The bosonic signature operator is defined for Klein-Gordon fields and massless scalar fields on globally hyperbolic Lorentzian manifolds of infinite lifetime. The construction is based on an analysis of families of solutions of the Klein-Gordon equation with a varying mass parameter. It makes use of the so-called bosonic mass oscillation property which states that integrating over the mass parameter generates decay of the field at infinity. We derive a canonical decomposition of the solution space of the Klein-Gordon equation into two subspaces, independent of observers or the choice of coordinates. This decomposition endows the solution space with a canonical complex structure. It also gives rise to a distinguished quasi-free state. Taking a suitable limit where the mass tends to zero, we obtain corresponding results for massless fields. Our constructions and results are illustrated in the examples of Minkowski space and ultrastatic spacetimes.