A record $289 billion in global infrastructure fundraising is increasingly pointing at Canada
Canada has overtaken both Germany and the US to rank first in infrastructure investment attractiveness for the first time, according to the Global Infrastructure Investor Association's latest bi-annual Pulse Survey, conducted by Alvarez & Marsal.
The ranking shift is not purely a reaction to US instability.
The GIIA pointed to concrete Canadian policy signals, including the Carney government's Nation Building program, as the primary driver.
“Canada is making all the right noises when it comes to its intentions to attract private capital,” GIIA chief executive Jon Phillips told the Financial Post, adding that just two years ago, Canada accounted for only three percent of capital deployed by GIIA members.
Meanwhile, infrastructure funds globally raised a record $289bn in 2025, according to the GIIA, with fundraising sentiment improving from Q4 2025.
The centrepiece of Canada's pitch to institutional investors is the Canada Strong Fund, announced April 27 by prime minister Mark Carney.
The federal government will seed it with $25bn over three years, according to Canada.ca, structured as an arm's-length Crown corporation led by a CEO and independent board.
Gowling WLG reported the fund is a commercial co-investment vehicle targeting infrastructure, energy, critical minerals, and advanced manufacturing, not a traditional grant program.
Policy Options noted that Ottawa is borrowing to finance domestic industrial policy rather than saving surplus wealth, leading some analysts to push back on the “sovereign wealth fund” label, with the fund's risk profile and mandate still unsettled for market participants.
The most immediate deal pipeline sits in airport privatisation.
As reported by the National Post, several of Canada's largest pension funds have told the federal government they are ready to buy Canadian airports, with wish lists that also include nuclear generation, pipelines, bridges, toll roads, electricity grids and ports.
The Carney government has formally floated asset recycling, in which government-owned assets are sold or leased to private investors and the proceeds redirected into the Canada Strong Fund and priority infrastructure.
Carney told reporters in Mirabel on May 7 that Canada is “wide open to foreign investment,” though Global News reported that no final determination has been made on whether airport sale proceeds would flow into the fund.
That appetite for domestic assets reflects a structural tension in Canada's institutional investment landscape.
Policy Options reported that the Maple 8, Canada's eight largest pension funds managing roughly $2.4tn in assets, invest more than 75 cents of every dollar outside Canada.
Domestic exposure drops to roughly 12 cents per dollar when fixed income is excluded, well below the global industry average.
The Maple 8 signed a memorandum of understanding with major Australian superannuation funds in March 2026 to lobby for policy changes accelerating cross-border infrastructure deployments in both countries, according to Top1000funds.com.
CPP Investments posted a 7.8 percent net return for fiscal 2026, ended March 31, lifting total assets to $793.3bn from $714.4bn, though that result fell well short of its 13.2 percent benchmark.
CEO John Graham attributed the gap to a diverse portfolio deliberately underweight the concentrated technology stocks driving most index gains.
Infrastructure investments returned 11.2 percent, with toll roads, ports and rail performing well, while the sustainable energies portfolio gained 23.2 percent, boosted by energy market turmoil.
The fund committed billions to new data centre development during the year, including a $225m loan for an AI-focused facility in Cambridge, Ont., though Graham said the fund is avoiding data centre construction without contracted customers.
One transaction worth watching: Hydro-Québec, the Canada Infrastructure Bank and National Bank of Canada launched a $5bn-plus flexible financing program for major wind energy projects developed in partnership with Indigenous communities, with equity loans totalling up to $1.3bn.
National Bank's release noted that construction loans can cover up to 20 percent of project costs, repaid primarily through federal tax credits.
The CIB's Indigenous Equity Initiative loan can cover up to 90 percent of a community's required equity contribution, capped at $100m per project.
The GIIA noted the ranking shift predates the US-Iran conflict's impact on energy markets and supply chains in early 2026, suggesting Canada's re-rating as an investment destination may deepen further as uncertainty persists.
