The office vacancy rate at the end of the third quarter was 18.8 per cent across the Greater Toronto Area. Photo by Brent Lewin/Bloomberg files

Canada’s oldest real estate investment trust says there’s an opportunity to help the health-care system across the country while at the same time chipping away at vacancies.

RioCan REIT , which holds a 200-property portfolio that is primarily retail but also includes office and residential, has been exploring the concept in recent months. Jennifer Suess, senior vice-president and general counsel of the REIT, which began trading in 1993, has been charged with identifying opportunities to create “healthier communities” while adding value to the portfolio.

“By moving some of the non-acute patients that typically seek health in an emergency s

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