Canada to End 30% Stake Limit to Boost Pension Fund Investment

(Bloomberg) -- Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government is relaxing the rules for domestic pension funds, allowing them to buy more than 30% of a Canadian business, as part of a plan to spur more investment. 

“At a time of rising economic nationalism, the fight for capital has never been more fierce,” Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland said in a statement Friday. 

“Canada needs to fight harder than ever for capital, including facilitating and supporting the investment of Canadian capital here at home. This is key to the future prosperity of all Canadians.”

The change will apply to federally regulated pension managers like the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, but Freeland’s department said it will consult with provincial governments on the treatment of pension plans regulated by them.

The government also said it plans to provide as much as C$15 billion ($10.5 billion) in loans and equity to help build artificial intelligence data centers — adding that seven pension funds have already expressed interest in backing such projects.

The announcements come at a time when country is in the midst of a debate over how to solve weak productivity and soft business spending. Non-residential business investment in Canada has lagged the US for several years. Canada has a vibrant technology sector, but many promising startups sell or move to the US at a relatively early stage in their development as they pursue growth. The Canadian market has seen few initial public offerings over $100 million in recent years.  

In the broad set of measures, there are also plans to launch a fourth round of the Venture Capital Catalyst Initiative, including C$1 billion in funding in 2025-26, which will have “more enticing terms for pension funds and other institutional investors,” the government said. 

Freeland and the government are also examining whether to change ownership rules that prevent pension funds from owning more than 10% of municipal utilities, such as electricity distributors. 

In April, former Bank of Canada Governor Stephen Poloz was asked to study how to get the country’s pension funds to invest more in Canada. 

The removal of the 30% ownership limit was floated as one option. In September, Poloz told Bloomberg that that some pension funds were saying they’d like to play a more active role in their investments, including board seats where they could leverage their expertise.

Jack Mintz, president’s fellow in the school of public policy at the University of Calgary, says that while he agrees that the federal government is taking a “carrot approach as opposed to a stick approach” to encouraging domestic investment, he has concerns about dropping the 30% stake limit.

“We need to ask some serious questions about whether we want pension funds to be running companies, as opposed to just investing in them,” Mintz said, adding that the favorable tax treatment of the funds gives them a significant advantage and will allow them to outbid other investors.

Canada’s largest pension plans, also known as the Maple Eight, have nearly C$600 billion of investments in Canada, representing around a quarter of their total investments, according to Bloomberg calculations. The pension funds, including CPPIB, Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan and Caisse de Depot et Placement du Quebec, are considered among the most sophisticated investors in the world — owning data centers, airports and the Middle East’s largest port.

The Canadian government wants more infrastructure investment, too. 

“We welcome all additional measures to stimulate productivity and private investment in Canada, and build a pipeline of attractive projects for investors such as La Caisse,” a spokesperson for CDPQ said in an emailed statement.

Canadian companies make up a little more than 3% of the MSCI World Index.

Freeland also announced on Friday an expansion of the government’s tax incentives for scientific research and development. That includes increasing the annual expenditure limit on which Canadian-controlled private companies are entitled to earn a 35% investment tax credit, to C$4.5 million from C$3 million.

Freeland is set to provide an update on the country’s fiscal situation on Monday.

(Adds more details on pension investment in Canada, reaction from the Caisse, quotes from economist Jack Mintz.)

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