The Decibel - Carney pitches Canada to the world’s biggest investors

Episode Date: September 14, 2026

Starting today, 300 big-money investors are descending upon Toronto to take part in the inaugural Canada Investment Summit. Prime Minister Mark Carney will try to convince them to fund development projects in the country, such as oil and gas pipelines, critical mineral mines and data centres. Getting their buy-in is a crucial plank in the prime minister’s plan to diversify and fortify the country.James Bradshaw is The Globe’s institutional investment reporter. He’ll be covering the event. He’s on the show to explain what projects are being offered and what this means for Canada’s economy while we’re engaged in a trade war with the U.S.Questions? Comments? Ideas? Email us at [e-mail] Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

One of the biggest promises Prime Minister Mark Carney has made to Canadians is that he will diversify and fortify Canada's economy. Building at home and diversifying trade abroad is not our plan B. It has been our plan A from the start. And a big part of that plan is to attract over $1 trillion of investment into the country. Today, that sales pitch to CEOs and major global investors begins, with the Canada Investment Summit. It's the first time Canada has ever done anything like this.

A two-day affair where Carney and the heads of Canada's pension funds will try to woo big money to invest in Canadian projects in sectors like energy and resources. James Bradshaw is my guest today. He's the Globe's institutional investment reporter, meaning this is his world. He'll explain what projects are being offered and what this means for Canada's economy while we're engaged in a trade war with the U.S.

I'm Cheryl Sutherland, and this is the Decibel from the Globe and Mail. Hi, James. Welcome back to the show. Hey, Cheryl. Thanks so much for having me. As you say, this is my world, and this event is my Super Bowl. So away we go. Oh, wow. Okay, so it's going to be a big, big deal for you, too. So this is really exciting. You bet. So let's begin by setting the table a bit. How important is this summit? I think it is pretty important.

As you said off the top, this is not something that has happened in Canada. And I've had a lot of executives say to me that the idea that this would happen the way it is about to happen in Canada on Canadian soil all at one time would have seemed implausible, probably even a few years ago. We are in a moment right now where Canada is obviously under a lot of pressure economically because of trade. We're in a moment where we are trying to build big things like infrastructure and fortify that economy and make it more resilient. And we have this window, which is technically two days. A lot of the main event is going to happen over one day in a kind of 24 hour span where we have a real chance to have the attention of a lot of the world's biggest money managers on us thinking about Canada in its own right. And we have a really concentrated moment to make a pitch that could, in theory, draw a lot of new investment to Canada and fund a lot of projects and companies that we want to expand and grow. And so there's a moment here.

And it's, I think, pretty important for Canada that we don't miss it and we don't fumble it. Okay. This is a big deal. And I'm imagining that this is a really big deal for Prime Minister Mark Carney. What's that stake for him? Well, I think a couple of things. Number one, these are his people that are coming. You know, in his career as a central banker and a businessman, he has forged ties with a lot of the people that are coming to this around the world.

They're people he has relationships with. Some of them are his friends. And he's really used his credibility and his relationships and his reputation to get them to come. When they first sent out the initial 100 invites for this, they were on the prime minister's letterhead. So he was personally asking them to make the time to fly to Canada to do this. So I think that's one part of it. I think as you set off the top, he's got a plan to try and attract a trillion dollars of new investment over the next five years, $500 billion of that from the private sector.

And not all of that is likely to come just from Canada. He needs the world to come and be willing to put money to work here as well for that plan to pay off. And then lastly, I think if there is a point where he's under political pressure because he's been riding pretty high and so of the liberals lately, it's to show that he can get things done. It's to show that he can deliver on his promises. And so this is a moment where he can have an opportunity to prove that what he's been promising he can do is going to happen. Okay. Let's talk about the logistics of this summit.

You mentioned that it's, you know, two days, but it's mostly like all the stuff is happening sort of a one day. But give me a sense of how it's going to work. Sure. The main event is on Tuesday. And the way to think about that is a very exclusive gathering of, about 300 of the top CEOs and executives from the financial sector all around the world. They're going to get together at a hotel in Toronto and luxury hotel in Yorkville. And there is going to be a conference-style agenda, I guess you could call it.

There will be panel discussions with executives talking about things like energy and critical minerals and advanced technologies like AI and quantum computing and defense. And there will be sort of breakout sessions where executives can go to talk to government, ministers about different sectors and themes that they're interested in. And there'll be lunch and there'll be all those sorts of things. Those breakouts, will that be behind closed doors? Those breakouts will be very much behind closed doors. And frankly, the real meat of what's going to happen is going to be one-on-one meetings and small group meetings in hotel suites and in corridors and off to the side, which will be fully private. And that's where a lot of the real

action is going to happen, not out in front. Tougher reporters on that one. Tougher reporters on that one, we're going to dig in. So that's sort of the main event. Around that, there has sprung up an enormous ecosystem of lunches, dinners, breakfast, cocktail receptions, you name it. Parties afterwards? Yeah, there are parties. And I should note, this was very deliberately planned to be in the middle of the Toronto International Film Festival when the city already has lots of celebrities and movie stars and people buzzing around. there's a lot that has sprung up around this, which speaks to what happens when you bring

this many top CEOs and this much money to one city at one time. It's also worth noting there are likely to be some protests around this. There are going to be some groups that oppose this gathering that think that this is an example of the prime minister and his wealthy friends, you know, carving up assets in the country. So we should expect some kind of presence where people are going to. to demonstrate against this. Yeah, it's a very good point. So it sounds like investors want to come to this.

There's certainly a lot of buzz here. Aside from the trade war, it's mostly what I hear people talk about right now. Interesting. There's also a fair bit of interest and I think really high level of curiosity, even from international investors, because I've been talking to people from companies that are coming to this, that are attending from around the world. You know, there is a little bit of a sense of they're waiting to see exactly what to expect. I'm not sure everybody is entirely sure what to expect or what they're going

to see or walk away from. But yeah, the level of buzz is very high. And I think at a very base level, just the chance to get all of these people together in one place where they can talk and do business and plant the seeds for deals, the way they do at the World Economic Forum in Davos or at the Milken Institute's Global Conference in L.A. or any of these especially high-level global gatherings is always attractive. So who is coming? You said that it was like 300 people, but like give me a sense of who these people are. Well, some of the headline names, I guess you could say.

Larry Fink, who's the CEO of BlackRock, which is the $15.3 trillion money manager based in New York is going to be there. Sitting next to him on a panel will be John Gray, who's the president and chief operating officer of Blackstone. They manage about $1.3 trillion U.S. There's going to be representatives from big sovereign wealth funds in the Middle East, the Saudi public investment fund, which manages about 900 billion U.S. Mubadala, which is UAE state-owned fund, manages $385 billion U.S. I could go on and on.

There is a lot of money here. One of the organizers told me if you tally up all the money that all of the attendees manage, it's likely to come in around $120 trillion. I can't even conceive of that kind of money. I'm trying to enunciate, but that's trillion with a T. Wow. And it's invite only, right? Like, people can't just show up or buy a ticket. No, this is very much invite only to the point that the organizers have been flooded with requests

and have been turning away some genuinely senior people who are not able to get a ticket. The CEO of Canada's largest pension plan, the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, John Graham, who is one of the co-organizers of this event, said to me in an interview at one point, this is not a trade fair. This is not a place where thousands of people come and anyone who's willing to pay for a ticket can come. This is invite only. It's very exclusive. It's the prime minister and some of Canada's top investors who have curated the guest list. And lots of people are on the outside looking in, which is part of why you have all those other dinners and events springing up is to absorb the excess capacity

and demand for people who want to be near the action. Huh. Okay. Are we expecting U.S. CEOs to come? Yeah. There are dozens of large U.S. companies on the guest list, and most of them are sending their CEOs. The one thing that did happen after Canada's trade negotiations with the U.S. fell apart a couple of weeks ago was quietly a lot of executives in Canada started talking about whether there was a possibility some U.S. CEOs or companies might pull out or might stay away to avoid drawing negative attention or any. ending up in the crosshairs of the Trump administration or the White House. As of when we're recording this, it doesn't appear that that is happening. And I've personally confirmed that several of the top U.S. CEOs are still coming. But nobody knows for sure whether there could be pressure around that.

So what are investors looking to hear from Carney and his sales team? I think you can probably split that into two categories. One of them is they want to understand how. the environment for investing, the business environment in Canada may be changing and maybe getting a little bit more attractive. So they want to hear, are we going to be competitive on taxes? Is it going to get easier to get projects permitted and approved, which is not always been the easiest thing in Canada? They want to understand, is this going to be a place that's going to be easy to do business? And also, is that going to be stable? Can they have confidence

that we're not going to have a changing government and all the rules aren't suddenly going to change, you know, just after they make their investment. I think the other thing they want to see is do we actually have a deep enough pool and pipeline of projects that are investable or nearly ready to invest or shovel ready, as people like to say? Because, you know, a lot of these funds have vast amounts of money that they need to put to work. They don't want it sitting on the sidelines. and they don't want to wait years for things to come together. And so I think they also are going to want to see that across a lot of these sectors like energy, like natural resources and critical minerals, like technology, which are some of the most in-demand places to invest in the world right now, they want to see that Canada really has the goods

and has large enough and interesting enough projects for them to invest in that are going to be available in the near future. How will Carney prove that Canada can deliver on some of those things? Like you mentioned, you know, fewer delays, things that are shovel-ready. Like, how is he going to prove that that's happening? Well, I'm sure he's going to talk about policy. He's going to talk about things he's already done, like creating the major projects office to try and advance some of the largest projects that have been deemed to be nationally significant and important.

