Employer pension plans (trusteed pension funds), fourth quarter 2025

Released: 2026-06-17

At the end of the fourth quarter of 2025, the market value of assets held by Canadian trusteed pension funds reached $2.6 trillion, a year-over-year increase of $151.9 billion (+6.2%).

Of the five largest asset categories, all but one increased in value over the previous year. Bonds (+$52.8 billion; +8.7%) posted the largest dollar increase, followed by equities (+$52.0 billion; +5.3%), other assets (+$30.1 billion; +13.6%) and infrastructure (+$5.7 billion; +2.4%), while real estate decreased by $1.8 billion (-0.7%). Together, these five categories accounted for 93.4% of the total market value of assets at the end of the fourth quarter.

Foreign assets post stronger overall growth than domestic assets

Foreign assets continued to make up the largest share of trusteed pension fund assets at the end of the fourth quarter of 2025. The total market value of foreign assets was $1,313.5 billion at the end of the fourth quarter, an increase of $79.6 billion (+6.4%) from the same quarter the previous year. Domestic assets totalled $951.1 billion, an increase of $27.8 billion (+3.0%).

Foreign assets performed better compared with domestic assets, with all but one foreign asset category increasing over 2025. The market value of both foreign equities (+$35.5 billion; +4.5%) and bonds (+$35.5 billion; +34.1%) increased the most, followed by real estate (+$5.4 billion; +3.6%) and short-term investments (+$4.5 billion; +77.8%). Foreign infrastructure assets decreased by $1.3 billion (-0.7%) in 2025.

Comparatively, all but two domestic asset categories grew over 2025. Bonds (+$17.4 billion; +3.5%) had the largest increase in dollar terms, followed by domestic equities (+$16.6 billion; +8.9%) and infrastructure (+$7.0 billion; +14.1%). Conversely, both real estate (-$7.2 billion; -6.4%) and short-term investments (-$5.9 billion; -7.8%) were down.

The value of assets of unknown nationality ($345.7 billion) constituted 13.2% of the total value of assets at the end of 2025, an increase from 12.3% one year earlier.

Public sector asset growth nearly five times that of private sector assets

The end of 2025 saw the value of assets held by public sector plans go up by $144.9 billion (+7.2%) from the previous year to reach $2.1 trillion. Private sector assets rose by $7.0 billion (+1.5%) to $460.6 billion.

The proportion of total assets of trusteed pension funds held by the public sector increased from 81.6% at the end of 2024 to 82.4% at the end of 2025.

Net income grows by one-third year over year

Canadian trusteed pension funds posted a net income of $45.4 billion in the fourth quarter of 2025, up 33.6% from $34.0 billion one year earlier.

Total revenue was up 17.0% (+$11.2 billion) from the fourth quarter of 2024 to $76.8 billion in the fourth quarter of 2025. Total revenue for 2025 was up 19.5% (+$41.4 billion) from $212.7 billion in 2024.

Total expenditures for 2025 were up 2.1% (+$2.4 billion) compared with 2024.

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Contact information

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