Prime Minister Mark Carney is now trying to sell something bigger — to bet on Canada itself.
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Carney → try → Canada
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On Monday and Tuesday, hundreds of global investors will gather in Toronto for the Canada Investment Summit.
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hundreds → recover → Summit
The invitation-only meeting will bring some of the world’s largest pension and sovereign wealth funds and asset managers together with corporate executives, Canadian premiers and federal officials.
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meeting → bring → executives
Carney, a former central banker with deep ties to the global investment world, wants them to put money into everything from mines and pipelines to ports, artificial intelligence and advanced manufacturing.
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them → want → ports
It is part of a much bigger push to catalyse $1 trillion in investment in Canada over the next five years, with about $280bn in public investment and government incentives to help draw in private and institutional capital.
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It → catalyse → capital
The summit comes just days after another escalation in Canada’s trade war with the United States which has been ongoing since President Donald Trump started his second term and unleashed a wave of tariffs across the world, including on Canada, one of its historically closest allies.
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Trump → come → allies
Relations have ruptured as Trump has repeatedly referred to Canada as the 51st state of the US and Carney as its “governor”.
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Trump → rupture → governor
The threats are particularly damaging to Canada which, pre-tariff, sent nearly 80 percent of its exports to its southern neighbour.
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which → send → neighbour
After talks collapsed last month, Washington imposed levies of 50 percent on about US$20bn worth of Canadian goods, prompting Ottawa to impose retaliatory tariffs of 15 to 50 percent on a similar value of US imports.
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Washington → collapse → imports
While the two sides have been negotiating, Carney has also been travelling the world to shore up relations and re-start or beef up trade ties, efforts that are bearing some fruit in Toronto with the summit.
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that → negotiate → summit
“Carney is trying to turn a period of external pressure and uncertainty caused by the Trump trade war into an affirmative agenda,” said Vina Nadjibulla, cofounder and CEO of the Centre for Strategic Statecraft, a non-partisan policy think tank in Canada.
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Nadjibulla → try → Canada
“Build more at home, diversify Canada’s economic relationships abroad and attract the capital needed to do both.”
While the uncertainty of the trade war makes Canada a harder sell in some ways, it becomes a more compelling one at the same time.
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it → build → time
“It cuts both ways,” Nadjibulla said.
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Nadjibulla → cut → ways
Investors may be wary of projects that depend heavily on the US market.
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that → depend → market
But the turmoil also gives Carney a chance to sell Canada as “a relatively stable, rules-based jurisdiction” in an increasingly volatile world.
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turmoil → give → world
Carney has pulled in a large audience for that pitch.
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Carney → pull → pitch
Getting roughly 300 major global investors focused on Canada for two days is unprecedented and a political win in itself, Nadjibulla said.
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Nadjibulla → get → itself
But getting them into the room is the easy part.
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getting → get → room
“The summit can open doors and create relationships,” she said.
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she → open → relationships
“Success will ultimately depend on how many of those conversations turn into serious investment, financing and projects that actually get built.”
What is Carney selling?
He is making the case that Canada has a lot for investors to bet on beyond its access to the US, from energy to critical minerals to skilled workers to connections to markets around the world.
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investors → depend → world
Through trade agreements with 51 countries, Canadian businesses have preferential access to 1.5 billion consumers around the world, the government said in a news statement ahead of the summit.
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government → have → summit
“We’re trusted, because we’re reliable and because we have what the world wants,” Carney said on Sunday.
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Carney → trust → Sunday
“That’s why the world is coming to our door.”
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world → ’ → door
A leaked prospectus prepared for the summit lays out 167 potential investments across energy, mining, ports, transportation, technology and advanced manufacturing.
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prospectus → leak → energy
They range from satellite technology to some enormous infrastructure projects, including a proposed oil pipeline from Alberta to British Columbia’s coast.
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They → range → coast
But the list is heavily weighted towards resources and energy.
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list → weight → resources
Minerals and metals alone account for nearly 38 percent of the projects, as per Nadjibulla’s calculations.
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Minerals → account → calculations
Add energy and power infrastructure and the share rises to almost 70 percent.
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share → add → percent
“The summit is fundamentally about financing the physical productive capacity of the Canadian economy,” she said, pointing to mines, processing, energy generation, export infrastructure, ports and manufacturing.
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she → finance → mines
Some of those on offer are fully permitted, while others are still at the concept or feasibility stage.
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others → permit → stage
“Some are quite large and expensive and are unlikely to be ready for prime time,” said Rachel Ziemba, an adjunct senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security, a policy nonprofit.
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Ziemba → say → Security
Canada also has to prove it can build
For investors, getting major projects to that point has long been a sticking point.
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getting → have → point
Ziemba pointed to lengthy regulatory reviews, particularly for projects that need both federal and provincial approval.
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that → point → approval
Nadjibulla similarly cited “long and uncertain approval processes” and questions about whether projects can move “from announcement to execution”.
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projects → cite → execution
“Investors will want to see a credible pipeline, faster and more predictable permitting, policy stability, clearer revenue models and better coordination across provincial and federal jurisdictions,” Nadjibulla said.
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Nadjibulla → want → jurisdictions
Carney is trying to convince them that things are changing.
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things → try → them
His government has created a Major Projects Office to speed up approvals for projects it considers to be in the national interest, alongside a “one project, one review” approach aimed at reducing federal-provincial overlap.
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it → create → overlap
The summit is a chance to show investors how that will work, Ziemba said.
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Ziemba → show → investors
What does all of this mean for Canadians?
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all → mean → Canadians
Even if Carney gets more of these projects financed and built, a bigger debate remains over who ultimately stands to benefit.
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who → get → projects
…and 10 more, not listed.
The Aporia
