Employer pension plans (trusteed pension funds), first quarter 2023
Released: 2023-09-13
The first quarter saw the market value of assets held by Canadian trusteed pension funds rise by $40.9 billion, or 1.9%, from the previous quarter to $2.2 trillion. Year over year, the market value of assets was down by 0.4%, or $9.6 billion.
All five largest asset categories, which together account for 91.3% of the total market value of assets, increased in value in the first quarter from the previous quarter. The largest asset category—equities—posted the largest dollar increase, up by just over $9.2 billion, or 1.1%, followed by other assets (+$9.2 billion, or +6.2%), infrastructure (+$9.1 billion, or +4.6%), bonds (+$5.5 billion, or +1.0%) and real estate (+$1.7 billion, or +0.6%).
Canadian short-term investments posted the largest quarter-over-quarter increase in market value among the domestic asset categories in the first quarter, up by $8.3 billion, or 10.0%, followed by bonds, up by $5.3 billion (+1.2%). Real estate (+$1.6 billion, or +1.3%) and infrastructure (+$1.6 billion, or +3.5%) also increased. Canadian equities were down by $0.2 billion (-0.1%).
Overall, domestic assets rose in the first quarter by $16.6 billion (+1.9%) but were down by $44.9 billion (-4.7%) from the first quarter of 2022. Foreign assets rose by $14.6 billion (+1.4%) in the first quarter of 2023 and by $52.0 billion (+5.2%) year over year.
Net income posts a smaller gain in the first quarter
Canadian trusteed pension funds posted a net income of $15.6 billion in the first quarter, down from $17.9 billion in the previous quarter. By comparison, the net income in the first quarter of 2022 was $24.7 billion.
Total revenue was down by 8.8%, or $3.7 billion, to $38.9 billion in the first quarter of 2023. Year over year, total revenue was down by 24.0% from $51.2 billion.
Expenditures fell by 6.1%, or $1.5 billion, to $23.3 billion in the first quarter of 2023. Year over year, they were down by 11.9%, or $3.2 billion, from $26.4 billion.
Foreign and domestic assets grow
The total market value of domestic holdings went up by $16.6 billion (+1.9%) to $900.0 billion in the first quarter. Year over year, the value fell by 4.7%, or $44.9 billion, from $944.8 billion.
The only domestic asset class that fell in the first quarter was equities (-$0.2 billion, or -0.1%). The remaining categories all posted increases, with short-term investments leading the way (+$8.3 billion, or +10.0%), followed by bonds (+$5.3 billion, or +1.2%), real estate (+$1.6 billion, or +1.3%) and infrastructure (+$1.6 billion, or +3.5%).
All but one of the foreign asset categories rose, led by equities, with a $9.4 billion (+1.5%) gain, followed by infrastructure (+$7.6 billion, or +4.8%). Bonds rose by $0.2 billion (+0.2%), followed by real estate (+$0.1 billion, or an increase of less than 0.1%). Foreign short-term assets fell by $2.6 billion (-19.9%).
Year over year, foreign assets were up by $52.0 billion, or 5.2%, hovering just above the $1 trillion mark.
In the first quarter of 2023, the value of assets of nationality unknown, at $245.1 billion, rose to 11.2% of total assets from 11.0% in the previous quarter. This category represented 11.9% of all assets in the first quarter of 2022.
Public and private sector assets grow
The value of assets held by public sector plans rose by $17.5 billion (+1.0%) in the first quarter of 2023 to $1.7 trillion, while private sector assets increased by $23.4 billion (+5.5%) to reach $451.0 billion. Year over year, public sector funds were down by $5.9 billion (-0.3%), while private sector plans decreased by $3.8 billion (-0.8%).
The proportion of total assets of trusteed pension funds represented by the public sector fell in the first quarter, from 80.1% to 79.4%, and was up slightly from 79.3% in the first quarter of 2022.
Note to readers
Starting in the first quarter of 2021, the survey was redesigned to collect additional variables and increase the number of pension funds covered quarterly.
Previously, the quarterly survey included approximately the 150 largest trusteed pension funds, and the remainder of the pension amounts was imputed based on the results of the biennial Census of Trusteed Pension Funds. The new design no longer utilizes the data from the biennial Census, which has been discontinued in 2016. Instead, the quarterly survey's sample has been augmented to include the top 250 trusteed pension plans, equating to approximately 90% of the total value of all trusteed pension assets, resulting in reduced respondent burden. Therefore, the values reported in this release refer to the 250 largest pension plans and no longer include imputation for the remainder of the trusteed pension plan universe.
The new design eases data collection for respondents and data interpretability for users by reflecting the format of financial statements more closely. It also allows for higher accuracy in certain variables, such as the share of assets invested abroad. Additional detail in the reporting categories also reduces the share of assets classified in the "other assets" category.
Tables 11-10-0084-01, 11-10-0085-01 and 11-10-0086-01 have replaced tables 11-10-0076-01, 11-10-0077-01 and 11-10-0079-01, which are now terminated and have been archived.
For the purposes of this survey, trusteed pension funds include the assets of one or more registered pension plans: those held under a trust agreement, those held by a pension corporation or pension fund society, those administered under legislation by the Government of Canada or the government of a province of Canada, and those held by an insurance company for investment management only.
Data on revenues and expenditures for pension funds routinely exhibit seasonal characteristics. Readers should, therefore, view quarterly changes with some caution.
Pension funds held in total under an annuity insurance contract are excluded from the survey.
The data are subject to revisions for a period of 18 months from initial release.
Products
The Income, pensions, spending and wealth portal, which is accessible from the Subjects module of the Statistics Canada website, provides users with a single point of access to a wide variety of information related to revenue, pensions, spending and wealth.
Contact information
For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact us (toll-free 1-800-263-1136; 514-283-8300; infostats@statcan.gc.ca) or Media Relations (statcan.mediahotline-ligneinfomedias.statcan@statcan.gc.ca).
- Date modified: