This edition maps the Canadian limited partners that back venture funds, drawn from Kennox’s LP register and partly from our research sets in energy, defence, agritech and real estate: 455 organisations researched, the 122 that show a public signal, the LP types they fall into and the 56 that have backed emerging managers. All data has been drawn from the public record to the best of our ability, and each figure carries its provenance: SOURCED where it is a count of LPs each backed by a dated public document, and DERIVED where it is arithmetic on sourced counts. Where a figure depends on a Kennox classification rule applied to those documents, such as the emerging-manager test, it is labelled MODELLED, described as “by our classification”, and its rule is given, so the reader always knows how a number was reached. Where a source gives no currency, we say so.

In keeping with the terms under which commercial data is licensed, no proprietary database content appears in these pages. Information outside the public record, and any valuation of an individual company, has likewise been withheld.

Fifty-six LPs are counted as emerging-manager backers, chosen by a single rule set out on page 20. Our own views are confined to the lines marked Action and Question to ask, the Kennox view column on page 15, and pages 16, 17 and 18.

What we found.

Five findings from month one of Kennox’s tracking of Canadian LPs, each with what a raising GP can do about it.

Counts Sourced except the emerging-manager figures Modelled and 80% Derived. Notes are on page 21.

From register to backer.

How the 455 Canadian organisations we researched narrow to the 56 whose public record shows backing for a Fund I, II or III.

Each bar is drawn to the same scale as the 455 researched. Kennox analysis of 174 public sources, Oct–Nov 2026; the source count behind each step is in the notes.

Likely 89 (51 public sources), possible 33 (27) Sourced. No signal 333: 164 organisations whose evidence rows show nothing public in 36 months (98 public sources) and 169 where we found no public evidence; 76 of the 169 have not yet been searched and are scheduled for month two.^{4, 14}

122 of the 455 organisations researched show any signal, and 56 of those 122 show emerging-manager evidence by our classification. No signal means we found nothing public; a private commitment leaves no trace, so it says nothing certain about an organisation’s appetite.

Who is signalling.

Signalling Canadian LPs by type, split into the stronger flag, likely, and the weaker, possible.

Counts of LPs. Signalling, likely, possible and dated Sourced: Kennox analysis of 78 public sources, Oct–Nov 2026; by type, in table order, 16, 19, 13, 11, 13, 11, 11, 5 and 3 sources. Emerging-manager column Modelled: 33 public sources. A dash means none. Fund of funds includes labour-sponsored venture capital corporations; other includes venture investors.

Foundations and endowments, and Crown and government programmes, are the two largest groups. Fund of funds signals are almost all likely, 14 of 15, and every signalling bank and credit union is likely. Pensions are the reverse: 9 of their 15 signals are only possible.⁸ A few fund closes carry much of this table, because a single closing announcement often names several LPs at once.³ Insurers (3) and family offices (5) are small cells, and we draw no conclusion from either.

Where first-time managers find LPs.

Of each type’s signalling LPs, how many have evidence that meets our emerging-manager test: a commitment to a Fund I, II or III, or a stated emerging-manager or first-time-fund programme.

Counts of LPs, sorted by emerging-manager count. Emerging-manager backers Modelled: Kennox analysis of 33 public sources, Oct–Nov 2026; by type, other 8 sources, credit union or bank 9, corporate 8, foundation or endowment 6, fund of funds 6, Crown or government 5, family office 4, insurer 2. Signalling totals Sourced, as on page 07.

The 107 signalling LPs whose evidence is a fund commitment Modelled: 63 public sources; 56 (33 sources) and 51 (30 sources). The test leaves out a new Fund I line launched by an established manager.⁶

Size and Fund I–III evidence rank the types differently. Crown and government programmes are the second-largest group, and 5 of their 21 meet the test. Banks and credit unions, and corporates, are smaller, and 9 of 14 meet it in each. No signalling pension shows Fund I–III evidence. The other group, 10 of 13, holds venture investors that commit to funds and organisations that fit none of the named types.

