Mr. Brent Binions reports

CHARTWELL ANNOUNCES FOURTH QUARTER & YEAR END 2017 RESULTS AND INCREASE TO DISTRIBUTIONS

Chartwell Retirement Residences Real Estate Investment Trust has released its results for the fourth quarter and for the year ended Dec. 31, 2017.

Q4 2017 and 2017 highlights:

• Funds from operations (FFO) up 9.7 per cent in Q4 2017 and up 5.7 per cent in 2017;
• Same-property adjusted net operating income (NOI) up 7.6 per cent in Q4 2017 and up 4.3 per cent in 2017;
• Distributions increase 2.1 per cent as of March 31, 2018.

"Building on the successes achieved in 2016, our operating teams produced another year of excellent operating results in 2017. I attribute this success to the everyday focus of our residence management and front line employees on enhancing the resident experience by delivering exceptional services and quality care. Their efforts are supported by our experienced and dedicated corporate and regional office teams, and by our unique corporate culture and management systems," commented Brent Binions, president and chief executive officer. "We have come a long way in building our culture, management capabilities and our real estate portfolio, and have created an exceptional business model to continue to build long-term, sustainable value for our unitholders for many years to come."

                                             FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS
                  (in thousands of dollars, except per-unit amounts and number of units)

                                                                  Three months ended Dec. 31     Years ended Dec. 31
                                                                         2017           2016         2017       2016
                                                                                                                    
Resident revenue                                                    $ 197,762       $182,652     $752,775   $714,380
Direct property operating expense                                     136,966        128,177      520,376    495,227 
Net income from continuing operations                                     714         12,826       13,082       (710)   
Total comprehensive income                                                714         15,053       13,082      4,796   
Funds from operations (FFO) (1)                                        48,022         43,767      182,502    172,637 
FFO per unit diluted (1) (2)                                        $    0.24       $   0.23     $   0.93   $   0.91    

(1) FFO and FFO per unit diluted are measures used by management in evaluating operating performance. Please refer 
to the cautionary statements under the section on non-GAAP (generally accepted accounting principles) financial 
measures in this press release.

(2) Includes dilutive effect of convertible debentures in 2016. 

(3) Includes trust units, Class B units of Chartwell Master Care LP and trust units issued under executive unit 
purchase plan and deferred trust unit plan.

In Q4 2017, resident revenue and direct property operating expenses increased 8.3 per cent and 6.9 per cent, respectively, primarily due to the growing contribution from developments and acquisitions, and growth in resident revenue and direct operating expenses in the same-property portfolio.

In Q4 2017, net income from continuing operations and total comprehensive income decreased by $12.1-million and $14.3-million, respectively, primarily due to higher direct property operating expenses, higher negative changes in fair value of financial instruments, higher financing costs, general and administrative (G&A), and trust and other expenses, partially offset by higher resident revenues.

In Q4 2017, FFO increased $4.3-million or one cent per unit diluted primarily due to higher adjusted NOI, partially offset by higher financing costs, G&A expenses, and lower management fee and interest income. In Q4 2017, FFO was also reduced by $1.0-million (2016 -- $100,000) of lease-up losses related to properties in development. The per-unit amounts were also impacted by higher weighted average units outstanding from the public offering of trust units completed on Nov. 24, 2017.

In 2017, resident revenue and direct property operating expenses increased 5.4 per cent and 5.1 per cent, respectively, primarily due to the growing contribution from developments and acquisitions, and growth in resident revenue and direct property operating expenses in the same-property portfolio.

In 2017, net income from continuing operations and total comprehensive income increased $13.8-million and $8.3-million, respectively, primarily due to higher resident revenues and lower negative changes in fair values of financial instruments, partially offset by higher direct property operating expenses, G&A expenses, depreciation and amortization, and financing costs. In addition, 2016 total comprehensive income included $5.5-million income from discontinued operations.

In 2017, FFO increased $9.9-million or two cents per unit diluted primarily due to higher adjusted NOI and other income, partially offset by higher G&A expenses, financing costs, and depreciation of leasehold improvements and amortization of computer software. In 2017, FFO was reduced by $3.7-million (2016 -- $100,000) of lease-up losses related to properties in development.

Operating performance

In Q4 2017 and in 2017, same-property occupancy declined by 0.5 percentage point, due to higher-than-normal resident turnover in the winter months of 2017 and short-term competitive pressures from new developments primarily in some Quebec markets.

In Q4 2017, same-property adjusted NOI increased by $4.7-million or 7.6 per cent, and by $10.8-million or 4.3 per cent in 2017, driven primarily by regular annual rental rate increases in line with competitive market conditions and lower utilities expenses, partially offset by lower occupancies, and higher staffing and food costs.

