Canadian pensions, insurers, investment funds and banks have accumulated roughly C$500 billion ($360 billion) in private-credit exposure, and the Bank of Canada said most of it is invested outside the country, largely in the United States. The three largest life insurers held more than C$200 billion in the first quarter of 2026, about 22% of invested assets, while large pension funds held about C$215 billion at the end of 2025, or roughly 9%; investment funds held about C$54 billion in 2025, up more than 60% from 2020, with more than two-fifths tied to real estate, and banks had at least C$40 billion in loans to asset managers operating private-credit funds. The central bank said Canadian institutions often prefer direct lending, which can provide better borrower information and control, and that insurers' exposure includes longstanding privately placed corporate debt that may be less risky than headline totals imply. It warned that opaque structures, model-based valuations and limited stress history could transmit losses from overseas markets into Canada, but said direct risks appear manageable because long-horizon investors rely less on short-term funding and banks' subscription facilities are typically secured by investors' commitments. Private credit still plays a smaller domestic role in Canada than in the United States, with banks and debt markets supplying more than three-quarters of financing for private non-financial companies.