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SENIOR NOTES PAYABLE AND OTHER DEBT - Narrative (Details) CAD in Millions	1 Months Ended					3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Aug. 31, 2017 property	Jun. 30, 2017 CAD	May 31, 2017 CAD	Apr. 30, 2017 USD ($) period	Mar. 31, 2017 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2017 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2016 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2017 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2016 USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2017 USD ($)	Apr. 03, 2017 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2016 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2016 GBP (£)
Debt instruments
Loss on extinguishment of debt, net						$ (511,000)	$ (383,000)	$ (856,000)	$ (3,165,000)
Principal amount outstanding						$ 11,511,618,000		$ 11,511,618,000				$ 11,190,914,000
Derivative gain					$ 800,000
Forward Contracts
Debt instruments
Derivative notional amount											$ 275,000,000
Debt, weighted average interest rate											2.33%
Interest Rate Swap
Debt instruments
Derivative notional amount					400,000,000
Derivative fixed interest rate						3.10%		3.10%
Swap
Debt instruments
Derivative notional amount										$ 125,000,000
LIBOR \| Interest Rate Swap
Debt instruments
Debt, weighted average interest rate						0.98%		0.98%
LIBOR \| Swap
Debt instruments
Debt, weighted average interest rate										2.1832%
Unsecured revolving credit facilities
Debt instruments
Principal amount outstanding						$ 538,911,000		$ 538,911,000				146,538,000	£ 0
Unsecured Term Loan Due 2018
Debt instruments
Repayment of debt						200,000,000
Principal amount outstanding						0		0				200,000,000
Unsecured term loan due 2019
Debt instruments
Repayment of debt						278,600,000
Principal amount outstanding						0		$ 0				371,215,000
Repayments of debt \| CAD		CAD 124.4
Unsecured term loan due 2019 \| LIBOR
Debt instruments
Debt instrument, basis spread on variable rate				1.05%
Unsecured term loan due 2020
Debt instruments
Debt instrument, basis spread on variable rate								0.975%
Principal amount outstanding						900,000,000		$ 900,000,000				900,000,000
Secured revolving construction credit facility
Debt instruments
Line of credit facility, fair value of amount outstanding						0		0
Principal amount outstanding						0		0				0
3.100% Senior Notes due 2023
Debt instruments
Principal amount outstanding					$ 400,000,000	$ 400,000,000		$ 400,000,000				0
Interest rate					3.10%	3.10%		3.10%
Public offering price as percent of par					99.28%
Proceeds from public offering sale of debt					$ 397,120,000
3.850% Senior Notes due 2027
Debt instruments
Principal amount outstanding					$ 400,000,000	$ 400,000,000		$ 400,000,000				0
Interest rate					3.85%	3.85%		3.85%
Public offering price as percent of par					99.196%
Proceeds from public offering sale of debt					$ 396,800,000
1.250% Senior Notes due 2017
Debt instruments
Principal amount outstanding						$ 0		$ 0				300,000,000
Interest rate				1.25%		1.25%		1.25%
Repayments of debt				$ 300,000,000
2.55% Senior Notes, Series D due 2023
Debt instruments
Principal amount outstanding \| CAD			CAD 275.0
Interest rate			2.55%
Public offering price as percent of par			99.954%
Proceeds from public offering sale of debt \| CAD			CAD 274.9
Mortgage Loans
Debt instruments
Repayments of debt								$ 307,500,000
Revolving Credit Facility
Debt instruments
Additional periods \| period				2
Debt instrument, additional period				6 months
Line of credit facility, fair value of amount outstanding						$ 538,900,000		538,900,000
Letters of credit outstanding						14,500,000		14,500,000
Unused borrowing capacity available						2,400,000,000		2,400,000,000
Revolving Credit Facility \| LIBOR
Debt instruments
Debt instrument, basis spread on variable rate				0.875%
Revolving Credit Facility \| Unsecured revolving credit facilities
Debt instruments
Line of credit facility, maximum borrowing capacity (up to)				$ 3,000,000,000.0
Current borrowing capacity						400,000,000		400,000,000
Revolving Credit Facility \| Accordion Feature
Debt instruments
Line of credit facility, maximum borrowing capacity (up to)				$ 3,750,000,000.00
Previous Revolving Credit Facility \| LIBOR
Debt instruments
Debt instrument, basis spread on variable rate				1.00%
Previous Revolving Credit Facility \| Unsecured revolving credit facilities
Debt instruments
Line of credit facility, maximum borrowing capacity (up to)				$ 2,000,000,000.0
Borrowings originally denominated in CAD \| Unsecured revolving credit facilities
Debt instruments
Principal amount outstanding						$ 40,800,000		40,800,000				146,500,000
Borrowings originally denominated in CAD \| Unsecured term loan due 2019
Debt instruments
Principal amount outstanding												$ 92,600,000
Unsecured Debt
Debt instruments
Loss on extinguishment of debt, net								$ (500,000)
Skilled Nursing Facilities
Debt instruments
Number of real estate properties sold \| property	22