{{Short description|Largest Canadian pension funds}} {{More citations needed|date=June 2025}} {{Use Canadian English|date=April 2026}}
In Canada, the '''Maple Eight''' are the eight largest pension funds. The investment approach used by the Maple-8 is known globally as the 'Canadian model', in which they utilize a direct investment approach and internally manage their own assets and portfolios. Collectively, {{as of|2026|March|lc=y}}, the pension funds control approximately CA$2.7{{nbsp}}Trillion<ref>{{Cite magazine |first=Sophie |last=Baker |title=Canada's Maple 8 public pension funds share lessons with U.K. counterparts |magazine=Pensions & Investments |date=2025-03-13 |url=https://www.pionline.com/pension-funds/canadas-maple-8-public-pension-funds-share-lessons-uk-counterparts |url-access=subscription |access-date=2026-04-15}}</ref> in assets under management (AUM), and they are heavily influential in Canadian and global investment markets.
== The Maple-8 members == {| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;" !Pension plan<ref>{{Cite web |last=Campbell |first=Kyle |date=2024-06-30 |title=Deep Dive: Canada's Maple 8 hit an inflection point |url=https://www.perenews.com/canadas-maple-8-hit-an-inflection-point/ |access-date=2025-03-13 |website=PERE |language=en-US}}</ref> !Acronym !Est. !Sponsor !Crown corporation !AUM (CA$; billions)<ref>{{Cite web |last=O'Leary |first=Katie |date=2025-02-13 |title=The Success of the Canadian Model and Maple 8 |url=https://www.chronograph.pe/the-success-of-the-canadian-model-and-maple-8/ |access-date=2025-03-19 |website=Chronograph |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=bmcgovern |date=2024-06-21 |title=How the investment strategies of the Maple 8 impact the decisions of medium- and small-sized plan sponsors |url=https://www.benefitscanada.com/archives_/benefits-canada-archive/how-the-investment-strategies-of-the-maple-8-impact-the-decisions-of-medium-and-small-sized-plan-sponsors/ |access-date=2025-03-19 |website=Benefits Canada.com |language=en}}</ref> |- |Canada Pension Plan Investment Board |CPPIB |1997 |Government of Canada and provincial governments |Yes |$793.3<ref>{{Cite web |title=Home |url=https://www.cppinvestments.com/ |access-date=2025-03-13 |website=CPP Investments |language=en-US}}</ref><br>(March 2026) |- |Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec |CDPQ |1965 |Government of Quebec |Yes |$517.3<ref>{{Cite web |title=Home |url=https://www.lacaisse.com/en |access-date=2025-06-30 |website=La Caisse |language=en-US}}</ref><br>(December 2025) |- |Public Sector Pension Investment Board |PSP |1999 |Government of Canada |Yes |$299.7<ref>{{Cite web |title=Home |url=https://www.investpsp.com/en/ |access-date=2025-06-30 |website=PSP |language=en-US}}</ref><br>(March 2025) |- |British Columbia Investment Management Corporation |BCImc |1999 |Government of British Columbia |Yes |$295.0<ref>{{Cite web |title=Home |url=https://www.bci.ca/ |access-date=2025-06-30 |website=BCI |language=en-US}}</ref><br>(March 2025) |- |Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan |OTPP |1990 |Government of Ontario and Ontario Teachers' Federation |No |$279.4<ref>{{Cite web |title=Home |url=https://www.otpp.com/en-ca/ |access-date=2025-06-30 |website=Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan |language=en-US}}</ref><br>(December 2025) |- |Alberta Investment Management Corporation |AIMCo |2008 |Government of Alberta |Yes |$194.7<ref>{{Cite web |title=Home |url=https://www.aimco.ca/ |access-date=2025-06-30 |website=AIMCo}}</ref>{{efn|The $194.7{{nbsp}}billion (December 2025) managed by AIMCO includes (at that date) the $31.9{{nbsp}}billion Alberta Heritage Savings Trust Fund{{snd}}a sovereign wealth fund which is not supported by employee/employer pension contributions nor used for ongoing pension plans; see linked article for information about that fund.<ref>{{cite report |title=Heritage Savings Trust Fund {{!}} 2024–25 Third Quarter {{!