Canada Infrastructure Bank CIO to Retire

The Canada Infrastructure Bank announced Monday the retirement of CIO John Casola, who had been at the CIB since 2019 and served as CIO since 2020. Casola will retire on March 31, according to a statement from the CIB. 

“It has been an incredible journey, but I have always believed that strong leadership includes knowing when it’s time to pass the torch,” Casola wrote in a LinkedIn post. “I have been at the CIB for over seven years and have contributed to building a high-functioning and results-driven organization. For those who followed the CIB’s evolution, it won’t surprise you to hear that it has been challenging, exhilarating, frustrating and fulfilling, all at the same time.”

The CIB was established in 2017 to invest in domestic Canadian infrastructure projects, including clean power, public transit, trade, transportation and broadband infrastructure. The fund has invested more than C$18 billion ($13.18 billion) across more than 108 investments across Canada. CIB announced the formation of a new leadership team: Hillary Thatcher will become executive vice president of Indigenous infrastructure; Sashen Guneratna will become executive vice president of public infrastructure; and Charles Todd was named executive vice president of investment operations. The bank also plans to hire an executive vice president of commercial infrastructure.

“I am extremely proud of the progress made during my time at the CIB,” Casola wrote. “We went from a standing start position of one deal closed in 2019 and fighting each day to prove our value and for our existence, to today having closed [about] 110 investments worth almost [C]$19B, in every province and territory. But I regard all of that as just a very good start, as we have an enormous amount of work still to do as a country. I have tremendous confidence that the new leadership team at the CIB will rise to this challenge by thinking bigger and doing even better going forward.”

Casola has held senior and executive positions in infrastructure and real assets investing and previously served as founding partner in BedRock Capital Partners. He also was a partner in and head of advisory for the Americas at Mazars; was head of North America at Investec Bank PLC; and was a managing partner in PwC’s infrastructure and government services group.

Casola earned a bachelor’s degree in law and political science from Carleton University in Minnesota and a law degree from the University of Windsor in Ontario.