Private Equity Firms Toronto: Top Firms in 2026

Key Facts About Toronto's Private Equity Market

• Toronto hosts more than 20 active private equity and PE-adjacent firms, ranging from micro-cap specialists targeting businesses with revenues as low as CAD $5 million to mega-funds managing over US$150 billion in assets under management.
• Aggregate AUM across major Toronto-headquartered PE firms exceeds CAD $300 billion, anchored by Brookfield Asset Management (US$150B+ in PE strategies), Onex Corporation (US$57B), Sagard (US$33B), and Northleaf Capital Partners (US$28B).
• CPP Investments, the manager of Canada's national pension plan, has generated CAD $140.7 billion in total net assets and deploys capital into direct PE, fund investments, secondaries, and growth equity from its Toronto headquarters.
• Deal enterprise values span from under CAD $25 million at the micro-cap tier to multi-billion-dollar mega-buyouts, with the city's most active deal tier concentrated in the CAD $25 million to CAD $300 million lower mid-market range.
• Toronto is home to Canada's two largest pension-backed direct investors, OMERS Private Equity (CAD $17 billion) and CPP Investments, which compete directly with independent PE firms for large-cap assets.
• Buy-and-build platform strategies dominate current activity: Imperial Capital Group completed 259 tuck-in acquisitions between 2021 and 2024, while Clairvest Group has executed more than 430 add-on acquisitions across its investment history.
• Healthcare services, business services, industrials, and technology-enabled platforms are the sectors attracting the most Toronto PE capital in 2025 and 2026.

Toronto Private Equity Firms: Market Overview

Toronto's status as Canada's financial capital means Bay Street hosts a PE ecosystem unlike any other in the country. The city supports every tier of the market simultaneously: mega-cap buyout firms operating across 30-plus countries sit alongside lower mid-market specialists focused exclusively on Canadian businesses with revenues below CAD $50 million. That vertical breadth is rare among North American PE hubs.

The most distinctive feature of the Toronto PE market is the depth of pension-backed capital. OMERS Private Equity, backed by the retirement savings of over 600,000 Ontario municipal employees, manages CAD $17 billion and competes for control investments with enterprise values between US$500 million and US$2 billion. CPP Investments operates across an even larger mandate, with offices in Toronto, London, and five other global cities. These pension giants provide a stable institutional capital base that independent PE firms in smaller Canadian markets cannot match.

Independent fund managers cover the full mid-market spectrum. Birch Hill Equity Partners manages CAD $6 billion and has completed 73 investments since 1994, with 59 fully realized. Clairvest Group, publicly listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX: CVG), has delivered 3.6 times capital growth across 47 exited investments and created over CAD $2 billion of personal net worth for its partner companies' founders and executives. At the lower end, Ironbridge Equity Partners focuses exclusively on Canadian lower mid-market companies with enterprise values between CAD $25 million and CAD $150 million, having completed 55-plus transactions since 2005 with its CAD $383 million Fund IV currently deploying.

Cross-border deal activity is a defining characteristic of nearly all Toronto-based PE firms. Most target both Canadian and US companies, with the larger platforms including Brookfield, Northleaf, OMERS Private Equity, and Sagard operating actively across Europe and Asia-Pacific. Sagard, backed by Power Corporation of Canada and managing US$33 billion across venture capital, private equity, private credit, and real estate, maintains a portfolio of more than 190 companies globally, making it the most diversified multi-strategy platform in the city.

Toronto PE: Firm Comparison

The table below covers the largest Toronto-headquartered private equity firms by AUM, sorted largest to smallest. Strategy and sector strength reflect each firm's primary focus area.

For limited partners (LPs) building private markets exposure, Toronto's top-tier firms represent distinct risk-return profiles. Birch Hill's 18% cumulative average earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) growth on actively employed capital since 1994 and Onex's 27% gross internal rate of return (IRR) since inception are the two strongest publicly disclosed long-run track records in the Canadian mid-to-large-cap space. Institutional investors targeting the lower mid-market should focus on Ironbridge, Fulcrum, and Fengate, each investing in companies with EBITDA below CAD $15 million to CAD $20 million.

