Portfolio investments

Public Accounts of Canada 2025 Volume I—Top of the page Navigation

• Previous page: Enterprise Crown corporations and other government business enterprises
• Section 9: Table of contents: Section 9: Loans, investments and advances as at March 31
• Next page: Capital Subscriptions—International organizations

Portfolio investments represent investments in bonds, equity instruments, market funds, fixed income or investments in entities with share capital owned jointly by the government and other governments or organizations to further common objectives. Additional information on these entities is provided in the quarterly report entitled Inventory of Government of Canada Organizations.

Under the terms of Section 147 of the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act, the Superintendent of Bankruptcy has received shares in a number of corporations in lieu of a cash levy payable to the Crown.

Lower Churchill Development Corporation Limited

The Lower Churchill Development Corporation (LCDC) was incorporated in 1978 under the Companies Act of Newfoundland, with the objective of developing all or part of the hydroelectric potential of the Lower Churchill Basin. It is owned 51% by Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro, the designate for the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, and 49% by Canada. LCDC is not an active operating company.

Canada owns 1,475 class A shares, which it purchased for $10,000 per share in the initial years of the corporation. Funds were used to finance feasibility studies for proposed Lower Churchill projects. The corporation's only asset was an Option Right to purchase the Gull Island Production Company's assets and acquire hydroelectric development rights on the Lower Churchill River, granted by the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador in exchange for its initial ownership stake, valued at $5,200,000.

The option expired on November 24, 2006, and has not been extended by the province, resulting in an investment write-down for LCDC.

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board

The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) was created pursuant to the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Act. The CPPIB's objectives are to assist the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) in meeting its obligations to contributors and beneficiaries and to manage any amounts transferred to it in their best interest.

The government holds 100% of the share capital of the CPPIB that consists of 10 shares having a fair value of $10 each issued as per legislation. The assets managed by the CPPIB are included in the CPP financial statements. They are excluded from the government's consolidated financial statements since CPP is not part of the government's reporting entity as explained in Note 1 of the government's financial statements.

International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) - Perpetual Hybrid Equity Capital Instruments (hybrid capital)

On February 19, 2025, the Government of Canada acquired hybrid capital from the IBRD for an amount of $200 million USD as authorized by the Bretton Woods and Related Agreements Act and various appropriation acts. Hybrid capital is an instrument with perpetual maturity that has characteristics of both debt and equity and does not represent capital stock or any ownership interest in IBRD. As of March 31, 2025, the total value of hybrid capital is $288 million CAD.

Aequitas Fund

The investment consists of a contribution to the Aequitas Fund, which aims to fund international development and help achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, starting with gender equality and climate action.

Allianz Emerging Markets Paris-Aligned Debt Fund

The investment consists of a contribution to the Allianz Emerging Markets Paris-Aligned Debt Fund, which aims to provide exposure to large and mid-capitalisation stocks in emerging market countries which are aligned to the transition to a low carbon economy.

BlueOrchard Latin America and the Caribbean Gender, Diversity, and Inclusion Fund

The investment consists of a contribution to the BlueOrchard Latin America and the Caribbean Gender, Diversity, and Inclusion Fund, which will focus on increasing the access to finance to underserved groups by providing financing mainly to financial institutions. The Fund aims on increasing access to finance for women-led and/or -owned micro, small and medium sized enterprises, indigenous groups, people with disabilities, older people and companies at the forefront of implementation of diversity policies.

Canada Investment Fund for Africa

The Canada Investment Fund for Africa (CIFA) was a joint public-private sector initiative designed to provide risk capital for private investments in Africa that generate growth.

The Government of Canada was a limited partner in the CIFA and this initiative was finalized during fiscal year 2020.

Energy Access Relief Fund

The investment consists of a contribution to the Energy Access Relief Fund, which was designed to provide loans with a term of up to 3.5 years, subordinated, unsecured and low-cost subsidized loans to companies that had viable business models prior to COVID and that are facing liquidity challenges due to COVID-19.

Land Degradation Neutrality Fund

The investment consists of a contribution to the Land Degradation Neutrality Fund, an investment fund initiated to support sustainable land management and land restoration.

Mirova Gigaton Fund

The investment consists of a contribution to the Mirova Gigaton Fund, which is a private debt fund targeting energy access, clean energy transition and climate investments in underserved and emerging markets in developing countries globally, with a strong focus on sub-Saharan Africa.

Mirova Sustainable Land Fund

The investment consists of a contribution to the Mirova Sustainable Land Fund, which aims to tackle the interconnected challenges of land degradation and climate change by investing in sustainable land management projects in selected countries.

ResponsAbility Climate-Smart Agriculture and Food Systems Fund

The investment consists of a contribution to the ResponsAbility Climate-Smart Agriculture and Food Systems Fund, which aims to provide long-term expansion debt to innovative businesses operating in the food value chain in Asia Pacific, Latin America and Africa, with the goal of mitigating climate change, reducing food loss and promoting climate change resilience of smallholder farmers.

