Prime Minister Mark Carney is opening Canada’s first-ever investment summit in Toronto on Monday, telling global asset managers that the country has an unprecedented opportunity to build up its economy and teasing that a number of deals have already been signed.
Speaking Sunday evening at the Royal Ontario Museum, ahead of the summit’s formal start, Carney told Canadian business leaders and politicians that the world is looking at Canada differently and that Canadians should do the same, The Canadian Press reported.
“We have what the world wants: the energy, the resources, the talent, the technology and the capital,” Carney said. “And our greatest strength is something that cannot be found on any balance sheet: trust.” The Canadian Press described the closing line as an apparent jab at U.S. President Donald Trump.
“There is a new consensus from Iqaluit to Victoria to Quebec City and St. Johns: Canada is taking control of our future,” Carney said. “We will build more, we will trade more with each other and the world, and we will create more sustainable prosperity here at home.”
The Canada Investment Summit runs Monday and Tuesday in Toronto, drawing hundreds of executives and global asset managers who are being shown major projects at various stages of development. The event is a central piece of Carney’s plan to stimulate $1 trillion in investment in Canada over the next five years. Cohere chief executive Aidan Gomez and Canada’s chief trade commissioner, Sara Wilshaw, were among those at Sunday’s reception.
According to a media advisory issued by the Prime Minister’s Office, Carney’s Monday schedule in Toronto begins with a 1:15 p.m. meeting with Macquarie Group managing director and chief executive Shemara Wikramanayake, followed at 1:45 p.m. by a meeting with Temasek Holdings chief executive Dilhan Pillay. Both are listed as pooled photo opportunities.
At 4:10 p.m., the advisory says, Carney will join Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe to highlight what the PMO describes as a historic investment in Canadian data sovereignty. It is the only event on the day’s schedule listed as open coverage. The summit’s opening gala dinner, at 6:30 p.m., is closed to media.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford said in a media statement that invitees are coming from Kuwait, Malaysia, the Netherlands, Singapore, Qatar, Norway, Japan and Australia, and that 15 major Ontario projects are on offer, spanning energy production and transmission, critical minerals and mining, artificial intelligence and advanced manufacturing.
“This is about building relationships, opening doors and making the case that Ontario is one of the most investable places anywhere in the world,” Ford said. “Ontario has what the world needs and we’re going to make sure the world knows it.”
A source with knowledge of the planned events, who was not authorized to speak publicly, told The Canadian Press that former Conservative prime minister Stephen Harper will deliver the summit’s closing remarks.
The summit is also drawing organized opposition. Demonstrators including labour unions, Indigenous leaders and climate and housing advocates planned to mobilize Monday behind a banner reading “The Many vs. The Money,” and said they intend to stage a direct intervention with attendees. Organizers say they reject Carney’s approach of placing Canada’s economic future in the hands of chief executives, and have raised concerns about the future of public services, pipelines and arms manufacturing.
Carney’s government has framed the summit as the opening of a sustained capital-attraction push rather than a one-time event, with premiers from across the country pitching provincial projects alongside federal ministers over the two days.
