OMERS

Canadian pension fund

"Omers" redirects here. For the ancient Israelite unit of dry measure, see Omer (unit). For the singular, see Omer (disambiguation).

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|

Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System

Trade name

| OMERS
Company type| Statutory corporation[1]
Industry| Pension fund
Founded| 1962; 63 years ago (1962)
Headquarters| EY Tower
900-100 Adelaide Street West
Toronto, Ontario
M5H 0E2

Area served

| Participating employers and employees in Ontario, Canada

Key people

| Blake Hutcheson (CEO)
George Cooke (Board chair, Administration Corporation)
Laurie Hutchinson (CEO, Sponsors Corporation)[2]
Max Cananzi (Board chair, Sponsors Corporation)

Net income

| OMERS funded status on a smoothed basis was 98% in 2024
Total assets| C$138.2 billion (2024)[3]
Owner| The participating employers and employees of the OMERS pension plans

Number of employees

| estimated 1000
Divisions| OMERS Infrastructure
OMERS Capital Markets
OMERS Private Equity
Oxford Properties
Website| omers.com

The Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System[4] (OMERS) is a Canadian public pension fund, headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. OMERS is a defined benefit, jointly sponsored, multi-employer public pension plan created in 1962 by Ontario provincial statute to administer retirement benefits and manage pension investment funds of local government employees in the Canadian province of Ontario. As of December 31, 2024, OMERS had C$138.2 billion of assets under management, and an 8.3% investment return for the year.[5] OMERS serves over 1,000 participating employers and more than half a million active, deferred and retired employees. OMERS members are employed by municipalities, school boards, transit systems, local electrical distribution companies, police service boards, fire fighting and paramedic services, children's aid societies and associated local agencies, boards and commissions.[6]

OMERS members include union and non-union employees of municipalities, school boards, local boards, transit systems, electrical utilities, emergency services and children’s aid societies across Ontario.[7]

OMERS is one of Canada's top eight pension funds, nicknamed the "Maple 8" or "Maple Revolutionaries."[8]

## Organization

[edit]

OMERS is governed by the Ontario Municipal Employee's Retirement Act, 2006, an Ontario law which superseded the older Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System Act. Members contribute 9% of their salary below the Year's Maximum Pensionable Earnings (YMPE), and 14.6% on income over YMPE.

Under the 2006 law, OMERS is composed of two statutory corporations.[1] In 2019, OMERS ventures launched a $315M European Venture fund, a fully owned subsidiary of OMERS Ventures led by Managing Partner Harry Briggs.[9]

OMERS is a partner of the World Economic Forum.[10]

## Recent and current operations

[edit]

In March 2017, OMERS acquired a stake in Kemble, the UK holding company of Thames Water.[11] The deeply-indebted water business became embroiled in a financial crisis from 2023, and in May 2024, OMERS, then Thames' biggest shareholder, issued a "full writedown" of its 31.7% stake in Kemble, signalling the shares were now worth nothing.[12]

In November 2023, OMERS announced the acquisition of a 5% indirect stake in Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment (MLSE), the parent company of the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Toronto Raptors, for $400 million. The stake was purchased through a 20% direct investment in Kilmer Sports Inc (KSI), which is owned by MLSE Chairman Larry Tanenbaum. After the transaction, Tanenbaum will continue as chairman, holding an 80% stake in KSI, while OMERS will function purely as a financial investor without involvement in the operational decisions of MLSE or its teams.[13]

25% of OMERS' investments are in Canada. Its largest investment is in Bruce Power.[14]

The real estate portfolio includes Kingsway Mall and Southcentre Mall in Alberta; Hillcrest Mall, Scarborough Town Centre, Square One Shopping Centre, Upper Canada Mall, and Yorkdale Shopping Centre in Ontario; and, Les Galeries de la Capitale in Quebec.[15] OMERS has over 6,000 residential rental units in Vancouver, the Greater Toronto Area, and Montreal; 15 million square feet of office space in Vancouver, Toronto and Calgary; and, is invested in hotels across Canada.[16]

In July 2024, Bloomberg News reported some Canadian pension funds were moving away from commercial real estate following recent challenges. Although OMERS was one of the funds that reported a loss in this portfolio, the CEO of OMERS announced they would continue with their strategy.[17]

OMERS began investing in electric vehicle battery developer and manufacturer, Northvolt, in 2021. A loss on its almost $450 million investment after Northvolt's bankruptcy, was reported by the Globe and Mail in November 2024.[18][19]

## See also

[edit]

* Pension fund
* Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec
* CPP Investment Board
* Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan
* Public Sector Pension Investment Board
* Alberta Investment Management Corporation
* OPTrust

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b "Omers Administration Corporation" (PDF). cavalluzzo.com. Retrieved 2020-11-13.
2. ^ "GG2.4 - City of Toronto – Financial Update and Outlook" (PDF). City of Toronto. City of Toronto. October 31, 2023. Retrieved 2025-05-02.
3. ^ "OMERS 2024 Annual Report" (PDF). OMERS. 2025-02-27. Retrieved 2025-05-01.
4. ^ "About OMER". OMERS. Retrieved 2020-09-17.
5. ^ "OMERS earned 8.3% return for 2024, net assets grew to $138.2 billion". Investment Executive. 2025-02-24. Retrieved 2025-06-02.
6. ^ "About OMERS". OMERS. Retrieved 2020-09-17.
7. ^ "OMERS Employer Listing" (PDF). Retrieved 30 May 2025.
8. ^ https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu/2022/12/08/how-peter-drucker-revolutionized-canadas-public-sector-pension-system-lessons-for-americans/
9. ^ "Omers Ventures outs €300M European fund — Q&A with Managing Partner Harry Briggs". TechCrunch. 25 March 2019. Retrieved 2020-02-06.
10. ^ "OMERS". World Economic Forum. Archived from the original on 2022-11-06. Retrieved 2022-11-06.
11. ^ Ambrose, Jillian (14 March 2017). "Macquarie sells off final stake in Thames Water". The Telegraph. Retrieved 15 March 2017.
12. ^ Ambrose, Jillian (17 May 2024). "Thames Water's biggest investor cuts value of its stake to zero". Guardian. Retrieved 21 May 2024.
13. ^ "Canada's OMERS buys 5% indirect stake in Toronto Raptors-parent MLSE for $400 mln". Reuters. 2023-11-06. Retrieved 2023-11-07.
14. ^ https://www.omers.com/omers-2023-annual-report
15. ^ https://downloads.ctfassets.net/iifcbkds7nke/6PbpD0eOfA4RewPTuzqMFh/b164022d0fd1c27c76a45ad9f57ea105/OMERS-2023-Annual-Report.pdf
16. ^ https://www.oxfordproperties.com/
17. ^ https://www.benefitscanada.com/canadian-investment-review/alts/commercial-real-estate-challenges-forcing-canadian-pension-funds-to-re-evaluate-strategy-report/
18. ^ https://www.omers.com/news/northvolt-raises-usd2-75-billion-in-equity-to-deploy-further-battery-cell-capacity-expands-swedish-gigafactory-to-60-gwh
19. ^ https://financialpost.com/news/omers-us325-million-northvolt-investment

## Sources

[edit]

* Profile of OMERS Corporation. Bloomberg. 14:18, 15 November 2021 (UTC)

## External links

[edit]

* https://www.omers.com/

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