Building community by design: how Tricon Living uses Alvéole hives to bring neighbours together

The challenge: making “community” more than a word on a brochure

Almost every rental building promises community. Far fewer actually make it happen. For Tricon Living, building vibrant communities is a core value, and it shows up through resident experience programming: regular, welcoming moments that give neighbours a reason to meet, return and connect.

The Alvéole hive program supports that work on two fronts: it creates recurring, hands-on reasons for residents to gather, and it brings Tricon’s sustainability commitments to life in a way people can see and taste.

Community by design

Tricon Living has partnered with Alvéole since 2022 to bring living hives to The Ivy and The Spoke, connecting residents and prospective residents to their community and the neighbourhood around it. Where a full hive couldn’t be installed safely, wild bee homes at The Selby, The Taylor, Birch House, Maple House and Cherry House extend the program and pollinator education to every Tricon community.

The program is highlighted in three ways:

In resident community programming.

A local beekeeper visits every few weeks to check on the colony and update residents. Alvéole runs hive tours, honey harvests, and seasonal workshops (including candle-making) throughout the year, giving residents a recurring reason to gather. Each community also has its own MyHive page, where residents follow hive health updates and browse upcoming events.

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In neighbourhood and portfolio-wide events.

Honey jars and a live hive are a natural conversation starter: they open the door, and curiosity does the rest. At the Junction Farmers Market, that curiosity turned into 5 tours booked at The Spoke from a single afternoon. At the Toronto Life Garden Party, 600 attendees (300 residents and 300 members of the public) stopped by the tasting and information booth to learn about the program.

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On leasing tours.

The hive gives leasing agents a story to tell that no other building nearby can match. One prospect who toured The Spoke put it this way:

"It made the building and the community memorable. It showed how Tricon invested in their community, and that's what made me pick this over the rest."

For Tricon Living, the hive program is one way to build community by design: regular, welcoming moments that connect residents to one another, their buildings and the neighbourhoods around them.