}} December 31, 2024 |publisher=Government of Alberta |location=Edmonton |date=February 2025 |url=https://open.alberta.ca/dataset/ee01fe55-ac45-4bc9-b46e-34259ae6e3b9/resource/c96755b9-08e5-49fd-a2e7-994987c198dc/download/tbf-2024-25-third-quarter-report-heritage-fund.pdf |access-date=2026-04-16}}</ref>}}<br>(December 2025) |- |Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System |OMERS |1962 |Various government agencies and unions in Ontario |No |$145.2<ref>{{Cite web |title=Home |url=https://www.omers.com/ |access-date=2025-06-30 |website=OMERS |language=en-US}}</ref><br>(December 2025) |- |Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan |HOOPP |1960 |Ontario Hospital Association and unions |No |$131.9<ref>{{Cite web |title=Home |url=https://hoopp.com/ |access-date=2025-06-30 |website=Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan |language=en-US}}</ref><br>(December 2025) |}
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== History == In 1986, when the Government of Ontario sought to improve its public sector pension plans, investment strategist Keith Ambachtsheer recommended Peter Drucker's model, as outlined in his 1976 book, "The Unseen Revolution”.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.rotman.utoronto.ca/the-rotman-experience/our-community/people/ambachtsheer-keith-/ |title=Keith Ambachtsheer |publisher=University of Toronto |author=Rotman School of Management |access-date=June 21, 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |first=Keith |last=Ambachtsheer |title=How Peter Drucker Revolutionized Canada's Public Sector Pension System: Lessons for Americans |publisher=Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance |date=2022-12-08 |url=https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu/2022/12/08/how-peter-drucker-revolutionized-canadas-public-sector-pension-system-lessons-for-americans/#more-152764 |access-date=2026-04-15}}</ref> Drucker posited creating a more diversified, globally oriented investment portfolio, handled by hired, not appointed, non-political professionals who received competitive remuneration, would lead to higher returns. The Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan was the first to adopt the model in 1990. In 2012, then president of the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, David Denison, stated: {{blockquote|Canada’s system was ranked fifth best in the world in the Mercer Global Pension Index study for 2011. In truth, Canada’s high ranking has more to do with the woeful state of many other countries’ retirement systems than the robustness of our own.<ref name=Denison2012>{{Cite speech |first=David |last=Denison |author-link=David F. Denison |title=Canadian pension funds as “Maple Revolutionaries” ‐ lessons from our success |event=Speech to the C. D. Howe Institute |location=Toronto |publisher=CPP Investment Board |date=2012-06-07 |url=https://www.cppinvestments.com/wp-content/uploads/migrated/documents/772/David_Denison_Speech_to_CD_Howe_Institute_June_7_2012_5DBMolW.pdf |access-date=2026-04-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240712202719/https://www.cppinvestments.com/wp-content/uploads/migrated/documents/772/David_Denison_Speech_to_CD_Howe_Institute_June_7_2012_5DBMolW.pdf |archive-date=2024-07-12 |url-status=live}}</ref>}} He added that there was room for improvement but the Maple-8's sophisticated, in-house investment model saved money.<ref name=Denison2012/> In 2017, Ambachtsheer stated that the costs are average but the Canadian model generates a higher 10-year return compared to other funds.<ref>{{Cite web |first=Amanda |last=White |title=The value of the Canadian model |website=top1000funds.com |date=2017-08-08 |url=https://www.top1000funds.com/2017/08/the-value-of-the-canadian-model/ |access-date=2026-04-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200813193454/https://www.top1000funds.com/2017/08/the-value-of-the-canadian-model/ |archive-date=2020-08-13 |url-status=live}}</ref> At a 2024 symposium, OMERS president, Blake Hutcheson, stated the top Canadian pensions were not a monolith, as suggested by the term 'Maple-8,' and each investment board was unique.