CPP Investments sees opportunity in Carney’s call for nation-building projects

Signage is seen in the reception of CPP Investments' Toronto offices, on Thursday, Sept. 21, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young

The head of the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board sees opportunities for the big investment fund in Prime Minister Mark Carney’s desire for large-scale, nation-building projects.

CPP Investments chief executive John Graham says the fund has an appetite to continue growing its Canadian assets.

“We’re excited that it’s going to lead to some pretty interesting domestic investment opportunities,” Graham said in an interview Wednesday.

Carney won the federal election last month after campaigning on a plan to remove internal trade barriers and build large projects that can bolster the country’s economic resilience.

The prime minister has also indicated he’s open to building more pipelines if there is consensus across the country in favour of it.

Graham said it has been challenging to invest in large-scale infrastructure projects in Canada, but noted that may be changing.

“We think that there may be the will to actually build some of these things,” he said, referring to big infrastructure projects.

The comments by Graham came as the fund reported a net return of 9.3 per cent for its latest fiscal year.

The fund totalled $714.4 billion in net assets at March 31, up from $632.3 billion a year earlier. The increase included 59.8 billion in net income and $22.3 billion in net transfers from the Canada Pension Plan.

The result fell short of its benchmark portfolios’ return of 10.9 per cent.

CPP Investments holds a global portfolio, of which 47 per cent is invested in the U.S. compared with 12 per cent in Canada. Nineteen per cent of the fund was invested in Europe, 17 per cent in the Asia Pacific region and five per cent in Latin America, as of March 31.

Graham said the U.S. portion increased last year as its U.S. assets performed well and the U.S. dollar strengthened versus the loonie.

CPP Investments says public equities, especially in the U.S. and China, delivered gains despite geopolitical and trade-related headwinds in its fourth quarter, while investments in private equities, infrastructure and credit also helped. The strengthening of other currencies against the loonie also boosted results.

In releasing its annual report Wednesday, CPP Investments dropped a net-zero by 2050 commitment for carbon emissions. It noted that there have been recent legal developments in Canada that have introduced new considerations around how net-zero commitments are interpreted.

Recent changes to Canada’s Competition Act require companies to be able to substantiate environmental claims they make.

Graham said the fund continues to believe in the need to incorporate sustainability in how it manages its portfolio.

“We think it is really important to incorporate climate and incorporate sustainability into the portfolio when we take a long-term perspective and as a long-horizon investor,” he said.

“Recent legal developments in Canada have introduced, kind of, new considerations around how net-zero commitments are interpreted so that’s caused us to change a little bit how we talk about it, but nothing’s changed on what we’re actually doing.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 21, 2025.