs and involves people directly.

For Lépine Apartments, building communities has always meant more than construction. It’s helping people who want to help themselves or have helped others — a philosophy that extends well beyond its residential properties. The company supports organizations and initiatives that help people connect, participate, and create opportunities of their own. As France Lépine says, “it’s about building a new and better world.”

Header image: Shown with France Lépine and the Lépine Apartments staff, Argentina’s Mateo Fernández de Oliveira (centre) celebrated his first PGA TOUR Americas victory at the Commissionaires Ottawa Open.

Photos: Courtesy Lépine Apartments