New acting CEO steers $23 billion plan through probe as regulators and union scrutinise CAAT’s leadership shakeup
A $1.6m vacation payout to CAAT Pension Plan CEO Derek Dobson has triggered a governance shakeup that now spans the board, regulators and the C‑suite of one of Canada’s largest pension funds.
CAAT has placed Dobson on immediate administrative leave and installed an interim leadership team as it manages what the board calls a period of “significant change” linked to governance concerns around the payout, according to Benefits and Pension Monitor.
Bloomberg reports that the plan manages more than $23bn in assets and serves hundreds of employers.
Long-time executive Kevin Fahey has stepped in as acting CEO and plan manager while retaining responsibility as chief investment officer, according to Benefits and Pension Monitor.
The publication says Fahey has more than 16 years at CAAT, previously chaired the Pension Investment Association of Canada, sat on the Investment Committee for Teachers' Pension Plan Corporation of Newfoundland and Labrador, holds degrees from Queen's University and Osgoode Hall Law School, and is a CFA Charterholder.
Board leadership has also shifted.
Benefits and Pension Monitor reports that employee‑appointed trustee and Humber Polytechnic faculty member Audrey Wubbenhorst is now board chair, while employer‑appointed trustee Janet Greenwood, who has more than three decades of global wealth management experience, has become vice‑chair.
Wubbenhorst said the board determined the leadership changes are “necessary to restore stakeholder trust in CAAT’s leadership, governance and plan management” and stressed that “good governance is the backbone of a pension plan's stability and strength.”
The crisis escalated after three senior executives went to the board in November with governance concerns and urged trustees to investigate them, Bloomberg reported, citing The Globe and Mail.
Bloomberg said those concerns included the $1.6m vacation payment to Dobson and a workplace relationship between Dobson and a CAAT employee that trustees had sanctioned.
Benefits and Pension Monitor reported that the board approved the $1.6m payout in November 2024 in lieu of unused vacation time and that both that decision and the handling of the relationship fell under then-chair Don Smith’s oversight.
Bloomberg reported that the executives who raised the concerns – then-CIO Asif Haque, CFO Mike Dawson and chief pension officer Evan Howard – resigned in January.
As per Benefits and Pension Monitor, CAAT then promoted Fahey to CIO and appointed former trustee Scott Blakey as interim executive vice-president before elevating Fahey again to acting CEO.
The fallout has extended beyond the plan.
The Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU), which had appointed Smith as a trustee, suspended him from his board role after the January departures, with OPSEU spokesperson Emily Visser confirming the suspension while saying the union had been reassured about CAAT’s financial health.
The Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario is reviewing the situation for potential governance failures, according to Benefits and Pension Monitor’s account of comments provided to The Globe and Mail.
In parallel, the board has commissioned an independent governance review after learning of the vacation payment, Bloomberg reported.
Benefits and Pension Monitor said CAAT spokesperson Stephen Hewitt confirmed that an independent expert is leading the review, which is expected to conclude later in February.
CAAT has stressed the issues under review do not affect the plan’s financial health or its ability to deliver secure, predictable pensions to members.
