Shift, represented by environmental law charity Ecojustice, has written to Canada's Office of the Chief Actuary (OCA) warning that the OCA is severely underestimating the systemic financial risks of climate change in its valuation assessments. Shift and Ecojustice are concerned that the OCA is failing to assess the cascading economic and financial impacts of a rapidly warming world. This could have potentially severe consequences for the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) and the Public Sector Pension Plan (PSPP), which collectively have more than $1 trillion in retirement savings under management on behalf of millions of Canadians.

Amidst another summer of heatwaves, droughts and wildfires forcing Canadians to flee their homes, the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) made a bizarre decision to profile its investment in an oil and gas company whose business model is fundamentally incompatible with the long-term retirement security of Canadians. 

The Science-Based Targets initiative (SBTi), which is already being utilized by many of Canada’s largest pension funds, has clearly spelled out that net-zero alignment requires pension funds to end project financing for any fossil fuel expansion immediately, and cut off financing of any company involved in fossil fuel expansion by 2030 at the latest. Will Canadian pension funds apply the new SBTi Financial Institute Net-Zero Standard to themselves?

BC is experiencing the devastating impacts of climate change in real time, including unprecedented wildfires, devastating heat domes, and flooding that has caused billions in damages. Climate impacts are not some distant threat for BC, but a current reality. Yet BCI continues to lag behind other Canadian and international pension funds on its approach to the climate crisis. Read Shift’s climate and energy analysis of BCI’s 2024-2025 Annual Report.

At Brookfield’s AGM in June, nearly all of Canada’s largest pension funds voted against Shift’s shareholder proposal asking the company to disclose specific criteria for inclusion of assets within its transition-labeled funds. Only Ontario’s University Pension Plan (UPP) voted for our proposal.

Today, Shift released a new report, Entrenched Interests: Fossil Fuel Ties on Canada’s Pension Boards. The report reveals entanglements between Canadian pension fund boards and the fossil fuel industry which create potential conflicts of interest that can undermine pension funds’ ability to manage climate-related financial risks that threaten the retirement savings of millions of Canadians.

Today’s release of CDPQ’s 2025-2030 Climate Strategy and Transition Financing Framework reveals a credible, comprehensive plan to protect Quebec pensions by achieving net-zero by 2050 and investing in a safe climate future. It affirms that CDPQ’s leadership understands that climate-safe investing is imperative for achieving the fund’s core mandate. The strategy further positions CDPQ as a global climate leader while exposing yawning shortcomings in the climate strategies of other Canadian pension managers, particularly CPPIB.

In this Climate Pension Quarterly, we cover both the good and the bad climate and energy updates in the annual reports from six pension funds, recap recent investment transactions in fossil fuels and renewable energy, bring you news from pension fund portfolio companies, and provide an overview of climate-related votes at recent annual general meetings at Canadian banks.

Last month, Ontario’s University Pension Plan (UPP) released its annual report. UPP members should be re-assured that their pension manager demonstrated a continuing commitment to investing in a safe climate future.UPP continues to share the top spot on Shift’s annual Canadian Pension Climate Report Card for good reason. UPP is perfectly positioned to continue to lead by example: now’s the time for your pension manager to announce that it will be the first of Canada’s large pension funds to end all investments in oil, gas and pipelines.

On May 21, the news broke that the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) had quietly abandoned its commitment to net-zero emissions by 2050. But CPPIB’s abandonment of its net-zero commitment should perhaps come as no surprise– because it was never credible anyway. For years, Shift has meticulously documented how the actions and investment decisions of CPPIB and its privately-owned fossil fuel companies are expanding and prolonging the use of oil and gas. In retrospect, the writing was on the wall.

Canada’s largest pension managers describe their “stewardship” and “engagement” processes as critical elements of their climate plans. However, Shift’s analysis of recent shareholder votes reveals that some pension funds are more willing than others to push publicly traded companies to take meaningful steps to manage climate-related risks and opportunities.

Last week, the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) quietly abandoned its 2022 commitment to invest the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) in line with achieving net-zero emissions by 2050. The unacceptable abdication of responsibility by CPPIB stands in stark contrast to other Canadian pension giants, six of which released annual reports this year that unambiguously confirmed that they remain committed to net-zero by 2050. Many of CPPIB’s largest pension peers in other countries also remain committed to net-zero.

Today, the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board abandoned its commitment to invest the Canada Pension Plan in line with achieving net-zero emissions by 2050, first announced in February 2022. This is an unacceptable abdication of responsibility from the people responsible for managing the collective retirement savings of more than 22 million Canadians.

OMERS held its annual meeting on April 9, 2025. OMERS members asked pointed questions of their pension fund during OMERS’ annual meeting, reflecting shared concerns about what’s being done with workers’ retirement savings. At a perilous time for critical climate policy, OMERS has a decision to make. Will it continue to pretend that its oil and gas investments have “the best long-term climate positions,” or will it acknowledge that these companies’ ongoing disclosure failures and obstruction of climate policy are slowing down the energy transition that the world desperately needs?

OMERS released its 2024 Annual Report on February 28, 2025. The fund reported encouraging progress toward its climate targets, although it has not signalled that it plans to increase its ambition after meeting these initial goals. For institutional investors with a long-term horizon, this is not the time to take their foot off the accelerator. The world is halfway through the critical decade for climate action. Achieving initial goals should bolster confidence that they can work faster to achieve the emissions reductions that are imperative to safeguard Canadians’ retirement futures.

Investors for Paris Compliance (I4PC) and Shift: Action for Pension Wealth and Planet Health (Shift) have filed a shareholder proposal at Brookfield Corporation calling on the company to disclose specific criteria for inclusion of assets within its transition-labeled funds, which value $27.4 billion. A vote will be held at Brookfield’s AGM on June 6. This request follows concerns that the guiding document for the funds is too vague and may permit investments that undermine net-zero commitments, such as LNG.

Against the backdrop of a worsening climate crisis, President Trump is promising to massively expand fossil fuels and launch a devastating trade war on Canadian companies, all while threatening to annex Canada. But apparently the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) doesn’t see this as a problem. As Canada’s survival depends on confronting the climate crisis and diversifying trade away from the U.S., the CEO of CPPIB-backed VoltaGrid is praising Trump’s “drill, baby drill” agenda, donating money to the Republican Party, courting the U.S.’s biggest fossil fuel producers and tech giants, and aggressively expanding gas-fired power to run data centres.

After driving nearly two hours to attend the OTPP AGM on April 10th, retired elementary school teacher and Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan (OTPP) member Betty de Groote managed to get to the mic to ask one question about her pension managers’ approach to the climate crisis and investments in fossil fuels. She was deeply disappointed when an OTPP executive dismissed her question, falsely claiming that it had already been answered.

In a shocking abdication of responsibility from Canada’s financial regulators, the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA), the umbrella group representing Canada’s 13 provincial and territorial securities regulators, announced a ‘pause’ today on its work in developing new mandatory climate-related disclosure rules. Mandatory climate-related disclosure rules are essential for financial regulators to meet their mandates to ensure the stability of the financial system and reduce systemic risk.

The Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan (OTPP) 2024 Annual Report, includes an update on the fund’s climate strategy. OTPP continues to make progress on its climate strategy and invest in opportunities that “help to accelerate the broad transition to a low-carbon future.” But the pension manager’s most recent annual report comes a month after OTPP fell out of the top three spots on Shift’s 2024 Canadian Pension Climate Report Card because of its lack of ambition and continued investments in high-risk fossil fuels.