TORONTO — The leaders of some of Canada’s biggest pension funds say governments should consider selling them public assets, like airports and roads, to bolster levels of domestic investment.

“There are a lot of great assets on the balance sheets of governments at every level,” said Gordon Fyfe, CEO of the British Columbia Investment Management Corporation (BCI), during a panel discussion at the Economic Club of Canada in Toronto Thursday morning. “Especially with the deficits they’re running, why wouldn’t they sell some of those assets to balance sheets like ours where we can hold those assets and finance them?” Fyfe said on stage. He added that pensions would gladly invest in Canadian airports, transportation and energy assets if they were available to buy.

OMERS CEO Blake Hutcheson agreed that Canadian governments need a “mind shift” about keeping big infrastructure assets private. He said part of their hesitation is that the low rate of borrowing for governments can make it cheaper for them, rather than pensions, to finance projects. “The biggest recognition the government has to make is that it is okay for a Canadian pension plan to own a bridge or a port,” said Hutcheson. 

PSP Investments chief executive Deborah Orida said Canada’s big pensions have plenty of experience investing globally in major public assets. “We have an airports platform. We own seven airports globally,” said Orida. “We have expertise and we’d love to apply it to our country.” 

Canada’s big pensions have significant infrastructure holdings globally. Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan has held minority stakes in airports in Sydney, Brussels and Copenhagen. La Caisse bought a nearly 30 per cent stake in the Port of Brisbane after the Australian government privatized the asset in 2010. And the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board bought a 49.99 per cent stake in five Chilean toll roads in 2012 for $1.14 billion. 

Pressure for the Maple 8 to invest more in Canada has been ramping up for years, peaking with the wave of Buy Canadian sentiment triggered by U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade war. 

Earlier this month, federal Industry Minister Mélanie Joly implored the country’s big pension funds to invest more in Canada, as the government seeks $500 billion in new financing to boost the economy and lower Canada’s reliance on the U.S. 

Hutcheson said the political environment won’t change how OMERS invests in the short term. Over the medium term, however, he said Canada could benefit from the geopolitical and market shifts, including by attracting more pension investments. “We believe in this country,” he said. “We’re looking for opportunities to do more here.”

Fyfe said BCI would love to have more Canadian assets, but that investing in big new developments comes with a lot of risk that pension funds—with their responsibility to generate steady returns for retirees—aren’t always comfortable with. HOOPP CEO Annesley Wallace said HOOPP is keen to invest in new Canadian infrastructure projects if the government does enough to minimize those risks by, for example, helping facilitate the development and construction of the projects. 

Many pension leaders have historically resisted calls for domestic investment targets, emphasizing their mandates to maximize returns for their members in the long term. More recently, leaders have been warming to the idea of boosting their Canadian portfolios as the federal government signals greater support for assets that appeal to them. On the panel Thursday, however, Orida and Fyfe both emphasized that pensions need to remain free to invest without government influence. “Losing that independence is what keeps me up at night,” said Orida.