Top Picks by Investment Strategy

Largest PE Platform: Brookfield Asset Management manages more than US$150 billion in private equity and related strategies, operates across 30-plus countries, and deploys capital with over 170 dedicated PE investment professionals supported by 140,000 operating professionals embedded inside portfolio companies.

Returns Leader: Onex Corporation has generated a 2.5 times average gross multiple on invested capital and a 27% gross IRR across its PE portfolio since its founding in 1984, the strongest publicly disclosed long-run track record among Toronto-headquartered independent PE firms.

Strongest Mid-Market Track Record: Birch Hill Equity Partners has achieved an 18% cumulative average EBITDA growth rate on actively employed capital since 1994 across 59 fully realized investments, making it the benchmark operator for Canadian mid-market buyouts.

Most Active Buy-and-Builder: Imperial Capital Group completed 259 tuck-in acquisitions between 2021 and 2024, with platform companies achieving a 51% revenue compound annual growth rate across Funds IV, V, and VI.

Top Secondary Market Advisor: Setter Capital is the only Toronto-headquartered firm dedicated exclusively to secondary market advisory, handling transactions from small tail-end LP portfolio sales to multi-billion-dollar GP-led continuation fund mandates.

Healthcare Sector Specialist: Persistence Capital Partners is Canada's only PE firm with an exclusive healthcare mandate, investing across life sciences, dental, and cosmetic businesses where most competitors treat healthcare as one sector among several.

Growth Equity and Multi-Strategy Leader: Sagard manages US$33 billion across venture capital, private equity, private credit, and real estate through its Portage Ventures platform and related vehicles, offering the broadest strategy coverage of any Toronto-headquartered firm.

Lower Mid-Market Operator of Record: Ironbridge Equity Partners has executed 55-plus transactions since 2005 exclusively in the Canadian lower mid-market, with Fund IV at CAD $383 million currently deploying into manufacturing, distribution, and consumer businesses.

Top Toronto PE Firms in Detail

Brookfield Asset Management

The largest PE platform headquartered in Toronto, Brookfield manages more than US$150 billion in private equity and related strategies as part of a global alternative asset management franchise operating in over 30 countries. Its defining edge is the owner-operator heritage: Brookfield employs more than 140,000 operating professionals worldwide who work directly inside portfolio companies, providing operational depth that purely financial buyout firms cannot replicate. The firm targets control investments with enterprise values typically exceeding US$500 million, concentrating on industrials, business services, infrastructure-related platforms, and technology-enabled services where its operational capabilities generate tangible margin improvement. Brookfield's TSX and NYSE listing (BAM) gives public market investors partial access to its PE returns alongside institutional capital.

Onex Corporation

The strongest proven track record in Toronto PE belongs to Onex, which has produced a 2.5 times average gross MOIC and a 27% gross IRR across its portfolio since its founding in 1984. That consistency across four decades of market cycles distinguishes Onex from newer entrants citing short-run multiples on selective investments. The firm manages US$57 billion in total assets, including US$7.8 billion of its own proprietary capital deployed alongside institutional LPs, an alignment structure that makes Onex's incentives directly comparable to those of its investors. The 2025 exit of Ryan Specialty and the sale of OneDigital to Stone Point Capital and CPP Investments reflect successful large-cap realizations in financial services and business services. Onex targets companies with enterprise values from US$500 million to over US$5 billion.

OMERS Private Equity

The direct investment arm of one of Canada's largest pension plans, OMERS Private Equity manages CAD $17 billion on behalf of more than 600,000 Ontario municipal employees. That long-duration capital mandate produces investment behavior meaningfully different from fund-cycle-driven general partners (GPs): OMERS does not face vintage-year exit pressure, and its investment horizons extend well beyond the typical five-to-seven-year private equity fund cycle. The firm targets control buyouts with enterprise values between US$500 million and US$2 billion in business services, healthcare, industrials, and technology-enabled platforms, with offices in Toronto, New York, London, and Singapore providing global deal origination capacity. OMERS Private Equity's 2025 investment in Integris is its most recently announced platform addition.