How strong the evidence is.

Each evidence row is graded high or low confidence. Low-confidence evidence is mostly a GP release or trade press naming the LP at a fund close.

Signalling LPs: 25 high confidence (25 public sources) and 97 low (53) Sourced; 97 of 122 is 80% Derived. All 286 evidence rows: 31 high (31 sources) and 255 low (144) Sourced.^{5, 15}

Counts of LPs (dark) and of the distinct public sources behind them (pale), on one scale. Where the pale bar is much shorter than the dark one, many LPs share a source. Kennox analysis, Oct–Nov 2026 Sourced.

Each of the 25 high-confidence LPs rests on a source of its own. The 97 low-confidence LPs share 53 sources between them, because one closing announcement can name a dozen LPs. A GP’s target list built from press releases inherits that clustering: several names on it may trace back to the same close.

What changed.

Signalling LPs with a commitment or programme dated on or after 1 November 2025, against all signalling LPs of that type. The likely flag looks back 24 months; this page looks back twelve.

Counts of LPs. 62 LPs with evidence dated since 1 November 2025 Sourced: Kennox analysis of 36 public sources, Oct–Nov 2026; by type, Crown or government 10 sources, foundation or endowment 8, fund of funds 7, pension 7, credit union or bank 8, other 4, family office 3, corporate 3. No insurer had dated evidence in the period. Dates are those of the documents cited.

23 of the 62 meet the emerging-manager test Modelled: 14 public sources.¹⁰

Across all 122 signalling LPs the emerging-manager count is 56; in the last twelve months it is 23. Pensions account for 9 of the year’s signals, more than half of their 15 in total, though none of their evidence meets the test. Corporates are the quietest large group: 3 of 14 have dated evidence in the year. We tracked no secondary sales or large distributions by Canadian LPs.¹²

Programmes on the record.

Government and Crown programme items dated between 1 November 2025 and 31 October 2026, by type and month.

Three items Sourced: Kennox analysis of 3 public sources, Oct–Nov 2026. The third is the lender’s own published programme.¹¹

Signalling 21 (19 public sources), likely 16, dated 12 (10 sources) Sourced; emerging-manager test 5 (5 sources) Modelled.

Programmes have more dated evidence in the year than any other type, 12 of 21, and 5 of the 21 meet the emerging-manager test. Each programme’s mandate is published; its selection timetable is not always stated in the documents we reviewed.

What a cheque looks like.

No Canadian LP in our research publishes a cheque range. Nine signalling LPs disclose a single fund commitment amount; this is the range of those amounts by LP type.

Log scale. The bar runs from the smallest to the largest amount disclosed for that type; amounts are not tied to any LP or fund. One Crown or government amount was disclosed in US dollars and is not converted or plotted. No other LP type disclosed an amount. Sourced: Kennox analysis of 8 public sources, Oct–Nov 2026.¹³

The record is thin: nine amounts across three LP types. The largest disclosed amounts come from Crown and government programmes. Foundations and endowments span the widest range, from a quarter of a million dollars to C$10 million, often through university-linked or impact-linked vehicles.

Family offices and insurers.

The two smallest cells in the data. Both are shown so that their size is clear, and we draw no conclusion from either.

30 with an evidence row: 26 public sources. 5 signalling: 5 sources. Emerging-manager test: 4 sources. Dated since 1 November 2025: 3 sources. Kennox analysis, Oct–Nov 2026.¹⁶

We found an evidence row for 30 Canadian family offices and a signal for 5. Private family offices often commit without any public record, so the count understates them. Of the 5, 4 show Fund I–III evidence, a high share of a very small number.

Signalling 3 and likely 1: 3 public sources. Emerging-manager test 2: 2 sources. No insurer had evidence dated since 1 November 2025.

Three insurers show a signal, one of them likely. Two meet the emerging-manager test by our classification. Three is too few to describe a pattern.

The LP map.

Every LP type on one page: how many signal, how strong the signal is, how many show Fund I–III evidence, how many moved in the year, and where we would start. Types are in the order we would approach them.