Just recently, our colleague Bill Curry reported about some legislation that they're planning that is going to try and get rid of duplicate processes for approvals on energy projects, so that would smooth things. He's going to talk about the efforts that have been underway with the premiers, most of whom are supposed to be at this event as well, to get rid of interprovincial trade barriers. So it's easy to move goods and resources around the country and do business here. He's going to make the pitch that Canada is changing and that the government is on this and that this is going to be a competitive, friendly, and more importantly, maybe stable and predictable and reliable place to invest.

And I think there's an important contrast he's going to try and draw there, which we can talk about. On that, there are challenges for selling Canada, right? This trade war with the U.S. could likely affect Canadian jobs and our economy. So how will Carney address this elephant in the room? I think it's a bit of a double-edged sword for the prime. and the summit and the message that Canada is trying to convey here. On one hand, it is going to be a headwind. It's going to increase uncertainty about what it's going to mean for the Canadian economy,

and investors are going to have hard questions about that, and investors don't love uncertainty, right? They don't like to be surprised. They want to know the rules of the road before they put money. Exactly. On the other hand, I think you will see the Prime Minister lean into the fact that this is a proof point for the case he's been making, that the world has changed, that the world has changed that some countries in the world, including the United States, might not be as predictable or reliable as they used to be.

And that this is a good time to create some new alliances, to forge some new trade ties, to find new places to invest where you're going to know what you're going to get and you're not going to be surprised. And so in some sense, it may help prove his case. And part of what's interesting about this summit is that the genesis of it goes back many months, maybe even almost a year. It's an idea that business leaders have kicked around for some time. But I was told reliably that where it really started to come together as a plan and not just an idea was around the time that Prime Minister Carney made his widely noticed speech at Davos at the World Economic Forum where he talked about a rupture in the world and the fact that we weren't going back. So this summit was in a sense born at a time where trade tensions were high and the prime minister was keen to. to redraw global alliances with middle powers. And now that has flared up again right as he's bringing the world's financial leaders

to town. We'll be right back. So James, selling projects is at the core of this summit. Give me a sense of what kind of projects we're talking about here. So the federal government recently circulated a document to the summit's attendees. They called it a prospectus and it was basically a list of more than 160 potential projects that foreign investors could put money into if they chose to. And it really runs a gamut.

It includes huge mega projects that the government has already talked about, like the Port of Churchill expansion, which is supposed to be worth $57 billion. It has other proposed projects like a high-speed rail line in Alberta called the Prairie Link that would join Calgary to Edmonton. So it's not the high-speed rail project that's going from Toronto to Quebec City that we keep hearing so much about. Talking about another high-speed rail project. Oh, actually, that was missing from the prospectus, which was interesting.

But there are mining projects. There are lower satellite projects. There are data center campus projects. You name it. They're all in there. And this is an attempt to show not a comprehensive list, but a sampler of the kinds of things that you could invest in. And it is heavily clustered around sectors that Prime Minister Carney is pitching as the things that the world wants. Energy, both conventional oil and gas, but also clean energy.

critical minerals and metals that we can mine in Canada, new defense technology, which is a sector we're obviously trying to ramp up quickly, advanced technologies like AI and quantum computing. That's a lot of what is in here. So it's like the MOU, the Carney Smith MOU pipeline. Is that on the list as well? That's on the list as well. So investors will be able to take a closer look at that and likely talk to Premier Smith if they want to at the event because she's going to be part of the summit. What you notice, though, when you look at this, is there are about 15 projects that are described as shovel-ready or fully permitted at 15 out of more than 160. A lot of them are also very early stage.