Altas Partners

Altas occupies a distinct position among Toronto's large-cap buyout firms: it holds investments for significantly longer periods than most PE funds, reducing exit pressure on portfolio company management teams and allowing compounding value creation across multi-year cycles. The firm manages US$10 billion (CAD $13.4 billion) and typically targets companies with enterprise values between US$400 million and several billion dollars in healthcare, education, business services, and industrials. Management teams at Altas-backed companies operate without the quarterly exit-timeline pressure common in traditional fund structures, making Altas a preferred partner for high-quality founder-led businesses where cultural alignment and strategic continuity matter more than short-cycle multiple expansion.

Birch Hill Equity Partners

The defining statistic for Birch Hill is its 18% cumulative average EBITDA growth rate on actively employed capital since its first fund launched in 1994. Across 73 investments and 59 full realizations, that growth rate demonstrates operational conviction rather than reliance on leverage or market multiple expansion. Birch Hill manages CAD $6 billion, targets mid-market companies with enterprise values between CAD $75 million and CAD $2 billion, and focuses on industrials, business services, consumer, financial services, and healthcare. Its 14 currently active partner companies collectively generate over CAD $8 billion in total revenue and employ more than 40,000 people, making Birch Hill one of Canada's largest corporate stakeholders by portfolio revenue. Data-driven decision-making through advanced analytics is a stated core of the firm's post-acquisition operating model.

Clairvest Group

Clairvest's alignment structure sets it apart from every other Toronto PE firm: as a publicly listed company (TSX: CVG), Clairvest invests its own capital alongside institutional co-investors and is itself the largest investor in its own funds. That arrangement means Clairvest's principals carry personal capital at risk in every investment, a model the firm reports has generated over CAD $2 billion in personal net worth for its partner companies' founders and executives. The firm manages CAD $4.3 billion, targets mid-market majority buyouts with enterprise values between CAD $50 million and CAD $300 million, and operates across gaming, healthcare, waste management, environmental services, aerospace, and IT services. The 430-plus add-on acquisitions completed across its portfolio history and a 3.6 times capital growth multiple across 47 exited investments confirm the buy-and-build model's consistent execution at Clairvest.

Imperial Capital Group

Imperial Capital has built the most active buy-and-build track record in the Toronto lower mid-market: 259 tuck-in acquisitions completed between 2021 and 2024 alone, producing a 51% revenue compound annual growth rate across platform companies in Funds IV, V, and VI. The firm manages CAD $3.5 billion, targets companies with enterprise values between CAD $50 million and CAD $300 million, and focuses on healthcare services, business and consumer services, and value-added distribution, sectors where fragmented competitors create predictable consolidation opportunities. The 10.3 times CEO multiple of capital achieved for Fund V, VI, and VII portfolio company executives during the investment period shows how Imperial's model rewards management partners who build alongside the firm. Platform examples include Fortis Fire & Safety, Hera Women's Health, and Skyline Roofing Partners, the last of which completed two more acquisitions in March 2025.

Northleaf Capital Partners

Northleaf's structural advantage lies in its ability to deploy capital across primary fund commitments, secondaries, and direct investments from the same platform, giving its LPs diversified exposure across vintage years, return profiles, and deal stages through a single manager relationship. The firm manages US$28 billion (CAD $37 billion) across private equity, private credit, and infrastructure, operates from 10 offices globally, and targets PE opportunities in companies with enterprise values between US$50 million and US$500 million. Sector concentration spans technology, business services, industrials, healthcare, and infrastructure including transportation, telecom, and renewable energy assets. Northleaf's institutional LP base includes endowments, foundations, sovereign wealth funds, and family offices that value the firm's research-driven approach to portfolio construction across multiple private markets strategies simultaneously.

