The board overseeing nearly $800 billion in retirement savings for more than 22 million Canadians is facing new questions about whether fossil fuel industry ties are influencing how it manages climate-related financial risks.

The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board’s June 1 appointment of Elizabeth Cannon, a board member and director of Canadian Natural Resources Limited (CNRL), means a quarter of CPPIB’s board now has direct connections to Canada’s fossil fuel sector — even as the pension manager holds billions of dollars in investments in oil and gas companies, including approximately $2.3 billion CAD in CNRL.

Critics say the appointment highlights broader governance concerns about the growing overlap between the country’s largest pension fund and the fossil fuel industry.

According to Duff Conacher, co-founder of Democracy Watch, Canada’s leading democratic reform and government ethics accountability watchdog group, entities like CPPIB that invest public money should have policies that avoid this overlap.

Conacher says individuals with “ties to any business or organization or association of businesses that may receive the financing or investments” should be prohibited “from being an employee, consultant or board member of the public entity.”

The concern, advocates say, is not just one board appointment but a revolving door between fossil fuel interests and the institution responsible for protecting Canadians’ retirement savings.

“When individuals concurrently serve on the boards of pension funds and fossil fuel companies, it creates a governance risk,” said Adam Scott, executive director of Shift Action for Pension Wealth and Planet Health, a Canadian charitable initiative that works to protect pensions and the climate. “Such dual roles can lead to competing obligations between maximizing returns for fossil fuel shareholders and acting in the best long-term interests of pension beneficiaries.”

Cannon’s appointment comes as CPPIB faces increased scrutiny over its climate strategy. In May 2025, the pension manager abandoned its net-zero commitment, and Shift Action gave the fund a “D” grade in its latest climate report card, citing concerns that CPPIB “now appears to have no disclosed climate strategy.”

CNRL has a poor record when it comes to climate policies, according to Scott. “The company has lobbied for a major overhaul of federal climate and energy policies, advocating for the removal of federal emissions targets and environmental protections,” he told DeSmog.

Scott added that over the course of the last year the CPPIB has publicly promoted its investment in Canada’s largest oil and gas producer while failing to accurately communicate the risks of climate change for its portfolio. In May 2025, the pension manager abandoned its net-zero commitment, and in October 2025 a group of young Canadians filed a legal challenge over its climate-related risk management.

A Legacy of Fossil Fuel Board Members

CPPIB board member Ashleigh Everett is the president, corporate secretary, and a director of Royal Canadian Securities Ltd., which is the holding company for Domo Gasoline Corporation Ltd., a gasoline retailer with over 90 stations throughout Western Canada.

Another board member is Barry Perry, who has served since 2021 and is a representative on multiple CPPIB committees. Perry also currently serves on the boards of both the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) and Capital Power. RBC is one of the world’s largest single investors in fossil fuels while Capital Power is the fifth-largest natural gas energy producer in North America. Perry previously served on the board of Fortis, a major natural gas utility holder. The CPPIB owns shares worth $232 million CAD in Fortis.

As previously reported by DeSmog, Capital Power lobbied Canada’s federal government 37 times before the Mark Carney government suspended Alberta’s clean electricity regulations. The change in policy allowed Capital Power to pursue the development of a large natural-gas powered AI data center. Avik Dey, the current the CEO of Capital Power, was previously the managing director and head of CPPIB’s energy and natural resources group for many years, sitting on the boards of several CPPIB-owned oil and gas companies.

The CPPIB has investments in a number of Canadian fossil fuel companies, including $734 million CAD in Enbridge and a $329 million CAD in TC Energy.

More significantly, the CPPIB holds investments in three of the five partners in the Oil Sands Alliance, previously known as the Pathways Alliance, an association of Canada’s five largest oil sands companies. In addition to its investments in CNRL, the CPPIB has a $35 million CAD investment in Cenovus Energy, and $484 million in Suncor.

DeSmog also recently reported that the CPPIB is bankrolling U.S. President Donald Trump’s fossil fuel agenda. This includes a $300 Million USD investment in Elon Musk’s xAI—specifically for the construction of a gas-powered AI data center in Memphis, as well as a $1.2 billion USD investment in Tallgrass Energy, which has close connections to the White House.

DeSmog reached out multiple times to CPPIB for comment, but the organization did not respond.