Using QPP funds for political purposes would override CDPQ’s neutrality, says MEI analyst
The Montreal Economic Institute is sounding the alarm over what it says is a plan by Premier François Legault’s Coalition Avenir Québec government to use the more than $473 billion in the QPP public pension fund to help boost the province’s economy which faces mounting global economic pressures.
“Legault’s plan for Quebec’s economy is to gamble with your pension,” said Gabriel Giguère, senior policy analyst at the conservative thinktank. “The dust on his failed electric vehicle bet has barely settled and he’s already doubling down with Quebecers’ nest egg,” he added.
CAQ means to use pension fund
The MEI was reacting to a broad new position statement (Le Pouvoir Québécois: réponse au nouveau contexte mondial) the CAQ government issued recently. In it, the government laid out a long-term economic vision for the province with a strategy that includes a role for Quebec’s public pension fund, the Caisse de dépôt et placement (CDPQ).
A section of the position document, under the heading Mobilizing public and private stakeholders, states that the government intends to mobilize Quebec’s economic actors, both public (including the CDPQ and others) as well as private (FSTQ, Capital régional et coopératif Desjardins, investment funds).
“In this regard, the CDPQ, whose mandate is both to generate returns for its depositors and to contribute to the economic development of Quebec, will be called upon to play a central role,” states the CAQ government.
CDPQ is apolitical, says MEI
“[CDPQ’s] commitment to increase its total assets in Quebec to $100 billion by 2026 is well on track, with a result of $93 billion in 2024,” it continues. “The CDPQ will need to continue to increase its contribution to the Quebec economy, and a new ambitious target will be set for 2030.”
However, the MEI warns that this move “could upset the balance between the fund’s different mandates,” while also noting that when the CDPQ was founded in 1965, it was given a dual mandate to prudently manage public pension and insurance funds, while contributing to Quebec’s economic development.
The MEI also points out that the Caisse was originally set up to operate independently, at arm’s length from the provincial government, managing funds in the best interests of depositors, but “not according to political priorities.”
In a foreword to the government’s policy statement, Premier François Legault writes that nationalism should not be seen as an obstacle to the economy. “On the contrary, it is a driving force; a source of inspiration,” he says.
Quebec as a ‘nation’
Although the document’s authors at the Ministry of the Executive Council talk on the one hand in hard numbers and economic facts, they also allude repeatedly and in more political terms to Quebec as a “nation,” stating in their conclusion that “like other nations, Quebec is facing challenges…” and “history shows that no nation can afford to ignore technological advances…
“Nations should not reject progress, but rather channel it by giving it an expression that aligns with their interests,” the document continues, suggesting all in all that the Legault government hopes to score extra points by including Quebec political nationalism in its campaign to reach prosperity and economic progress.
That said, Giguère maintained in the MEI’s statement that “instrumentalizing the Caisse as an economic lever for political projects would essentially override its neutrality. To make matters worse, the government wants to do so in service of an economic strategy that has failed time and time again.”
Failed CAQ investments
Although the CAQ government has handed out $25.3 billion in corporate subsidies ince 2018, the MEI notes that the government has managed to rack up some notable failures over that time, including:
· Northvolt: $270 million in losses. This company filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the United States in November 2024. It subsequently filed for bankruptcy in Sweden in March 2025 and was the largest insolvency in modern Swedish industrial history.
· Lion Electric: $143 million in losses. This company was renamed LION in the summer of 2025, following its emergence from creditor protection and bankruptcy, followed by its purchase by a group of investors.
· Taiga Motors: $20 million in losses. This Montreal-based manufacturer of electric snowmobiles and watercraft is also notable for narrowly avoiding bankruptcy more than a year ago.
Gambling pension savings
The MEI sees the CAQ government’s seemingly poor investment judgement and record of losses as sure signs it should not be risking Quebecers’ pension savings on risky projects. “It’s reckless to gamble with Quebecers’ retirement savings,” said Giguère.