Ironbridge Equity Partners

Ironbridge is the clearest example of a Toronto firm deliberately narrow in scope: the firm invests exclusively in Canadian lower mid-market companies, has completed 55-plus transactions since its founding in 2005, and currently deploys Fund IV (CAD $383 million) into manufacturing, distribution, consumer products and services, and business products and services businesses with enterprise values between CAD $25 million and CAD $150 million. That disciplined geographic and sector focus produces deep proprietary deal flow in a Canadian market segment where most US-focused PE firms do not compete. Named platform investments include Canada Metal Pacific, Midland Appliance, Avena Foods, and Brooklin Concrete Products. For Canadian business owners in traditional industries seeking a PE partner with category-specific operating expertise, Ironbridge's narrow mandate is a feature rather than a limitation.

Peloton Capital Management

Peloton's strongest competitive position is in the Canadian financial services consolidation trade, particularly insurance brokerage. The firm targets North American mid-market businesses with EBITDA between CAD $5 million and CAD $40 million in financial services, healthcare, consumer, and business services. Its 2022 acquisitions of Billyard Insurance Group and Unison Risk Advisors demonstrated its ability to build insurance managing general agent platforms through sequential acquisitions, and its 2025 investment in Starfish Specialty Insurance continues that thesis. The 2021 acquisition of Edgewood Health Network Canada adds healthcare services depth to a portfolio built on repeatable sector expertise rather than sector-agnostic opportunism.

Investment Trends Shaping Toronto's PE Market

Buy-and-Build Dominance Across Every Market Tier

Platform roll-up strategies are not a subset of Toronto PE activity but its defining characteristic at every deal size. Imperial Capital's 259 tuck-in acquisitions in four years and Clairvest's 430-plus total add-on acquisitions represent the extremes of a model practiced across the entire spectrum. Ironbridge, Fulcrum Capital Partners, Fengate, and Signal Hill Equity Partners all explicitly position buy-and-build execution as their primary value creation lever, targeting fragmented sectors where platform companies can consolidate revenue at margins that standalone operators cannot achieve independently.

Healthcare Services Consolidation as the Leading Sector

Healthcare is the most active sector across Toronto PE by both firm count and deal activity. Persistence Capital Partners is Canada's only healthcare-exclusive PE firm, investing across life sciences, dental, and cosmetic businesses. Imperial Capital's Hera Women's Health and Fortis Fire & Safety platforms, Peloton's Edgewood Health Network investment, and Fengate's GraceMed and eMAX Health deals collectively demonstrate that nearly every Toronto PE firm, across all market tiers, is pursuing healthcare consolidation simultaneously. The subsectors attracting the most new capital are dental services, women's health, urgent care, and behavioral health.

Pension Capital Reshaping Large-Cap Competitive Dynamics

The presence of OMERS Private Equity (CAD $17 billion) and CPP Investments (CAD $140.7 billion in total net assets with PE as a core allocation) as direct buyers of large private companies creates structural competition for traditional PE firms at enterprise values above US$400 million. Pension capital carries no performance fee pressure and deploys on investment horizons that extend well beyond the typical five-to-seven-year private equity fund cycle. This dynamic pushes independent PE firms toward the mid-market and lower mid-market tiers where pension capital does not compete directly, concentrating proprietary deal flow in the CAD $25 million to CAD $300 million enterprise value range.

Secondary Market Activity Growing in Sophistication

Setter Capital, the only Toronto firm dedicated exclusively to secondary market advisory, works across LP portfolio sales, GP-led continuation fund processes, and structured liquidity solutions from its Toronto headquarters. CPP Investments maintains a dedicated secondaries team in Toronto, and Northleaf invests across primary fund commitments, secondaries, and directs from the same platform. As Canadian PE matures and fund vintages age across the lower and mid-market tiers, institutional demand for secondary market liquidity solutions continues to grow among LPs seeking to actively manage private markets exposure without waiting for traditional exit cycles.

Sustained Fundraising in the Lower Mid-Market

The CAD $25 million to CAD $300 million enterprise value tier is seeing sustained institutional fundraising. Ironbridge is deploying Fund IV at CAD $383 million, Fulcrum Capital Partners is deploying Fund VI, and Imperial Capital is deploying Fund VIII. Fengate raised over CAD $700 million and actively invests in businesses with EBITDA up to CAD $15 million. Institutional LPs are committing to this tier because lower mid-market Canadian companies offer less competition from global mega-funds, stronger proprietary deal sourcing through intermediary networks, and higher operational value creation potential relative to acquisition price.

