By Nivedita Balu and Promit Mukherjee
TORONTO, Sept 14 (Reuters) - Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney welcomes dozens of global investors to Toronto this week, hoping to lure investments for more than 160 projects that he says are key to steering Canada's economy through a trade war with the United States.
Confirmed attendees, many from the former Goldman Sachs executive and central bank chief's personal rolodex, include BlackRock CEO Larry Fink and Blackstone President Jon Gray from the United States,
as well as Singapore fund Temasek's CEO Dilhan Pillay and Dutch pension fund APG Groep's CEO Annette Mosman, according to a source with knowledge of the event.
The two-day summit, which begins on Monday, will kick off discussions for future investments, although major deals could take 12 to 18 months to materialize, a government source said. Carney has pledged to attract investments of C$1 trillion ($721 billion) in the next five years by cutting red tape and developing mining, energy, technology and infrastructure projects.
"The world's largest investors, managing over C$120 trillion dollars of assets, will come to 'peer into our shop window' because the world is looking at Canada differently," Carney said at a welcome reception on Sunday.
Attracting investment is crucial for Canada's economy to weather mounting tariffs imposed by the United States, Canada's top trade partner. Carney has sought to do business with new partners in the Middle East and Asia and to strengthen Canada's alliance with Europe.
MATCHMAKER
The summit aims to match some 100 global investors with Canadian CEOs, companies and local officials to facilitate investments or partnerships. The projects are in various stages, from concept stage to shovel-ready, according to a copy of a prospectus seen by Reuters. It pitches Canada as a stable and predictable market poised for long-term economic growth.
Carney's office declined to comment.
The dealbook also speaks to Canada's technology aspirations, with 96 data centers in development. Opportunities include an equity investment for Xanadu's photonic quantum computer targeted for commercialization by 2029-2030, equity investment in a data center campus in Alberta, and project financing for a hyperscale and AI-focused campus in New Brunswick.
The Crawford Nickel Project, which will produce low-carbon nickel for batteries and green steel, is also on the list.
The prospectus also lists infrastructure projects, generally favored by pension funds and other long-term investors, including C$900 million in financing sought for a proposed high-speed transportation pod between Calgary and Edmonton.
"This investment summit is falling at a very critical time in which Canada represents a window of stability," Erik Peterson, managing director of Kearney's Global Business Policy Council, said.
Canada's foreign direct investment flows have been steadily rising since 2022, government data shows, with a quarterly average around C$23 billion in 2024 and 2025, and C$20 billion so far this year. That compares with C$16.3 billion in 2023 and C$15 billion in 2022.
A large chunk of Canada's inbound investment has been related to mergers and acquisitions, such as Mubadala Capital's C$12 billion acquisition of CI Financial and Anglo-Australian miner Rio Tinto's purchase of Arcadium Lithium, or from the reinvested earnings of foreign firms.
SUPERCHARGE FDI
But greenfield investments, a measure of foreign spending on new factories and warehouses, have not seen a major bump since Carney took office.
Doug Porter, chief economist at BMO Capital Markets, cautioned that it is difficult to lure such investments in a mature economy like Canada's.
“It will be fascinating to see if this (investment summit) actually does supercharge foreign direct investment,” he added.
The Carney government's priorities mark a departure from those of his predecessor Justin Trudeau, a fellow Liberal who focused more on human rights, climate change and Indigenous issues.
Carney has said he looks forward to welcoming Saudi investors to the summit, and has mended ties with India and China.
Canada's financial sector, meanwhile, has pledged billions of dollars for Canadian companies. Royal Bank of Canada said it would invest C$1.4 billion in technology companies, Bank of Montreal committed up to C$70 billion for critical economic sectors, CIBC pledged to invest C$2 billion for defence businesses, and Sun Life will put in C$5 billion for infrastructure projects.
Canada is well positioned in "the Rubik's cube around diversifying portfolios, geopolitics, and technological changes," said Benjamin Bergen, CEO of Canadian Venture Capital & Private Equity Association, which is hosting an event for tech companies on the sidelines of the summit.
"We kind of have a moment here as a country."
($1 = 1.3864 Canadian dollars)
(Reporting by Nivedita Balu in Toronto, Promit Mukherjee and Maria Cheng in Ottawa; Editing by Caroline Stauffer and Edmund Klamann)
