Canada Infrastructure Bank appoints interim CIO

The Canada Infrastructure Bank has tapped Bruno Guilmette, a former senior vice-president of infrastructure at PSP Investments, as interim chief investment officer.

Guilmette was one of 10 members appointed to the C$35 billion ($27.24 billion; €23.14 billion) bank’s board of directors on 16 November. He will be tasked with building up the bank’s capability while a hiring process to find a permanent chief executive takes place over the next five to six months.

“The board recognised the need to move quickly and Bruno Guilmette agreed to start the build-up of our infrastructure investment capacity as interim chief investment officer, so that we can look forward to engaging with stakeholders,” said Janice Fukakusa, the bank’s chair.

Guilmette is expected to return to his position on the board once a chief executive is hired.

Guilmette spent 10 years at PSP Investments, a Canadian pension investment manager with C$139.2 billion in assets under management, where he served as head of the firm’s infrastructure group. He previously served as a senior director of Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec. In addition to his role at the CIB, Guilmette is now president of the advisory committee for Montreal-based Plan A Capital.

An arm’s-length Crown corporation, the CIB was proposed last year and created by Canada’s House of Commons this spring. Based in Toronto, the bank will use federal resources to draw private capital into large-scale infrastructure projects.