How to Evaluate Toronto PE Firms

Track record of realized investments is the most reliable indicator of a PE firm's actual value creation capability. Seek gross multiple on invested capital (MOIC) and net MOIC across multiple fund vintages, not just the most recent fund or cherry-picked portfolio companies. Onex's 2.5 times gross MOIC across its full history since 1984 and Birch Hill's 18% cumulative EBITDA growth rate across 59 realized investments are the transparency benchmarks you should expect from any established firm.

Sector expertise requires honest interrogation. A firm listing healthcare, industrials, consumer, and financial services as focus areas may have genuine depth in only one of those verticals. Request specific deal references within your sub-sector, and speak directly with portfolio company management teams about the firm's operational contributions post-close. Clairvest's gaming and waste management domain knowledge and Imperial Capital's healthcare services roll-up infrastructure are examples of genuine sector depth rather than broad marketing claims.

Fund size relative to your company's enterprise value determines how much attention your business will receive from the partnership. A CAD $3.5 billion fund deploying capital into CAD $50 million to CAD $300 million enterprise value businesses treats each platform investment as a meaningful commitment of partner time. Mismatches in either direction, fund too large or too small for your business, typically produce suboptimal outcomes for both parties.

Alignment of interests separates genuine partners from transactional capital providers. Clairvest invests its own capital as the largest investor in its own funds. Onex has committed US$7.8 billion of proprietary capital alongside institutional LPs. Fulcrum's management team personally co-invests in every platform company. These structural commitments create incentive alignment that is genuinely tied to business outcomes, not just the fund's returns on paper.

Which Firm Fits Your Needs?

Founders running healthcare services, business services, or industrials companies with EBITDA between CAD $5 million and CAD $30 million should prioritize Ironbridge, Fulcrum Capital Partners, Fengate, and Imperial Capital, all of which have completed multiple transactions at that scale and offer buy-and-build infrastructure that smaller or newer managers cannot match. Imperial Capital's 10.3 times CEO multiple of capital for Funds V-VII portfolio company executives is a concrete data point that founders considering a PE partnership should examine closely before selecting a partner.

LPs building private markets allocations who want proven long-run track records should anchor Canadian PE exposure to Onex (2.5 times gross MOIC, 27% gross IRR across 40-plus years) and Birch Hill (18% EBITDA growth on realized investments), with Northleaf providing a primary-secondary-direct combination under one manager. Clairvest offers an unusual public market entry point through its TSX listing (CVG), giving investors economic exposure to a PE vehicle without the standard fund commitment structure and capital call process.

Business owners evaluating a first institutional capital partnership often benefit most from lower mid-market firms with explicit founder-friendly positioning. Dawson Partners focuses on generational transitions and majority buyouts in the CAD $17 million to CAD $85 million enterprise value range across North America and Europe. Advisors running competitive sale processes for mid-market Canadian businesses will find the most active bidder pools in the CAD $75 million to CAD $300 million enterprise value range, where Birch Hill, Clairvest, Peloton Capital Management, and ONCAP Management Partners (Onex's dedicated mid-market platform) compete most frequently. Understanding each firm's current fund deployment status and sector conviction materially improves process design and price discovery.

Methodology

This guide covers private equity firms in Toronto based on data current as of early 2026, drawn from firm-level disclosures, public fund information, and deal databases tracking Ontario-based PE activity. Firms were selected based on having active Toronto headquarters and verifiable investment activity in private equity, secondary advisory, or pension-backed direct investing. AUM figures reflect the most recently disclosed amounts in each firm's public communications and may not capture intra-year capital raises or realizations. Track record statistics including MOIC, gross IRR, and EBITDA growth rates are sourced directly from firm-disclosed materials. The guide covers private equity firms in Toronto across all market tiers, from micro-cap specialists targeting businesses with revenues below CAD $10 million through mega-cap buyout firms operating globally, to give readers a complete picture of where Toronto-based capital is deployed.