Prime Minister Mark Carney has pitched Canada as a “safe harbour” for some of the world’s largest investors to spend their money in an era of geopolitical and economic uncertainty.
The country is “perfectly situated to build in the new global economic order”, he told more than 100 global investors and sovereign wealth fund representatives gathered in Toronto for a major investment summit.
The group represent more than C$120tn ($86tn; £64tn) of assets. Carney’s ambition is that they will invest in sectors like defence, energy, mining, AI and infrastructure.
Ottawa hopes they can be sold on more than 160 projects, from data centres to pipelines, and help Canada weather its trade war with the US.
Canada’s dispute with its largest trade partner has prompted Carney to look to expand economic partnerships with Europe, Asia and the Middle East as he seeks to reduce his country’s reliance on its neighbour to the south.
“Our goal is simple: to make Canada the most attractive place in the G7 to invest,” Carney said on Tuesday morning.
As part of that move, Carney announced plans to privatise operations for four of the country’s largest airports, saying it would raise billions of dollars that could be reinvested in transport infrastructure.
Many of the business leaders attending the event in Toronto received a personal invitation from the prime minister, who worked in the top tiers of global finance and was a central banker before turning to politics.
Much of the action will take place in private sessions and bilateral meetings over the course of the day.
There will, however, be panels with speakers including Deutsche Bank AG CEO Christian Sewing,
Bombardier executive Eric Martel, and BlackRock CEO Larry Fink and Blackstone president Jon Gray.
The prime minister’s office has played down the likelihood of any major announcements coming from the summit, with Carney saying over the weekend it was chance for deep-pocketed financiers to “come to ‘peer into our shop window'”.
The event is also an opportunity for Canada to burnish its reputation as a good place to do business after years of lagging investment performance.
Economic analysts say Canada needs to make significant policy changes to help attract investment, including more competitive tax and regulatory systems, and ensuring a supply of skilled labour.
For Carney, the event will be a test of whether he can deliver on his promise to strengthen the country’s economic resilience. Trade talks between Ottawa and Washington collapsed last month and the two countries have since imposed tit-for-tat tariffs.
On Tuesday, new US tariffs came into effect on a number of Canadian goods while some others were lifted, and bans on goods like alcohol and motorcycles are due to come into force next week.
On Tuesday, Carney addressed the American executives in Toronto directly.
“To our American friends, let me say this. We will always be neighbours, and Canada will continue to be the US’s most important partner in many key areas,” he said.
“After all, even at times of disagreement during our long history, we have always maintained deep ties.”
Meanwhile, protestors on Monday accused the Carney government of organising a “great Canadian sell-off” of public resources and infrastructure to corporate interests, and hundreds appeared outside the opening night gala at a downtown museum.
“Half the buyers that he has invited here to Toronto are American,” said Kai Nagata, with advocacy group Dogwood, on Monday.
“Let’s be clear, every piece of our country that we sell off to American billionaires brings us closer to becoming the 51st state.”
By BBC News
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