In Q4 2017, G&A expenses increased by $1.0-million and by $4.2-million in 2017, primarily due to higher staffing costs incurred to support the growing property portfolio and development activities, including management of Batimo projects. In addition, the increases were driven by higher non-cash unit-based compensation costs due to higher trading price of its trust units.

Financial position

At Dec. 31, 2017, liquidity amounted to $376.0-million, which included $44.8-million of cash and cash equivalents, and $331.2-million of available borrowing capacity on Chartwell's credit facilities. In addition, Chartwell's share of cash and cash equivalents held in its equity-accounted joint ventures was $7.6-million.

The interest coverage ratio on the rolling 12-month basis remained strong at 3.5 at Dec. 31, 2017, compared with 3.7 at Dec. 31, 2016. The net-debt-to-adjusted-EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) ratio at Dec. 31, 2017, was 6.9, compared with 7.3 at Dec. 31, 2016.

Recent developments

On Feb. 6, 2018, Chartwell completed the sale of its interests in three retirement residences in Quebec comprising 509 suites for $32.0-million.

Distributions

Chartwell announced today its fourth consecutive annual increase in monthly distributions. Monthly cash distributions will increase by 2.1 per cent from 4.8 cents per unit (57.60 cents on an annualized basis) to 4.9 cents per unit (58.80 cents on an annualized basis) effective for the March 31, 2018, distribution, payable on April 16, 2018.

Prior-period management's discussion and analysis (MD&A) restatement of certain disclosure

In connection with a continuous disclosure review by the Ontario Securities Commission, Chartwell has revised its approach with respect to its disclosure of non-GAAP (generally accepted accounting principles) financial measures in order to give greater prominence to GAAP financial measures. As part of this revised approach, in its 2017 MD&A, Chartwell has restated certain historical disclosures for each of the year ended Dec. 31, 2016, and the three-month periods ended March 31, 2017, and June 30, 2017, in order to provide greater prominence to Chartwell's GAAP measures for those periods. The restated information relates only to Chartwell's MD&A for the relevant periods, and no changes were made to Chartwell's financial statements for the same periods. There were no changes to reported net income or FFO figures resulting from these restatements.

Chartwell's financial statements, including its MD&A, are available on the REIT's website. A detailed list of Chartwell's property portfolio can also be obtained under supplementary information in the investor relations section of the website.

Investor conference call

A conference call hosted by Chartwell's senior management team will be held Friday, Feb. 23, 2018, at 10 a.m. ET. The telephone numbers for the conference call are local 416-340-2217 and toll-free 866-696-5910. The passcode for the conference call is 7022191 followed by the pound key. The conference call can also be heard over the Internet by accessing the Chartwell website, clicking on investor relations and following the link at the top of the page. A slide presentation to accompany management's comments during the conference call will be available on the website. Please log on at least 15 minutes before the call commences.

The telephone numbers to listen to the call after it is completed (instant replay) are local 905-694-9451 and toll-free 800-408-3053. The passcode for the instant replay is 3451014 followed by the pound key. The call, along with the accompanying slides, will also be archived on the Chartwell website.

About Chartwell Retirement Residences Real Estate Investment Trust

Chartwell is an unincorporated, open-ended trust which indirectly owns and operates a complete range of seniors housing communities from independent supported living through assisted living to long-term care. It is the largest owner and operator of seniors residences in Canada. Chartwell's aim is to capitalize on the strong demographic trends present in its markets to maximize the value of its existing portfolio of retirement residences, and prudently avail itself of opportunities to grow internally and through accretive acquisitions.

Chartwell's distribution reinvestment plan (DRIP) allows unitholders to have their monthly cash distributions used to purchase units without incurring commission or brokerage fees, and receive bonus units equal to 3 per cent of their monthly cash distributions.

Non-GAAP financial measures

Chartwell's consolidated financial statements are prepared in accordance with international financial reporting standards (IFRS). Management uses certain financial measures to assess Chartwell's financial performance, which are measures not defined in generally accepted accounting principles under IFRS. The following measures, FFO, FFO per unit diluted, same-property adjusted NOI, interest coverage ratio and net-debt-to-adjusted-EBITDA ratio, as well as other measures discussed elsewhere in this release, do not have a standardized definition prescribed by IFRS. They are presented because management believes these non-GAAP financial measures are relevant and meaningful measures of Chartwell's performance, and as computed may differ from similar computations as reported by other issuers and may not be comparable with similarly titled measures reported by such issuers. For a full definition of these measures, please refer to the 2017 MD&A available on Chartwell's website and on SEDAR.

We seek Safe Harbor.