Deborah Orida

Although real estate constitutes a relatively small portion of PSP Investments’ roughly $219 billion portfolio (in U.S. dollars), its real estate stable is both diverse and highly visible. 

Established by the Canadian Parliament in 1999 and led since late 2022 by Deborah Orida, PSP is one of Canada’s largest pension managers, funding retirement benefits for the Canadian Public Service, Canadian Armed Forces, Royal Canadian Mounted Police and Reserve Force. Public market equities and fixed-income investments make up the largest chunk of its assets under management, with over $106 billion between the two asset classes, according to its latest earnings report. Yet the corporation casts a wide net with private equity, credit, infrastructure and natural resource investments also under its wing. 

PSP’s real estate division, which was created in 2003, manages $19.4 billion in net assets across six continents. (Higher figures on PSP’s website are in Canadian dollars.) Nearly half of that portfolio is found in the U.S. 

That includes The Wharf, a 3.5 million-square-foot, mixed-use district in Washington, D.C. PSP was an early investor in the project, providing developers Hoffman Associates and Madison Marquette with $220 million in equity back in 2014. Yet in April PSP gained majority control over The Wharf in a deal valued at $1.8 billion, securing a five-year, roughly $1 billion refinancing loan tied to the district a few months later. 

PSP is also part owner of 22 Bishopsgate, a 62-story, nearly 1.3 million-square-foot commercial building in London. Upon its completion in 2020, the property instantly became the second-tallest building in the U.K., and one of the 20 tallest buildings across Europe. 

Back in Canada, a PSP affiliate in 2018 acquired Toronto’s Downview Airport from Bombardier Aviation for about $635 million, according to reports at the time. The affiliate, Northcrest Developments, closed the airport in spring 2024 to make way for a $22 billion redevelopment, which aims to house tens of thousands of residents across its 370 acres over the next 30 years.