Guest blog for CAFES:
By Cheryl Randall
What would you ask the people investing your retirement savings if you knew you wouldn’t get another chance for two years? On Thursday, October 8 2026, Ottawa residents will have a rare chance to ask vital questions face to face. The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) will hold its public meeting from 6-7pm at the Delta Ottawa City Centre. It is one of the few opportunities to directly question the people investing the retirement savings of more than 22 million Canadians.
We should fill the room. CPPIB manages $864 billion on our behalf. CPPIB has a duty to invest in the best long-term interests of Canada Pension Plan (CPP) contributors and beneficiaries. CPPIB’s approach to climate change and Indigenous rights raises serious questions about whether it is meeting that duty.
In 2022, CPPIB committed to net-zero emissions by 2050, saying this was in the best interests of CPP contributors and beneficiaries. In 2025, it abandoned that commitment. CPPIB now has no publicly disclosed climate plan. CPPIB continues to invest in fossil fuel companies and fossil expansion projects, including at least $6 billion in new fossil-fuel investments in 2025 alone.
CPPIB also faces a lawsuit brought by young Canadians, who allege that its failure to manage climate risk breaches its duty to invest in their best interests and exposes their pensions to undue risk of loss.
CPPIB does not have an investment policy aligned with Indigenous rights. This year, Wet’suwet’en Hereditary Chief Na’Moks and Deputy Chief of the Hagwilget Village Council Gwii Lok’im Gibuu (Jesse Stoeppler) are planning to attend the Ottawa meeting and ask questions about Indigenous rights.
Their questions come as CPPIB takes on a larger role in Canada’s investment agenda. Earlier in September, CPPIB partnered with the federal government to co-host the Canada Investment Summit. There it announced a new $50-billion Maple Fund with Brookfield Asset Management, targeting large-scale investments in “critical infrastructure and strategic industries” across Canada. As CPPIB invests in projects affecting Indigenous lands, communities, title and rights, its approach deserves scrutiny.
There are also potential conflict of interest questions on CPPIB’s board. In June, a director of Canadian Natural Resources Limited (CNRL), one of Canada’s largest oil and gas producers, was appointed to CPPIB’s board, meaning that three of CPPIB’s 12 directors – a quarter of the board – have ties to fossil-fuel companies.
Canadians deserve answers: What safeguards ensure that investments respect Indigenous rights? How are climate risks assessed? How does CPPIB identify and manage potential conflicts of interest? See Shift’s sample questions to ask CPPIB executives.
Sign the petition calling on CPPIB to:
- Adopt a credible climate plan to reduce emissions across its investments;
- Stop financing fossil fuel expansion; and
- Adopt an Indigenous rights policy that incorporates free, prior and informed consent.
Even if you cannot attend, sign the petition and add your voice to the call for change.
But if you can make it to the meeting, come ready to ask a tough question. For one hour, CPPIB executives will be in the room. Let’s make sure they hear from us.
Thursday, October 8, 2026 from 6:00 – 7:00 pm
Delta Ottawa City Centre, 101 Lyon St. N.
Register here and let’s meet downstairs around 5:30pm
Cheryl Randall is the Campaign Specialist at Shift: Action for Pension Wealth and Planet Health, a charitable project that tracks the fossil fuel investments and climate strategies of Canadian pension funds, and mobilizes beneficiaries to engage their pension managers on the climate crisis.
