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 (September 14, 2026), will kick off discussions for future investments, although major ‌deals could take 12 to 18 months to materialise, a government source said. Mr. 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,” Mr. Carney said at a welcome reception on Sunday (September 14, 2026).

Attracting investment is crucial for ⁠Canada’s economy to weather mounting tariffs imposed by the United States, Canada’s top trade partner. Mr. Carney has sought to do business with new partners in West Asia 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.

Mr. 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 Mr. 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.”

Published – September 14, 2026 04:08 pm IST

US President Donald Trump on Saturday threatened to impose a 100% tariff on Canadian goods if Ottawa goes ahead with its trade deal with China.

Prime Minister Mark Carney visited Beijing last week and struck a deal under which Canada will ease tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles that it imposed in tandem with the US in 2024. In exchange, China will lower retaliatory tariffs on key Canadian agricultural products.

If the deal wasn’t enough, Carney’s rousing speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos where he vowed to diversify Canada’s economic partners and reduce dependence on its southern neighbour rattled Trump.

“If Governor Carney thinks he is going to make Canada a “Drop Off Port” for China to send goods and products into the United States, he is sorely mistaken,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social, using the nickname he placed on Carney’s predecessor, Justin Trudeau.

“China will eat Canada alive, completely devour it, including the destruction of their businesses, social fabric, and general way of life. If Canada makes a deal with China, it will immediately be hit with a 100% Tariff against all Canadian goods and products coming into the U.S.A.,” the president added.

Relations between Washington and Ottawa soured after Trump’s returned to the White House last year. The US president has floated the idea of making Canada the 51st US state, besides his threats to annex the Danish territory of Greenland just east of the country. 

Amid sustained pressure from the US, Canada has set an ambitious goal to increase exports to China by 50% by 2030 and Carney has pledged to significantly increase non-US trade in the next ten years. He is reportedly planning a visit to India in the coming months.

In Davos, the PM sharply criticised the Trump policy of employing coercive measures against allies and extolled middle powers to bind closer and resist great power hegemony. His speech drew a rare standing ovation at the gathering and irked Trump, who not only belittled Canada in his address a day later but also withdrew his Board of Peace invitation to Carney.

ALSO READ: Davos Drama, Silver Smashes $100, Eternal CEO Change And More: The Week That Was

U.S. President Donald Trump, in front of a painting of former U.S. President Ronald Reagan. File
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Palm Beach:

President Donald Trump on Sunday called again for Canada to become a US state, heightening tensions further with one of his country’s closest allies after hitting it with heavy tariffs.

While claiming the United States pays “hundreds of billions of dollars to SUBSIDIZE Canada,” apparently referring to the US trade deficit with its neighbor, Trump said “without this massive subsidy, Canada ceases to exist as a viable Country.”

“Therefore, Canada should become our Cherished 51st State,” he wrote on his Truth social media platform, claiming the move would bring “much lower taxes, and far better military protection for the people of Canada – AND NO TARIFFS!”

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)