Evidence of meeting #26 for Finance in the 45th Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was project.
A recording is available from Parliament.
February 12th, 2026 / 10:05 a.m.
Conservative
Pat Kelly Conservative Calgary Crowfoot, AB
Okay, but you're moving the goalposts in these answers. I'm going back to what Canadians were promised and told when this institution was established, what its projections are and what various ministers have said publicly.
Would you agree that it is fair for Canadians to be extraordinarily skeptical about the claims the government makes about the efficacy of this bank when none of the commitments that the government made have actually unfolded over time since your bank was established?
Chief Executive Officer, Canada Infrastructure Bank
Sure. I dispute the premise of the question. What Canadians were promised is that these projects would draw in three to four times their private capital. That's what they're on track to do.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Karina Gould
Thank you very much, Mr. Cory.
Thank you, Mr. Kelly.
That concludes the time for this round.
We'll continue with Mr. Leitão for five minutes.
Liberal
Carlos Leitão Liberal Marc-Aurèle-Fortin, QC
Thank you, Madam Chair.
Good morning, gentlemen.
There are a lot of things we need to discuss. I'll make a quick comment.
Lion Electric buses are still running. I see them every day in my riding. The buses are rolling.
No, they don't catch fire. They're running and kids are in them.
The company went bust, but the buses were sold and now there's a company that has taken over, so the maintenance of the buses is assured. I don't see that there's a problem the Quebec government will have to look into regarding the operations of the company, but the product—the buses—they actually run, and run well.
Now, Mr. Cory, you were trying to explain earlier, so I'd like to give you the chance to complete that explanation about the disbursed versus committed funding and the way in which you operate.
Chief Executive Officer, Canada Infrastructure Bank
The functioning of the bank is actually very clear on this point. We negotiate terms of investments and sign binding financing agreements, and then cash gets drawn in behind those as progress is made. As I was saying earlier, this is, I think, actually what all taxpayers would want us to do. It means that our money is only disbursed as the construction happens and as the benefits are realized for Canadians.
It is absolutely true that there's a lag between those two things as we've ramped up activities. The CIB launched in 2018 and made its first loan then, but really, after a few years of start-up, it's only been in the last four or five years that we've made investments.
As I said, when I joined the CIB five years ago, the CIB had made one investment. We've now made 108, so we're really on that curve. Now the draws are happening. If you look at each quarter now, you'll see that there are draws happening of between three-quarters of a billion dollars and one billion dollars of actual cash out the door. We've accelerated.
The member's question compared the original forecasts of 2017 and the disbursement, and it's true that we lag behind in those. However, we are now at a pace where borrowers of ours are drawing every quarter. As I said, I think this is actually the model we would want to see so that our money only goes out the door if and when real benefits are realized by Canadians.
Liberal
Carlos Leitão Liberal Marc-Aurèle-Fortin, QC
I guess that's one of the reasons that, for example, with regard to the high-speed train project, the Alto project, there's no money going out the door yet. It's because the tracks haven't been laid yet. The project is not in the construction phase. When it gets to that stage, then we'll see what happens, but the time is not now—as it was back in 2017 with the REM. In that case, the project was under way. Things have changed quite a bit since 2017. I think the current version of the CIB is quite different—let's put it that way—than it was then.
One thing that is in your mandate—and this ties to the group that will come after—is your commitment to working with first nations. If I understand correctly, there's $1.5 billion. Could you tell us how that process is going?
Chief Executive Officer, Canada Infrastructure Bank
It's something that's been a really important part of the bank's growth, and it's something we're really proud about. Almost one-third—33—of our investments are either directly in partnership with or to the benefit of indigenous communities. We do it in two ways. Maybe I'll very briefly speak about those.
One is that we make what we call indigenous community infrastructure investments. These are smaller loans, typically, in community: waste-water treatment plants, clean power to reduce reliance on diesel, roads to allow for new housing development. These are loans directly in community to help close the infrastructure gap. That's part of it.
The other part in the $1.5 billion is equity loans where we have loaned money to indigenous communities so that they can buy stakes in infrastructure projects. This would be particularly true in things like renewable power. In many parts of the country, renewable power projects are being done in partnership between wind and solar developers and indigenous communities. We've made loans to the indigenous communities so that they can buy and own a meaningful stake in those projects. This is progress we're really proud of.
Liberal
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Karina Gould
That's perfect. That was five minutes on the dot.
Mr. Lefebvre, you have the floor for five minutes.
You've switched. Okay.
Ms. Cobena, you have five minutes, please.
Conservative
Sandra Cobena Conservative Newmarket—Aurora, ON
Thank you, Madam Chair.
Mr. Cory, as you know, both of us work for Canadians and taxpayers. Could you kindly share with Canadians what your compensation is?
Conservative
Liberal
Chief Executive Officer, Canada Infrastructure Bank
Thank you, Madam Chair.
Compensation at the CIB is published annually in our report. All of our executive compensation is published. We're very transparent, so I'm happy to share afterwards with the member all of our compensation if it's so desired.
Conservative
Sandra Cobena Conservative Newmarket—Aurora, ON
How much were you compensated in the last fiscal year—base salary and bonus?
Chief Executive Officer, Canada Infrastructure Bank
My compensation is open and transparent, and it's published on the Internet.
Conservative
Sandra Cobena Conservative Newmarket—Aurora, ON
Just give the number, if you could. It is public information. I have the number, but I'd like you to share it with us.
Chief Executive Officer, Canada Infrastructure Bank
My compensation is set by our board every year.
Conservative
Chief Executive Officer, Canada Infrastructure Bank
They benchmark against the public markets and they pay me well in range of what CEOs are paid in other parts of the world.
Conservative
Sandra Cobena Conservative Newmarket—Aurora, ON
Mr. Cory, could you share with Canadians what your compensation is?
Chief Executive Officer, Canada Infrastructure Bank
Madam Chair, as I said, my compensation is public and is benchmarked every year by our board and set.