The 10 largest Canadian public pension funds' current combined assets of more than C$1.1 trillion ($822 billion) equals 45% of Canada's gross domestic product, according to a study released Thursday by Boston Consulting Group.
The top three plans — the C$272.9 billion Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, Toronto; C$240.8 billion Caisse de Depot et Placement du Quebec, Montreal; and the C$154.4 billion Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, Toronto — are among the top 20 plans worldwide in terms of assets, according to the study. CPPIB, which manages assets of the Canada Pension Plan, Ottawa, ranks eighth; the Caisse, which oversees Quebec pension and other assets, was 14th; and OTPP was 20th.
The remaining plans in the top 10 are the C$123.6 billion British Columbia Investment Management Corp., Victoria; C$112 billion PSP Investments, Montreal; C$75 billion Alberta Investment Management Corp., Edmonton; C$69.8 billion Ontario Municipal Employees' Retirement System, Toronto; C$60.8 billion Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan, Toronto; C$22 billion Ontario Pension Board, Toronto; and C$17.5 billion OPTrust, Toronto.
Also, seven of the plans — CPPIB, Ontario Teachers, Ontario Municipal, Caisse, PSP, BCIMC and AIMCo — rank among the top 30 global infrastructure investors, BCG said. While Caisse, CPPIB, Ontario Municipal, Ontario Teachers and BCIMC are among the top 30 global real estate investors.
About 32% of the top 10's total assets are in alternative asset classes such as infrastructure, private equity, and real estate. That compares to less than 11% by other Canadian pension plans, according to BCG.
In Canada, the top 10 have invested a total of C$600 billion across various asset classes and directly employ almost 11,000 people.