Mark Carney is seeking to secure up to 1 trillion Canadian dollars in foreign investment over the next five years, as Canada deals with the consequences of its trade war with the United States and seeks to expand its economic partnerships.
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Toronto has become the center of a two-day summit this week, with dozens of major international investors arriving in the city. The Canadian government is expected to present them with more than 160 projects in strategic areas such as mining, energy, transportation, infrastructure and technology.
The meeting brings together executives from major global financial institutions, including BlackRock CEO Larry Fink, Blackstone President Jon Gray, as well as representatives of Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund Temasek and the Dutch pension fund APG Groep.
A government source said the summit’s main purpose was to open talks and build partnerships. According to the source, finalizing major deals could take between 12 and 18 months.
Carney said investors managing assets worth more than 120 trillion Canadian dollars were coming to Canada to directly assess the opportunities offered by the country’s economy.
Technology occupies an important place in the package of projects presented by the government. The list includes 96 data centers under development, investment opportunities in quantum computing company Xanadu, as well as large data centers focused on artificial intelligence.
The mining industry is also part of the plan, including the Crawford Nickel project. It aims to produce low-carbon nickel, which will be used in batteries and in the production of green steel.
The government has also included major infrastructure investments on the list. One of them is a high-speed rail line that will connect Calgary with Edmonton and for which approximately 900 million Canadian dollars in funding is being sought.
Carney’s plan aims to reduce Canada’s economic dependence on the United States, as trade tensions and US tariffs could hurt Canadian exports. At the same time, the prime minister is seeking to expand economic ties with Europe, Asia and the Middle East.
Foreign direct investment flows into Canada have been rising since 2022. According to government data, the average quarterly level was around 23 billion Canadian dollars during 2024 and 2025, while a total of approximately 20 billion Canadian dollars has been recorded so far this year.
However, most of the incoming capital has been used for mergers and acquisitions of existing companies. Meanwhile, new investment in factories, warehouses and similar projects has not increased significantly since Carney took office.
Doug Porter, chief economist at BMO Capital Markets, said convincing investors to finance new projects could be difficult in a mature economy such as Canada’s.
The country’s financial institutions have also signaled additional support for the economy. Royal Bank of Canada has announced investments of 1.4 billion Canadian dollars in technology companies, while Bank of Montreal plans to channel up to 70 billion dollars into critical sectors. CIBC and Sun Life have announced commitments of 2 billion and 5 billion Canadian dollars, respectively, for strategic sectors.
The government led by Carney aims to ensure that international funds are not used only to purchase Canadian companies. The objective is for them to finance new projects that will expand Canada’s production, technology and infrastructure capacities.