Counts of LPs; each bar is drawn to the largest group, 22. Signalling, likely and dated Sourced; emerging-manager test Modelled. Sources as on pages 07, 08 and 10. The Kennox view column is our opinion, drawn from the counts to its left.

Each row is one LP type, read across. Foundations and endowments lead on size; banks and credit unions lead on the share that is both likely and Fund I–III. Programmes lead on recent activity. A raise sequenced on all three meets the LPs most likely to say yes first.

How to use this.

Our view, set out as the order in which a GP raising Fund I to III might work through the LP types above.

Figures as on pages 07 to 13: signalling counts, family offices and the cheque range Sourced; emerging-manager counts Modelled. Family offices: 30 with an evidence row (26 public sources) and 5 signalling (5 public sources); cheque range: 8 public sources. All Kennox analysis, Oct–Nov 2026.

Questions for the room.

Nine questions a GP can take into an LP conversation, each tied to what the record shows. The questions are our view; the figures beneath them are from the pages cited.

Kennox view. Figures carry the labels given on the pages cited: counts of LPs and evidence Sourced, emerging-manager counts Modelled. All Kennox analysis, Oct–Nov 2026.

Talk to Kennox.

This report counts LP types. Behind it sits the full scored list, held for clients only. From that list we can build an LP model for your next fund. Bring your strategy, target size and first-close timing, and we will map them against the list.

Appendix.

Method and limits, the notes behind every figure, and how to reach us.

Method and notes.

How the counts were built, where they are weakest, and the label and public-source count behind each numbered figure.

The notes on figures continue on page 21.

Method and notes, continued.

The label and public-source count behind each numbered figure in this report. All analysis is Kennox’s, Oct–Nov 2026.

1. 455 organisations researched: sourced plus searched-unsourced count. Kennox analysis of 174 public sources, Oct–Nov 2026.
2. 286 with an evidence row: sourced, 174 public sources. 169 with no public evidence and 76 not yet searched: internal counts, no public source.
3. 122 signalling LPs: sourced, 78 public sources.
4. 89 likely: sourced, 51 public sources. 33 possible: sourced, 27 public sources.
5. 97 low confidence: sourced, 53 public sources. 25 high confidence: sourced, 25 public sources. 80%: derived, 97 of 122.
6. 56 emerging-manager backers: modelled, 33 public sources. 51 other venture backers: modelled, 30. 107 with a fund commitment: modelled, 63.
7. Emerging-manager backers by type: modelled. Other 10 (8 sources), credit union or bank 9 (9), foundation or endowment 9 (6), corporate 9 (8), fund of funds 8 (6), Crown or government 5 (5), family office 4 (4), insurer 2 (2).
8. Signalling by type: sourced. Foundation or endowment 22 (16 sources), Crown or government 21 (19), pension 15 (13), fund of funds 15 (11), credit union or bank 14 (13), corporate 14 (11), other 13 (11), family office 5 (5), insurer 3 (3).
9. 62 dated since 1 November 2025: sourced, 36 public sources. Crown or government 12 (10), foundation or endowment 11 (8), fund of funds 11 (7), pension 9 (7), credit union or bank 9 (8), other 4 (4), family office 3 (3), corporate 3 (3).
10. 23 meeting the emerging-manager test in the year: modelled, 14 public sources.
11. 3 government and Crown programme items: sourced, 3 public sources.
12. Liquidity events tracked: 0. Internal count, no public source.
13. Stated cheque ranges: 0, internal count. 9 disclosed single amounts, one of them in US dollars, and the C$250,000 to C$15 million range, with the ranges by LP type on page 12: Kennox analysis of 8 public sources.
14. 333 with no signal, including unsourced: 164 with an evidence row (98 public sources) plus 169 unsourced organisations.
15. 31 high-confidence rows: 31 public sources. 255 low-confidence rows: 144 public sources.
16. 30 family offices with an evidence row: 26 public sources. 5 signalling: 5 public sources.

Colophon.

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