‘Deeply concerning’: Canada pension fund invests in US immigration detention firms

The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board holds $5.9m of stock in two companies profiting from Trump’s ‘zero-tolerance’ Mexico border policy

Canadian politicians have expressed alarm that one of Canada’s biggest pension investment funds has increased holdings in two US private companies that run American prisons and incarcerate the majority of detained immigrants.

The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB), which manages $366.6bn in pension funds on behalf of some 20 million Canadian retirees, holds US$5.9m of stock in Geo Group and CoreCivic, according to its latest US Security and Exchange Commission filings.

The move to increase holdings comes despite criticisms from Canadian politicians about US detention policies and following international outcry over the US “zero-tolerance” crackdown this summer on the US-Mexico border that led to children being separated from families.

Between August 2017 and 2018, the CPPIB grew its investment in Geo Group almost 13-fold to 153,500 shares worth $4.2m, according to filings from August 2018.

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