2011 has proven to be a year of milestone achievements. Despite a hot and cold market, a perceived lack of buyer urgency, and uncertain economic times on a global level, we had more third party sales in our communities than almost any prior year. Naysayers beware – people still want to buy homes, and most importantly for our partners and supporters, they are choosing Hopewell communities in which to do so.

We climbed to new community development heights and pushed the limits of what was thought possible through the hard work of our esteemed construction and consulting partners in places like Mahogany, where at one point during the season we had more deep utility crews than any other project in Calgary at any time this year; more than the airport, more than Stoney Trail, and more than any other competitor in the city. We also had the largest dirt moving fleet of all of our competitors this year – an indication of the demand we're seeing from homeowners to live in a Hopewell community. It's the greatest amount of development we've ever done in the shortest amount of time and in total we developed 13 phases in all Hopewell communities combined – more than EVER before.

Hopewell also reached out further geographically than ever before in 2011, with the formation of Hopewell Management International (HMI), and the appointment of Paul Taylor as HMI's President. Paul's leadership of HMI marks an exciting turning point in Hopewell's evolution from regional developer of choice, to a truly international entity shaping new communities in eastern Europe, and as far away as Russia. It is a tremendous vote of confidence for what we've long known – that Hopewell is truly a world-class organization doing business on the world stage.

To that end, I'd like to thank my team for making the impossible possible on a near daily basis, and along with our business and builder partners, bringing community to life in a way that few others can. Thank you.

I also extend a tremendous thank you to everyone we work with (in our industry and beyond) for helping make us what we are and for helping us define what it means to be one of Canada's most outstanding developers. Thank you to each of you for your individual contributions, and to the contributions of your team - both great, and small. Thank you for being the best at what you do, and for making us all the better because of it.

So it is with that momentum, and that optimism, that we head into 2012 and HRC's 15th year in operation with as much enthusiasm, passion and commitment to our partnerships and our communities as we did when we turned the first piece of dirt those many years ago. We have a number of exciting initiatives underway for 2012, and we look forward to sharing them with you as the year progresses. It is my hope that we'll continue to earn your trust, your commitment, and the focus of your efforts in helping us create the world's most sought after communities.

So please enjoy the holidays, as we take time to enjoy the company of friends and family, and reflect on our collective accomplishments over the past year.

Thank you and best wishes for a happy and healthy holiday season.

Lesley Conway

President