Good morning. The board chair of one of Canada’s largest provincial pension plans has been suspended after the simultaneous departure of three senior executives brought to light months of internal tensions. That’s in focus today — plus, what’s driving a regional shift in Canada’s housing market.
Up first
In the news
Bonds: A small number of hedge funds are playing an oversized role in the Government of Canada bond market, improving market efficiency but creating potential financial stability risks, new research has found.
Banking: Some of Canada’s largest institutional investors are backing Neo Financial Technologies Inc. as the digital bank prepares its first loan securitization program.
Mining: Canadian companies are on the cusp of victory over compensation claims for gold deposits seized in Venezuela.
Tech: Shares of legal information and software companies tumbled after Anthropic launched an AI product that investors fear could undermine the established industry.
In pictures
Stephen Harper, Mark Carney and artist Phil Richards at the unveiling of the Harper prime ministerial portrait.Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press
Former prime minister Stephen Harper urged political parties to work together for the sake of national unity, saying the country must be prepared to make any sacrifice necessary to preserve Canada’s independence.
Harper made the remarks as part of a ceremony last night to unveil his official prime ministerial portrait, an event that included Prime Minister Mark Carney paying tribute Harper’s decade in the role, Stephanie Levitz reports.
In focus
Inside CAAT’s oversight crisis
CAAT, a $23-billion pension plan, is facing a governance crisis after senior executives raised concerns about a $1.6-million vacation payout to its chief executive and the CEO’s relationship with an employee - both with the blessing of the company’s board.
The Globe’s James Bradshaw reported yesterday that the board’s chair had been suspended as a result – and the company is facing questions about oversight from its own independent investigation and Ontario’s Financial Services Regulatory Authority.
The concerns under investigation do not appear to be related to CAAT’s investment performance – the plan is well-funded, with $1.24 in assets for every dollar it expects to owe – but reputational damage can create secondary risks such as loss of trust and more regulatory scrutiny, experts say.
“Issues like this can become financial because they change behaviour inside the institution and expectations outside it,” said Ian Robertson, partner at The Jefferson Hawthorne Group, a corporate advisory firm. “They increase operational friction, raise decision latency and degrade the quality of risk taking, which eventually translate to the bottom line.”
About the players
- CAAT: The Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology Pension Plan serves Ontario’s colleges and more than 800 public- and private-sector employers, including The Globe and Mail. It has a total of about 125,000 members, making it one of the largest provincial pension plans in Canada.
- OPSEU: The Ontario Public Service Employees Union is one of the largest and most powerful plan sponsors within CAAT, both in terms of membership and ability to appoint board members.
The departures
The pension plan announced in an e-mail to staff on Jan. 20 that three top executives – chief information officer Asif Haque, chief financial officer Mike Dawson and chief pension officer Evan Howard – had resigned the previous day, but it provided no explanation. In the internal memo, CEO Derek Dobson cites a need for “the right alignment of our executive team,” adding that “all three executives are leaving the organization on good terms.”
The suspension
In fact, the three executives left the organization after they warned board members they had lost faith in Dobson’s leadership, Bradshaw reported, citing three sources.
In the wake of those departures, board chair Don Smith was suspended from his position on the board of trustees at the CAAT Pension Plan by OPSEU, the union that appointed him. A union spokesperson confirmed to The Globe that it had suspended “one trustee from their position, pending an internal investigation,” but did not name the board member, nor say when the decision was made.
Behind the scenes
Tensions inside the pension plan’s senior ranks had been mounting for months. One of the key flashpoints was the $1.6-million vacation payout to Dobson that board leadership approved last year in lieu of vacation time. Senior executives questioned the size and the approval process of the payout – the third such payment Dobson had received.
Another was a workplace relationship that he had been having with a CAAT employee that the board sanctioned, which Dobson disclosed in late 2024. The company said external counsel reviewed the situation, and CAAT implemented guardrails – including removing the CEO from any decisions affecting the employee’s performance or compensation. Still, some staff and trustees questioned whether the board should have allowed the relationship.
What’s next
The board upheaval and senior‑level departures have drawn the attention of the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario, which is looking into whether there was a failure of governance.
CAAT said yesterday it is “aware of concerns” about the vacation payments and appointed an independent expert to conduct a governance review in 2025 – which it said is in its “advanced stages.”
The company said Dobson and the employee will both continue in their roles.
Zooming out
The vacation payout has invited scrutiny of board rigour and disclosure practices, particularly because CAAT does not publicly disclose executive compensation.
And while CAAT remains financially strong, the board turmoil and senior‑level departures raise questions about oversight at the institution, which has grown from about $2.5-billion in assets since Dobson’s appointment in 2009 to more than $23‑billion today.
“CAAT, like all pension funds, operates based on the permission it is granted from sponsors, plan members, unions – and that is based on perceived integrity," said Robertson, the corporate adviser. “Once confidence drops, scrutiny rises and the organization’s freedom of action shrinks.”
Charted
The housing divide
Canada’s housing market diverged in 2025 along regional lines, reflecting a shift in the housing market driven by declining speculative demand and persistent affordability constraints.
Quoted
She’s the dog that makes me feel everything can happen.
— Willy Santiago, dog handler
The Westminster dog show spotlights the deep bond between people and their well-behaved pets. (I tried to show our dog this story as proof of concept but she still can’t read.)
Up next
More files we’re following
At the White House: U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio will host a “Critical Minerals Ministerial” in Washington. Yesterday, Robert Friedland, founder and executive co-chairman of the Canadian company Ivanhoe Mines, joined U.S. President Donald Trump in the Oval Office to announce “Project Vault,” a strategy aimed at securing supply of rare earth minerals.
At the bell: Earnings today include Brookfield Asset Management and Google parent Alphabet.
Morning update
Global markets were mixed as a deep selloff in global software stocks entered a second day, reflecting growing concerns about how AI advances might impact these companies’ livelihoods.
Wall Street futures pointed higher after yesterday’s lower close. TSX futures were in positive territory as commodity prices climbed.
Overseas, the pan-European STOXX 600 was up 0.31 per cent in morning trading. Britain’s FTSE 100 gained 1 per cent, Germany’s DAX slid 0.18 per cent and France’s CAC 40 climbed 0.92 per cent.
In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei closed 0.78 per cent lower, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng advanced 0.04 per cent.
The Canadian dollar traded at 73.14 U.S. cents.