Rising political risk and Ottawa pressure test funds’ long-running US bet
Canadian pension money is still betting big on the US — even as political and policy risks pile up.
According to CBC News, the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) has a record $780.7bn in assets, with 47 percent invested in the US and just 13 percent in Canada.
CPP holds about $366bn in US assets versus $98bn at home, after steadily increasing foreign exposure since Ottawa removed caps on overseas investments in 2005.
A CBC analysis found the pattern is similar across the “Maple Eight,” Canada’s largest pension funds, which collectively hold about $1tn in US assets.
OMERS has 55 percent of its portfolio in American assets, while PSP has 40.5 percent in the US Only the Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan, the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan and the Alberta Investment Management Corp. have more Canadian exposure than US exposure.
CPP spokesperson Michel Leduc told CBC News that the fund’s US weighting actually sits below global benchmarks such as the MSCI World Index and the FTSE 100, which he described as “65 percent US content.”
He said Canadians may ask “Why so much in the US? Why not more in Canada?” but argued that 47 percent is “well below” the global average.
CPP reported 8.4 percent annualized returns over the last 10 years despite “geopolitical tensions.”
The allocation split is drawing pushback from some institutional voices who want more capital directed domestically.
Daniel Brosseau, president of Letko Brosseau Global Investment Management in Montreal, said pension funds influence wages and wealth in Canada through their investments, not just retirement income.
In 2024, he co‑wrote a letter signed by 90 investment leaders calling on Ottawa to create incentives for the Maple Eight to invest more at home, saying there is “about $3tn that can be invested in Canada.”
Policy-makers are engaging, but not regulating.
CBC News reported that managers of the Maple Eight met Finance Minister François‑Philippe Champagne in Toronto in January to discuss new Canadian ventures for the $2.6tn they oversee and to explore ways to spur more domestic investment.
Champagne said the government has set up regular meetings to look at potential projects but has not moved to reinstate pre‑2005 “Buy Canadian” limits on foreign holdings.
Others warn against a forced shift back to home bias.
Keith Ambachtsheer of the International Center for Pension Management at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management said he campaigned for years to remove foreign caps because “pension funds have to be able to diversify globally.”
He noted that large US positions are to be expected given the size of US capital markets and said long‑term performance has been “pretty good.”
At the same time, risk perceptions are changing.
Senator Clément Gignac, an economist, told CBC News the US remains liquid but “very unpredictable” under the Trump administration, and he believes “the risk/return has shifted regarding the US,” prompting Canadian pension funds to re‑evaluate their exposure.
