Colleges of Applied Arts & Technologies Pension Plan (CAAT)

The investment program is led by Chief Investment Officer Julie Cays, who oversees all asset allocation, manager selection, and direct investment activities from the Toronto headquarters. CIO Cays reports to CEO Derek Dobson, with the investment committee of the board of trustees providing governance oversight. As with most Canadian pension plans, the board retains ultimate fiduciary authority, while the internal investment team executes on approved asset allocation and investment policies.

DBplus is CAAT's shared-risk defined-benefit product that allows employers outside Ontario's college system to join the plan. Participating employers gain access to a professionally managed DB pension with joint governance, while CAAT pools the assets and liabilities of all members into one consolidated fund. This structure converts what was once a single-sponsor Ontario college plan into a multi-jurisdictional pension provider now active in nine provinces, with over 300 participating employers.

CAAT allocates to private equity, infrastructure, real estate, and credit through a mix of fund commitments and direct co-investments alongside external managers. The plan targets long-duration assets that match its defined-benefit liability profile, favoring inflation-linked cash flows in infrastructure and real estate. Buyout and growth equity exposure is primarily accessed through third-party funds, supplemented by co-investments that reduce fee drag and provide direct allocation to companies.

CAAT operates as a multi-employer plan rather than a single-sponsor public-sector fund, and it does not maintain international satellite offices or build large direct-investment deal teams in the style of the 'Maple 8.' Its investment approach relies more heavily on external fund managers and co-investment partnerships, scaled to an asset base that now exceeds $14 billion. The plan's growth engine—DBplus expansion into private and non-profit employers—creates a structurally different inflow profile than the contribution-rate-driven pools of the larger Canadian plans.

CAAT uses both. The plan commits to external private equity, infrastructure, real estate, and credit funds as a limited partner, and selectively participates in direct co-investments alongside those managers. This approach gives CAAT exposure to private markets at scale through seasoned GPs while building an internal co-investment capability that reduces fees and strengthens direct-asset familiarity over time.

CAAT publishes an investment policy that screens for environmental, social, and governance risks consistent with Canadian regulatory standards and its statement of investment policies and procedures. While the plan does not maintain a public exclusion list, it follows responsible-investment principles and incorporates ESG integration into manager selection and direct asset evaluation, with a particular focus on climate transition risk across its long-duration infrastructure and real-asset holdings.

The plan is governed by a board of trustees appointed by the plan's sponsors—originally the 24 Ontario colleges—and includes representation from plan members. The introduction of DBplus expanded representation to include participating employers from outside the college system. This joint-governance model vests fiduciary authority in the board, which sets investment policy and oversight parameters, delegating day-to-day investment management to the internal investment team led by the CIO.