Snapshot

Borealis Infrastructure identifies, invests in and manages infrastructure assets on behalf of OMERS.  Infrastructure investments, especially in government-regulated sectors, can generate reliable returns that exceed those of the public markets. Individual investments generally require capital commitments for a minimum of 15 to 20 years and these investments typically generate consistent annual cash flows, making them a perfect fit in meeting our long-term pension obligations.

Borealis Infrastructure is the first Canadian company with a mandate to organize institutional pools of equity capital to invest in infrastructure assets in compliance with public policy priorities set by governments. We have the expertise essential to originate, validate, finance and asset manage large and complex investments in cooperation with governments, corporations and other interested parties.

Borealis Infrastructure develops infrastructure investment opportunities on a global basis in five key sectors:  transportation, energy, infrastructure buildings, pipelines, water and wastewater. Currently, Borealis Infrastructure has the largest portfolio of energy generation assets in Canada, including a major investment of 31% as a limited partnership interest in the Bruce Power nuclear facility. As well, it holds a significant interest in Enwave Energy Ltd. Corporation, which owns and operates a deep lake water cooling service that provides environmentally friendly air conditioning to buildings in Toronto’s downtown office core.

Other investments include Confederation Bridge linking Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick and an interest in a pipeline system that exports crude oil from Alberta to the mid-west United States.
In 2003, OMERS announced a new investment strategy that focuses more on private market investments, shifting capital to infrastructure and private equity while maintaining a large real estate portfolio. This change will increase the total investment in infrastructure to a long term target of 15% over the next four or five years, from the current 7.9%.