Some of them are smaller than what you would think the largest global investors would normally look at. There are projects as small as $35 million Canadian in here. Pocket change. Pocket change for an investor that manages a trillion dollars and needs to cut big checks. in order to make things work. So it will be interesting to see what the reception will be like. It's also the case that there may be projects that could be very interesting to investors that will just be talked about privately on the sidelines and that companies are not willing

to talk about publicly yet. They still want them to be confidential. So we don't necessarily have a full list of what is going to be put in front of them here. Okay. What's not on this list so far? So you mentioned that this rail line between Toronto and Quebec City is not on. on the list. Anything else that's not on this list? Well, I think we mentioned the Toronto, Quebec City High Speed Rail Project. That's still

happening whether or not it's in the prospectus here. Another thing that has generated a lot of attention and that some investors will be coming hoping to hear about is the federal government has discussed possibly opening up private investment in federal assets, most notably including airports, major airports in the country. We don't know exactly how the they plan to do that yet. I think in the case of airports, the most likely path here is not that they actually sell them outright. It is that they create some kind of long-term lease agreement where investors put money into the airports and get access to some of the revenue streams, think food and retail or parking fees, that kind of stuff. But the federal government

ultimately keeps some kind of ownership or control. Okay. One thing we haven't talked about yet is the fact that Prime Minister Carney is co-hosting these investors with the CEOs of Canada's big pension funds, what's their role in all of this? Like, why isn't Carney just hosting this event himself? Well, I think for a couple of reasons. I think having the largest Canadian pension funds, which for listeners who aren't familiar with this, they are very large. If you take the eight largest pension funds in Canada, they manage well over $2.6 trillion now collectively. So they are big and influential global investors in their own right. And they already invest a lot in Canada. So they're also kind of a partner of choice when foreign investors do deals in Canada.

So part of it, I think, was credibility. Part of it was just help with organizing and logistics. And part of it, I think, was trying to lock arms and show that kind of team Canada approach, that everybody thinks this is a moment when Canada is becoming a better place to invest and to get that message across. But those domestic pension funds are also in an interesting spot here where they are part of the pitch to the world, but they've also been under pressure of their own to invest more in Canada, to put more of their money to work here. And at times they have fiercely defended their independence and the mandates that they have, which are written into law, to go find the best return they can for plan members with the least risk, wherever that may be in the world. And so there has been some resistance there. Okay. So this summit is going to last for two days.

When it's all said and done, James, how will we know that it's successful or if it was successful? I don't know that it's going to be easy to answer that definitively right when everybody gets on their private jet and leaves town on Tuesday evening. I think it is going to take some time as investment processes always do to see if this comes out in the wash. I think, you know, Otto's expectation is that if it works, you will really start to see the results come out over the next sort of, let's say, 12, 18 months. As I've talked to investors, what they see as the measure of success is a couple of things. Number one, they get Canada on the radar, on its own merits, in its own right, as a destination for investment where investors are going to take us seriously. The other one is that maybe the chief investment officers of some of these massive funds see enough in Canada and are interested enough in what we are pitching here, that they actually go away and say, yeah, I think this could be good for my portfolio. I'm going to put a team on it.

I'm going to put a small team on Canada and have them really look at the opportunity more closely. And if that happens, then you start to get down to the brass tax discussions where they talk about contractual terms and they talk about. about who shares the risk and they talk about what the return on projects may be like. And they get to the details where actual decisions get made. Before we go, James, I just want to talk about sovereignty because, of course, that's such a topic of conversation these days. There's a certain element of Canada is for sale involved in the summit. So how does having more foreign investment in our projects, especially things like infrastructure, fit into the sovereignty? conversation.

I think this is another interesting tension at the heart of this. On the one hand, the prime minister is making the case that in order to protect Canada's sovereignty, we need deeper relationships around the world and we need a way to build key industries in Canada that are going to make us more self-reliant. And so from that standpoint, you can see the argument that he is making that having more investment capital coming into Canada from around the world and building things and helping companies expand and get bigger and more profitable makes Canada stronger in the long run. On the other hand, they are going to have to manage the perception that some of the prize

assets in Canada are being put up, maybe not for sale, but certainly for significant investment, and that some of the proceeds, the profits, the investment gains from that are going to flow outside the country as a result of this. And I think the defense there, if there is one, is that this is that this is. is not something Canada can do alone, that the market for investment and capital in the world is so big and so global, that some of the things we're trying to do are projects that cost $20, $30, $40 billion, that investments in new sectors like AI are massive and increasing at a breakneck pace. And to shut our doors and say, we're just going to buy Canadian is not

a realistic option. When I talk about $120 trillion of capital getting ready to come to Canada and be in one room together, if you want to be successful in this world, that's the conversation. That's the club that you have to be a part of. And I think the prime minister is trying to use the credibility and contacts he has to get Canada more squarely in that club starting this week. James, leave it there. Thank you so much. Thank you. That was James Bradshaw, the Globe's institutional investment reporter. That's it for today. I'm Cheryl Sutherland.

This episode was mixed by Rachel Levy McLaughlin. Our producers are Madeline White, Rachel Levy McLaughlin and Mikhail Stein. Our editor is David Crosby. Adrian Chung is our senior producer, and Angela Pichenza is our executive editor. Thanks so much for listening.