Read: What institutional investors need to know about the Canada Investment Summit

“When you think about the things that people are looking to build and investments that need to be made in Canada, they align very well, particularly with what I do in infrastructure,” says Andrew Alley, managing director and global head of infrastructure investments at PSP Investments.

The investment organization is planning to increase its Canadian holdings by 30 per cent to 40 per cent, which would represent more than $100 billion, in the next few years with a particular focus on infrastructure opportunities.

“We look for businesses where we can see revenue models that support a long-term investment for [organizations] like us,” he adds. “Structures where we see scale and the ability to deploy material capital and that could be over time as well to continue to support businesses over the long term.”

Read: CPP Investments CEO encouraged by domestic policies attracting global investment

Similarly, Jo Taylor, president and chief executive officer at Ontario Teachers’, said there’s a plan to invest a further $10 billion in Canadian opportunities across public and private markets by the end of next year. Currently, the pension fund hosts nearly $100 billion of its gross assets, or 30 per cent of the total portfolio, in Canada.

“With about one-third of our portfolio in Canada today, we know first-hand the appeal of Canada as an investment destination,” he said in a press release.

After years of fervent discussions around the domestic allocations by Canada’s biggest pension funds, Alley says there’s an alignment with the investments needed in the country with the types of investments it’s looking to make.

“These opportunities are what’s driving that allocation of our efforts towards the country. We do think we’re at a really interesting time where these things come together.”

The summit is drawing investors from around the world to take a peek at what could be available for them. During a speaking arrangement at the Royal Ontario Museum on Sunday, Prime Minister Mark Carney said Canada’s greatest strength is trust. “We have what the world wants: the energy, the resources, the talent, the technology and the capital.”

A poll of nearly 3,000 Canadians by IFM Investors found respondents see a connection between the need for greater infrastructure investment and a potential role for institutional investors to make it happen.

“We were very we were very encouraged by the results here, [which] clearly show that, with certain parameters, the Canadian public is comfortable with pension capital investing in public assets such as airports,” says Gian-Carlo Peressutti, executive director of public affairs, policy and strategy, at IFM.

More than two-thirds (67 per cent) of respondents said they’re open to pension funds investing in new Canadian infrastructure while 76 per cent agreed experienced pension funds or other infrastructure investors would likely operate infrastructure more efficiently. Only 15 per cent of respondents said they oppose pension fund investments in domestic infrastructure.

The survey found Canadians are largely supportive of private capital being better funding stewards for more modern infrastructure, it also revealed ‘who owns what’ matters to people. It noted pension capital was found to be uniquely trusted to invest in the best interests of Canadians.

Peressutti, who’ll attend Carney’s investment summit, adds anytime institutional investors of the caliber gathered in Toronto meet up there’s going to be a fruitful environment for deals and discussions.

“When you have the full weight and power of the government [being] able to help host those conversations . . . and most importantly, be willing to make certain modifications to regulations, rules, legislation to help create even more investment — I think you really have something unique.”

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