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Canada will pitch ‘stability’ at summit to attract $1 trillion in investments: Champagne

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Toronto will play host to a global investor summit in September as the federal government aims to attract $1 trillion in foreign investment for the Canadian economy, Prime Minister Mark Carney said in a statement Friday.

The summit will see “the world’s largest investors,” including top CEOs and global business leaders converge on Canada’s largest city.

“We are building a stronger economy with an ambitious plan to catalyse $1 trillion in total investment in Canada over the next five years,” the prime minister’s office said in a statement.

Speaking to reporters later in the day, Finance Minister Francois Phillipe-Champagne said the summit will see representatives from countries that Carney visited earlier this year on trade missions.

“I was with the prime minister in India. We went to Australia. He then went to Japan. We were before in Qatar. I’ve met the Middle East colleagues here. They all intend to come and join us for that very important summit,” Champagne said.

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Canada offers “stability” and “predictability” to investors, Champagne said.

“Stability, predictability are in high demand and short supply in the world today,” he added.

Two of Canada’s largest institutional investors — the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP Investments) and the Public Sector Pension Investment Board (PSP Investments) — will jointly host the summit with the federal government.

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Carney’s office identified three areas of the economy where they want to see investment —clean energy, critical minerals, and new technologies and artificial intelligence.

Canada is working to “diversify” energy sources, Champagne said.

“The conflict in the Middle East just highlights how much we need to diversify the source of energy. We need to invest in energy efficiency. We need invest in enterprise and renewable energy, conventional energy, nuclear,” he said.

Carney also touted Canada’s position as an “energy superpower” as being key to the summit.

“Canada has what the world wants. We’re an energy superpower, with the most educated workforce in the world and rock-solid fiscal strength. The first-ever Canada Investment Summit will capitalise on those advantages to help drive billions in new investments into Canada,” Carney said.

Carney’s speech at the World Economic Forum in January this year has put Canada “front and centre in people’s minds,” Champagne said.

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“Investors are rediscovering (Canada). They see us now as an energy superpower,” he added.
“While the prime minister may try to go abroad, and try to attract investment from abroad, the reality is he’s ignoring domestic dollars, domestic entrepreneurs that are trying to keep their businesses open, making personal sacrifices to keep their businesses open, and they’re not being able to do that,” said Conservative MP Sandra Cobena.

Referring to a CFIB report that shows that for six consecutive financial quarters, more businesses have closed than have opened in Canada, Cobena said it was becoming harder to do business in Canada.

“These are Canadian investors, Canadian business owners, Canadian entrepreneurs that have had to close their doors because it’s just so difficult to do business here in Canada,” she told reporters Friday.

Carney must first address “fundamental issues” of regulatory hurdles with the Canadian economy, said Conservative MP Kyle Seeback.

“We would urge the prime minister, rather than having this investment summit, to look at the fundamental issues that are driving investment out of Canada and make those changes,” Seeback said.

This comes after a decade of declining international investment in Canada.

A recent report from RBC says 2025 was Canada’s first to attract more than $100 billion in foreign direct investment since 2015.

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More than $1 trillion in foreign investment exited the Canadian economy between 2015 and 2024, in what the report calls the “largest capital exodus in Canadian history.”

However, RBC projects Canada could attract upwards of $1.8 trillion over the next decade if advancements are made in key industries. This includes building new pipelines and liquefied natural gas terminals, expanding nuclear, hydro and renewable power and growing as a critical mineral supplier.

The Canadian Federation of Independent Business issued a report this week pointing to a struggling small business sector in Canada. The CFIB says this is the sixth consecutive quarter they’ve tracked more small businesses closing than opening.

–with files from The Canadian Press

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