Equity investment

In order to help fulfill its mandate to promote economic development in the Cape Breton Region of Nova Scotia, Enterprise Cape Breton Corporation (ECBC) had taken equity interests in several companies to help the organizations expand or innovate.

Upon ECBC's dissolution on June 19, 2014, all of ECBC assets and obligations, except real property, were transferred to the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA). ACOA has been given the authority to hold or exercise, or surrender, sell, assign or otherwise dispose of, a stock option, share or other similar financial instruments that it acquires from ECBC or any of its subsidiaries.

North Portage Development Corporation

The Corporation was incorporated under The Corporations Act of Manitoba, to foster the social and economic development of the North Portage area in the core area of Winnipeg. The objective of the government's participation is to stimulate economic recovery in Canada and Manitoba.

The government's holding of common shares represents 33.3% of the shares outstanding. The Corporation is owned equally by the City of Winnipeg, the Province of Manitoba and the Government of Canada. There are 3 common shares issued, having a par value of $1 each.

Equity ownership

In order to help fulfill its mandate to promote industrial innovation in Canada, the National Research Council of Canada (NRC) has taken equity interests in several new firms based on NRC technology. NRC provides financial assistance at better than market conditions to firms through access to equipment, intellectual property and incubation space in laboratories and in the organization's Industry Partnership Facilities.

Since these companies often cannot afford to pay the full cost of the assistance received from the NRC, the NRC takes an equity position in a company in order to help the firms survive the critical development stage. In turn, it allows NRC to earn a return that somewhat reflects the risk taken should the company become successful.

This investment in equity is authorized under subsection 92(1)(b) of the Financial Administration Act which allows for the acquisition or the sale or other disposal of shares or assets in the ordinary course of a business of providing financial assistance to publicly and privately held companies and are recorded at cost.

The government's holdings of shares represent a minority interest in two publicly traded companies and one privately held company. The investments have been reported as impaired in the Public Accounts of Canada, as the companies are no longer active.

Co-operative housing project

The Parks Canada Agency has invested in the Rocky Mountain II Co-operative Housing Association, along with three other entities, to provide accommodation for Parks Canada Agency employees and employees of other entities in Banff, Alberta.

Public Sector Pension Investment Board

The Public Sector Pension Investment Board (PSPIB) is a Canadian Crown corporation established pursuant to the Public Sector Pension Investment Board Act. Its statutory objective is to manage, in the best interests of the contributors and beneficiaries, the funds transferred to it by the Government of Canada since April 1, 2000. These funds represent contributions less benefit payments and other charges related to the Public Service, Canadian Forces—Regular Force and Royal Canadian Mounted Police pension plans, and since 2007 for the Canadian Forces—Reserve Force pension plan, that fall within the Income Tax Act limits. The goal of the PSPIB is to maximize returns on investments without undue risk of loss, while having regard to the funding, policies and requirements and financial obligations of each of the pension plans.

The government holds 100% of the share capital of the PSPIB that consists of 10 shares having a par value of $10 each issued as per legislation. The assets managed by the PSPIB are recorded against the pension obligations since April 1, 2000.

Consolidation adjustment

The consolidation adjustment reflects the investments held by consolidated Crown corporations and other entities. These mainly include investments such as bonds, equity investments, money market funds and fixed income securities. Investments are measured at amortized cost unless quoted in an active market then they are measured at fair value.

Capital Subscriptions—International organizations

This group records Canada’s subscriptions to the share capital of international banks.

Canada’s subscriptions to the share capital of a number of international banks are composed of both paid-in and callable capital. The majority of subscriptions to international organizations do not provide a return on investment but are repayable on termination of the organization or withdrawal from it.

Paid-in capital subscriptions are made through a combination of cash payments and the issuance of non-interest bearing, non-negotiable notes payable to the organization. Although payable on demand, these notes are typically encashed according to terms of agreements reached between the organization and participating countries.

Callable share capital is composed of resources that are not paid to the banks but act as a guarantee to allow them to borrow on international capital markets to finance their lending program. Callable share capital, which has never been drawn on by the banks, would only be utilized in extreme circumstances to repay loans, should a bank’s reserves not be sufficient. It represents a contingent liability of the government, and is listed with other contingent liabilities related to international organizations in Table 11.7 in Section 11 of this volume.

Table 9.11 presents a summary of the balances and transactions for share capital to international organizations. The revaluation amount represents the conversion of foreign currency balances to the year-end closing rates of exchange. Balances denominated in United States dollars were converted to Canadian dollars at year-end exchange rate of $1 USD/$1.4385 CAD.

Table 11.4 and Table 11.7 of Section 11 of this volume present additional information on contractual obligations and contingent liabilities for international organizations that are disclosed in the notes to the audited consolidated financial statements in Section 2 of this volume.

The notes payable outstanding at year-end of $309,773,690 ($90,746,275 in 2024) are reported in Table 5.3 in Section 5 of this volume.

Public Accounts of Canada 2025 Volume I—Bottom of the page Navigation

• Previous page: Enterprise Crown corporations and other government business enterprises
• Section 9: Table of contents: Section 9: Loans, investments and advances as at March 31
• Next page: Capital Subscriptions—International organizations