Mark Carney woos global investors as Canada pushes beyond US trade reliance

Mark Carney is courting global investors in Toronto as Canada seeks new capital beyond the United States. The summit underlines Ottawa's push to offset trade tensions with stability, trust and long-term projects.

In Short

• Around 300 global executives managing USD 120 trillion will attend Toronto summit
• Ottawa is promoting energy, minerals and skilled talent to court investors
• Officials expect major outcomes to materialise gradually over the next 18 months

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney is seeking to draw billions of dollars in fresh investment into Canada at a summit in Toronto this week, as the country looks to reduce its economic dependence on the United States amid an escalating trade dispute with Washington.

About 300 CEOs and senior executives from some of the world’s biggest investment firms are expected at Carney’s Canada Investment Summit, with the investors collectively managing more than USD 120 trillion in assets. Carney is pitching Canada as a stable and reliable destination for global capital even as US President Donald Trump pushes for factories and investment to move south of the border.

Speaking ahead of the summit, Carney said Canada had much more to offer than proximity to the United States. “Canada is about so much more than being next to the United States,” he said. “We have what the world wants.” He pointed to Canada’s vast energy and critical mineral resources, its highly educated workforce and trade agreements that give businesses based in Canada access to about 1.5 billion consumers worldwide. He also said the turnout showed investors were interested in the country on its own strengths. “They are coming because of Canada,” he said. “If they wanted to go to the United States they would go to the United States.”

The summit will be held at the Four Seasons in Yorkville, a high-end Toronto neighbourhood. Few know the investment community there better than Carney, who has led the central banks of Canada and England, spent 13 years at Goldman Sachs, and later chaired the boards of Bloomberg L.P. and Brookfield Asset Management. A Canadian official described the event as the largest gathering of investment decision-makers ever assembled in Canada, alongside Canadian CEOs bringing projects at different stages of readiness. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak publicly, said the summit was not expected to produce a rush of deals this week and that the most significant results were likely to emerge over the next 12 to 18 months.

The event comes at a sensitive time for Canada. Trade talks collapsed on August 21, after which Trump imposed 50 per cent tariffs on about USD 20 billion in Canadian goods and Canada retaliated. Washington then stepped up pressure by announcing bans on some Canadian imports and moving to shut Canadian products out of large, long-term US government contracts. The measures, along with Trump’s broader effort to shift manufacturing to the United States, have weakened one of Canada’s longstanding attractions for foreign investors: dependable access to the US market under continental free trade.

Carney and Canadian business leaders are expected to urge investors to look beyond the trade war and make a larger bet on Canada. Drawing a contrast with the United States, Carney said investors would find “a country that respects rule of law and a country that is reliable”. “That combination is pretty rare in the world,” he said. “And it’s an attractive combination.” On Sunday, he sharpened that message while addressing Canadian business leaders, saying Canada’s greatest strength was something “that cannot be found on any balance sheet: trust.” John Graham, chief executive of CPP Investments, which helps manage Canada Pension Plan assets and is co-hosting the summit, said the fund compares opportunities in Canada with those around the world. “The conversation about Canada is changing,” Graham said.

The summit is aimed at connecting global capital, including money from Canada’s pension funds, with major projects in critical minerals, technology, defence, advanced manufacturing and energy. According to a Canadian official, Carney’s private meetings will be tailored to investors’ portfolios and the kinds of projects they are interested in financing. BlackRock chief executive Larry Fink and Blackstone president Jon Gray will headline a public discussion on global capital, while former Conservative prime minister Stephen Harper is scheduled to close the summit. Carney will then travel to Europe, where he is due to address the European Parliament later in the week as Canada seeks a broader strategic partnership with the European Union.

With trade tensions with the United States rising, Carney’s summit is meant to show that Canada can attract major long-term investment on its own terms by promoting its resources, workforce, market access and reputation for stability and trust.

With PTI Inputs

- Ends