Top 10 Private Equity Firms in Toronto: 2026 Guide

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Toronto's private equity market is built around a small number of very large, pension-backed direct investors sitting alongside founder-led mid-market shops, a mix that shows up in almost every deal of scale coming out of the city. Some of the country's largest pension plans run their private equity programs directly out of Toronto, giving the city a concentration of institutional buyout capital that few other North American markets can match. That base is complemented by a set of independent firms built around specific sectors or deal types, from mid-market industrials and business services to real estate and secondaries. For fund managers, that combination means Toronto offers both scale and specialization, depending on where a firm fits.

Top 10 Private Equity Firms in Toronto

1. OMERS Private Equity

Overview: OMERS Private Equity is the direct private equity investment arm of OMERS, one of Canada's largest pension plans. With offices in Toronto, New York, London, and Singapore, the firm manages approximately $25.1 billion in assets and is backed by the long-term capital of over 600,000 OMERS plan members. OMERS Private Equity invests in North American and European companies with proven business models, resilient cash flows, and significant growth potential, operating with a disciplined approach that combines operational expertise, strategic vision, and enduring capital support.

Focus: OMERS Private Equity targets control investments in industry-leading companies with enterprise values typically ranging from $500 million to $2 billion. Its sector priorities include business services, healthcare, industrials, and technology-enabled platforms. The firm works closely with management teams, using its global resources and institutional stability to support transformative outcomes and sustained performance over extended investment horizons.

2. Onex Partners

Overview: Onex Partners is the flagship private equity strategy of Onex Corporation, a Toronto-based investment manager founded in 1984. Onex Partners manages $22.5 billion in assets and invests both on behalf of institutional clients and Onex's own capital, allowing for strong alignment with investors and management teams. Onex is recognized for its disciplined approach, long-term partnership philosophy, and value-oriented investment culture.

Focus: Onex Partners targets large-scale investments in North American and select international companies with enterprise values typically ranging from $500 million to over $5 billion. The firm emphasizes control or significant minority positions in sectors such as healthcare, business services, industrials, and consumer. Onex Partners combines deep operational engagement with patient capital, partnering with leadership teams to drive strategic growth, operational excellence, and long-term performance.

3. Greybrook Corporation

Overview: Greybrook Corporation is a Toronto-based private equity firm founded in 1999, with $15 billion in assets under management and a specialization in real estate. Through its affiliates, Greybrook has invested equity in more than 115 residential, mixed-use, and commercial real estate projects across Canada and the United States, representing over $45 billion in estimated completion value. The firm originates, structures, and actively manages investments, partnering selectively with experienced operators or executing directly on behalf of individual and institutional investors.

Focus: Greybrook targets real estate development and value-add opportunities, with a core focus on residential and multifamily projects across the Greater Toronto Area, the broader Canadian market, and select U.S. markets including South Florida. The firm also maintains a healthcare investment practice alongside its primary real estate strategy.

4. Altas Partners

Overview: Altas Partners is a Toronto-based private equity firm founded in 2012, known for its differentiated long-term investment strategy and focus on building enduring businesses. The firm manages approximately $7 billion in capital and operates with a highly selective, research-intensive approach. Altas takes a patient and disciplined stance, often holding investments for extended periods to allow for compounding value creation over time.

Focus: Altas Partners targets large-scale investments in high-quality, market-leading businesses with strong fundamentals and stable cash flows, focusing on sectors such as healthcare, education, business services, and industrials. The firm seeks to partner with exceptional management teams and emphasizes operational excellence, cultural alignment, and long-term strategic development.

5. Setter Capital

Overview: Setter Capital is an advisory firm focused exclusively on the global private equity secondary market. Founded in 2006 and headquartered in Toronto, the firm has built one of the most comprehensive platforms for secondary transactions in private markets, with $6.3 billion in tracked activity through Dakota Marketplace. Setter provides strategic advisory and intermediation services to institutional investors, including limited partners, general partners, and secondary buyers.

Focus: Setter Capital specializes in advising and brokering secondary transactions, including traditional LP portfolio sales, GP-led processes such as continuation funds, and structured liquidity solutions. The firm supports deal sizes ranging from small tail-end portfolios to multi-billion-dollar mandates.

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6. Peerage Capital

Overview: Peerage Capital is a Toronto-based private equity firm founded in 2007 by Miles S. Nadal, with over $6 billion in assets under management. The firm partners with entrepreneurial management teams to build long-term investments across several business services platforms, and its growing partner network employs over 1,000 people across Canada and the United States.

Focus: Peerage Capital concentrates on real estate services, real estate investment, wealth advisory, and asset management, alongside select positions in land assembly and aviation services. The firm favors long-term partnerships over traditional buy-and-sell private equity structures, working closely with management teams to accelerate growth.

7. TorQuest Partners

Overview: TorQuest Partners is a Toronto-based mid-market private equity firm founded in 2002, with $5 billion in equity capital under management. One of Canada's original private equity firms, TorQuest has completed 62 platform investments and 117 add-on acquisitions over more than two decades. The firm closed its sixth flagship fund at $2.1 billion in December 2023, anchored by pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, and endowments.

Focus: TorQuest targets established middle-market companies valued between roughly $30 million and $185 million in equity commitments, across manufacturing, business services, financial services, industrial products, food, and consumer products. The firm pursues family successions, recapitalizations, corporate carve-outs, and traditional buyouts, working closely with management to improve governance, strategy, and operations.

8. Birch Hill Equity Partners

Overview: Birch Hill Equity Partners is a Toronto-based private equity firm founded in 1994, focused on the Canadian and U.S. mid-market. With $5 billion in capital under management, Birch Hill has made more than 70 investments across a wide range of industries, with over 59 fully realized. The firm is recognized for its collaborative culture, long-term orientation, and deep partnership with management teams.

Focus: Birch Hill targets majority control investments in mid-market leaders across industrials, business services, consumer, financial services, and healthcare. Its strategy emphasizes long-term growth through operational excellence, cultural alignment, and close collaboration with management teams.

9. Morningside Capital Management

Overview: Morningside Capital Management is a Toronto-based private equity firm specializing in secondary investments and structured liquidity solutions, providing capital to owners of private equity assets including funds, fund managers, and limited partners. Dakota Marketplace tracks $4.6 billion in assets for the firm; the firm's own public disclosures cite a smaller figure, closer to $400 to $600 million, so this AUM should be treated as directionally useful rather than confirmed. [SOURCE NEEDED: verify AUM with Morningside directly or flag for Dakota data QA before publishing.]

Focus: Morningside sources, evaluates, and manages private equity secondary and portfolio financing investments globally, backed by institutional investors primarily based in North America.

10. Clairvest Group

Overview: Clairvest Group is a Toronto-based private equity firm founded in 1987, known for its deep partnership model and long-term, entrepreneurially driven investment philosophy. As a publicly listed company on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX: CVG), Clairvest invests both its own capital and that of institutional co-investors. The firm manages $3.5 billion in capital across 65-plus investments.

Focus: Clairvest targets majority investments in North American mid-market companies. The firm focuses on sectors where it has deep domain knowledge and repeatable success, including gaming, healthcare, waste management, environmental services, aerospace, and IT services.

See Where These Firms' Funds Actually Rank

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