<ref>{{Cite web |first=Darcy |last=Song |title=Canada’s Maple 8 ‘couldn’t be more different’, says OMERS |website=top1000funds.com |date=2024-06-07 |url=https://www.top1000funds.com/2024/06/canadas-maple-8-couldnt-be-more-different-says-omers/ |access-date=2026-04-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240620121822/https://www.top1000funds.com/2024/06/canadas-maple-8-couldnt-be-more-different-says-omers/ |archive-date=2024-06-20 |url-status=live}}</ref> In 2025, Mercer ranked Canada's system at 17th with a B-rating, down from 12th in 2023.<ref>{{Cite web| title=Mercer CFA Institute Global Pension Index 2024 | url=https://rpc.cfainstitute.org/sites/default/files/-/media/documents/article/industry-research/mercer-global-pension-index-2024.pdf | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241218171525/https://rpc.cfainstitute.org/sites/default/files/-/media/documents/article/industry-research/mercer-global-pension-index-2024.pdf | archive-date=2024-12-18}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.mercer.com/en-ca/about/newsroom/mercer-cfa-institute-global-pension-index-2023/ | title=Canada maintains its B rating in 2023 Global Pension Index rankings }}</ref>
The term 'Maple-8' evolved from an article in The Economist titled "Maple Revolutionaries" which originally discussed the Top Ten pension plans in Canada. Due to their size, the Ontario Pension Board (OPB) and OPSEU Pension Trust (OPTrust) are not included in the Maple Eight.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.cppinvestments.com/newsroom/cppib-bcg-2016/#:~:text=Canada%27s%20top%20ten%20public%20pension%20funds%20among%20the%20largest%20in%20the%20world,-2%20Minute%20Read&text=Heralded%20as%20%E2%80%9CMaple%20revolutionaries%E2%80%9D%20by,unique%20approach%20to%20investment%20management. | title=Canada's top ten public pension funds among the largest in the world }}</ref>
In November 2025, Prime Minister Mark Carney signed an investment agreement with the United Arab Emirates, and stated representatives of Canadian pension funds, with their $2 trillion in capital, would visit the UAE in 2026 to deepen existing partnerships in sectors such as energy, infrastructure, and AI.<ref>https://www.pm.gc.ca/en/news/news-releases/2025/11/21/prime-minister-carney-secures-new-agreements-united-arab-emirates</ref>
== Canadian allocations == There has been much focus on the Maple-8's allocation to Canadian investments. Although the federal government is not involved in the operation or investment strategies of these funds, they have expressed a desire to allot more capital to Canadian investments, with suggestions of a minimum allocation. Pensions argue that their global investment strategies allow them to stabilize their returns, discovering alpha in other markets and hedge against any volatility in the Canadian market, while bringing international capital into Canada.<ref>{{Cite web |date=March 11, 2025 |title='Buy Canada' hits $2.3 trillion money pot as Trump stokes anger |url=https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/investing/2025/03/11/buy-canada-hits-23-trillion-money-pot-as-trump-stokes-anger/ |access-date=2025-03-19 |publisher=BNN Bloomberg |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=June 14, 2024 |title=Home Bias: Do Canadian Pensions Need to Invest More in Canada? |url=https://www.ai-cio.com/news/home-bias-do-canadian-pensions-need-to-invest-more-in-canada/ |access-date=2025-03-19 |website=Chief Investment Officer |language=en}}</ref>
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align: center;" !Pension Plan<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Canadian model |url=https://www.hymans.co.uk/insights/the-canadian-model |access-date=March 19, 2025 |website=Hymans.co.uk |language=en}}</ref> !CAN. Exposure |- |Canada Pension Plan Investment Board |12% |- |Public Sector Pension Investment Board |21% |- |Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec |27% |- |Alberta Investment Management Corp. |42% |- |British Columbia Investment Management Corp. |29% |- |Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan |35% |- |Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan |55% |- |Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System |21% |}
== References == {{reflist}}
Category:Pension funds Category:Retirement in Canada Category:Finance in Canada Category:Octets