BCI releases 2025-2026 Stewardship Report

Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, Sept. 29, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- British Columbia Investment Management Corporation (BCI), one of Canada’s largest institutional investors, today released its 2025-2026 Stewardship Report, demonstrating continued environmental, social, and governance (ESG) leadership and measurable progress through engagement, proxy voting, and policy dialogue. 

“In a year that tested active owners, BCI advanced our stewardship program with the same conviction and persistence we have held for more than 20 years,” said Jennifer Coulson, BCI's Senior Managing Director & Global Head, ESG. “Consistency is an advantage, and our approach is driving improvements in our portfolio and creating long-term sustainable value for our clients.” 

Last year, BCI directly engaged 181 public and private portfolio companies on material ESG risks and opportunities, reaching thousands more through collaborative initiatives. Of the in-depth engagements, 44% showed positive momentum and 8% achieved objectives outright, illustrating that constructive dialogue can deliver real-world outcomes.  

Notable multi-year engagement successes include contributions towards Scotiabank becoming the first Canadian bank to publicly disclose its Energy Supply Financing Ratio; Samsung Electronics incorporating climate metrics into executive compensation and setting a new 2030 emissions target; and Valence Surface Technologies investing US$5.7 million in environmental, health, and safety enhancements.  

“As the investment landscape grows more complex and interconnected, we continue to see good governance as the foundation everything else relies on,” added Coulson. “The willingness of boards and management to engage signals alignment on long-term performance and a commitment to managing material risks and opportunities.”  

BCI continued to cast ballots for public companies across its portfolio during the 2026 proxy season, a total of 2,209 meetings across 55 countries. This included voting against 26% of management proposals based on a careful assessment of governance practices and oversight of environmental and social risks. New analysis of BCI’s proxy voting record found that companies receiving BCI’s lowest levels of support for management proposals were also 1.6x more likely to see sharp declines in share price than companies receiving the highest support over a five-year period. While not predictive, understanding the potential relationship between voting practices and financial performance reinforces the importance of using shareholder rights to hold management and boards accountable. 

 BCI Stewardship Highlights 2025-2026  

• Building climate resilience: Expanded engagement on physical climate risk across the infrastructure portfolio, working closely with private holdings like Endeavour Energy and Cube Highways, as extreme weather events increasingly factor into long-term asset performance. 

• Evolving methane measurement: Convened companies across the Canadian LNG value chain on methane measurement as a credibility signal and commercial differentiator. Following engagement, TC Energy tied executive pay to a new 2035 methane reduction target and Tourmaline Oil became the first company to certify an integrated gas production and processing system under MiQ, a global methane certification standard.  

• Generating value in private markets: Worked with 19 private portfolio companies and 26 general partners to strengthen and support sustainability initiatives. BCI hosted its second ESG Value Creation Conference in New York and collaborated with Stanford University's Long-Term Investing Initiative on original research linking ESG practices to financial performance. 

• Strengthening responsible AI expectations: Tailored approach to AI engagement to distinguish between developers, deployers, and the broader value chain, joined the World Benchmarking Alliance's Collective Impact Coalition for Ethical AI, and continued comprehensive dialogue with Amazon on AI governance and infrastructure impacts. 

• Advancing Indigenous relations: Engaged Canadian firms on implementing their reconciliation commitments, including Agnico Eagle Mines, Enbridge, Hydro One, and Hydro-Québec. BCI reinforced foundational expectations with management, while supporting corporate certification and equity participation initiatives. 

Read the 2025-2026 Stewardship Report on BCI.ca. 

This stewardship reporting is complementary to the ESG and climate-related disclosures available in BCI’s 2025-2026 Corporate Annual Report.  

About BCI

BCI is one of Canada’s largest institutional investors, with C$313.7 billion in gross assets under management as of March 31, 2026. BCI has built its legacy on performance with purpose, helping its 33 public sector and institutional clients deliver on their commitments. From securing pensions to supporting communities, it’s investing that matters.

Headquartered in Victoria, British Columbia, and with teams spanning Vancouver, New York, London, and Mumbai, BCI puts patient capital to work across public and private markets globally.

Learn more at BCI.ca or LinkedIn.

Olga Petrycki
BCI - British Columbia Investment Management Corp
+1 778 410 7100
media@bci.ca