Investing with influence: How active governance powers Corix’s growth 

Corix’s recognition as one of Canada’s Best Private Company Boards in 2026 offers a clear view into how BCI approaches infrastructure investing. Since reinventing Corix as a standalone district energy company in 2024, BCI has actively shaped its governance, strategy, and growth — proof that an engaged board, working shoulder to shoulder with management, delivers stronger, more resilient outcomes. 

Direct ownership, long-term horizons

With a $36.5 billion portfolio of real assets, BCI Infrastructure & Renewable Resources (I&RR) originates, structures and manages investments with a long-term horizon, often holding assets for more than 20 years. This approach reflects the nature of infrastructure itself, which often includes long-lived physical assets that provide essential services such as utilities and transportation systems.  

The I&RR investment strategy follows a consistent approach: investing with influence, not just capital. The team prioritizes direct investments, with a preference for meaningful stakes that provide governance rights including board representation. Active ownership allows the team to manage risk more directly and position businesses to deliver stable, inflation-resilient returns over time. 

Governance that shapes outcomes

Meaningful ownership comes with a mandate: shape how the business is run, not just fund it. Through board seats, BCI-nominated directors bring active, engaged oversight to the decisions that matter most — strategy, capital, and leadership succession. Across the portfolio, this includes contributing to executive appointments, compensation structures, and growth and M&A, while ensuring business plans align with long‑term priorities, including ESG considerations. This approach is particularly relevant in infrastructure, where regulatory and operational complexity requires sustained oversight. 

Corix – Strong governance in practice

Corix, a wholly owned company in BCI’s I&RR portfolio, provides a clear example of this model in action. As a North American developer and operator of sustainable district energy systems, Corix designs and delivers thermal energy networks for cities, campuses, and communities. 

Since acquiring Corix in 2019, BCI has played a central role in shaping the company’s evolution, including repositioning it as a standalone district energy platform in 2024, and supporting its expansion across Canada and the U.S. 

In recent years, Corix has achieved several strategic milestones, including: 

• Advancing flagship municipal partnerships such as the City Centre District Energy Utility in Richmond, B.C., a low‑carbon network backed by the Canada Infrastructure Bank. 

• Delivering a new low‑carbon district energy system for the Port of Bellingham’s revitalized waterfront district in Washington state. 

• Launching a multi-phase district energy system for Utah City, a major mixed-use development near Salt Lake City, Utah, that will rank as one of the largest urban district energy networks in North America once fully built. 

• Strengthening its leadership team by appointing a Chief Development Officer, a role focused on advancing sustainable energy infrastructure and driving growth in key North American markets. 

Four BCI colleagues — Zaman Velji, Grant Hodgkins, Jennifer Manning, and Jon Perry — sit on Corix’s board, forming its majority and working closely with the Corix executive team.  

Where many public company boards spend much of their time on the mechanics of oversight, Corix’s board — operating in a private company context — goes further, devoting considerable time to foresight: discussing not just the business as it is, but also what it can be. Strategic growth and organizational evolution are recurring topics the board returns to, discussed and revisited as the business scales against ever-evolving market conditions. 

That forward-looking work is underpinned by a culture of trust. Corix’s board can have open, and at times difficult, conversations because of the relationships built among directors and management, grounded in mutual respect and a shared vision of success. Trust is built in the boardroom as well as outside of it, through strategy retreats that pair strategic planning with team building, and through site visits that give directors a firsthand understanding of the company’s assets, workforce, and on-the-ground conditions. The CEO–Chair relationship is particularly important and serves as the load-bearing wall of our governance approach in this dynamic. It is reinforced by quarterly “health check” conversations that keep everyone aligned and surface concerns early, and by an ongoing ability to simply pick up the phone to discuss or test ideas on the issues of the day. 

That active, constructive governance approach is exactly what an independent committee recognized when it named Corix one of Canada’s Best Private Company Boards.  

“This recognition is a testament to what active ownership and a committed board can achieve. The best outcomes come from genuine consultation and candid discourse — and from keeping a long-term perspective as the business grows,” said Zaman Velji, Senior Managing Director, BCI I&RR, and Chair of Corix. “It reflects Corix’s progress and the strength of its partnership with BCI.” 

“Strong governance and investor support is fundamental to how we operate and grow as a business,” said Lisa Sparrow, Corix’s President & CEO. “This recognition reflects the strength of our relationship with BCI, the strategic leadership of our board and executive team, and our shared commitment to building a resilient, customer-focused company that delivers essential energy infrastructure for the future.” 

Corix’s recognition highlights what I&RR’s investment model can deliver in practice and sets a clear benchmark for governance across the broader portfolio, reinforcing the value of active ownership in essential infrastructure businesses.