This week, Toronto will be simultaneously playing host to Hollywood A-listers and C-Suite execs. Good luck getting a dinner reservation.
What happened: Prime Minister Mark Carney’s long-anticipated Canada Investment Summit kicks off today in Toronto, drawing over 300 deep-pocketed investors, CEOs, and executives from around the world. The two-day summit, which aims to attract $1 trillion in capital commitments, will pitch more than 160 investable projects from across Canada.
The event will mostly showcase energy and infrastructure projects, including a new high-speed rail line between Edmonton and Calgary, the US$28.5 billion Ksi Lisims LNG export terminal in northern B.C., and a $57 billion expansion of the Port of Churchill.
Catch-up: Canada’s biggest institutional investors have already committed to billions of dollars in new domestic investments ahead of the summit. BMO announced Friday that it will spend $70 billion over the next decade in sectors critical to Canada’s economy.
Meanwhile, the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan and Public Sector Pension Investment Board have pledged to increase their Canadian investments by $10 billion and ~$28 billion, respectively, over the next few years.
Delegates from the UAE will be some of the most important attendees, with an agreement already in place for the country to deploy $50 billion in Canada. Those Gulf investors will now be on the hunt for projects to put that capital towards.
Why it matters: The Toronto summit is the biggest test yet of Carney’s plan to convince global investors that Canada is an attractive and reliable destination to invest in — and not just because of its proximity to the world’s largest economy.
A recent TD report suggested that if Canada can execute on major projects over the next few years, it will spark an “investment supercycle” that could see up to $1.7 trillion injected into the Canadian economy over the next decade.
Bottom line: Investor interest is already there: Canada brought in almost $100 billion in foreign direct investment last year, the highest total in nearly a decade. Ottawa now has to prove that it can cut enough of the red tape to quickly get major projects off the ground and put investor dollars to work.—LA
