Prime Minister Mark Carney is hosting the Canada Investment Summit in Toronto, bringing together hundreds of investors and about 100 money managers. These participants, who oversee nearly $120 trillion in assets, are gathering to explore Canada as an ideal place for their investments.
The summit comes as Carney seeks to attract more investment to diversify Canada's markets and reduce its economic dependence on the United States. Attracting this investment is seen as crucial for the economy to weather mounting tariffs imposed by the U.S. amid an escalating trade war with President Donald Trump.
The move puts Carney back on the European stage as relations with Washington reel from tariffs, threats, and personal attacks since trade talks collapsed. While walking away from those talks was politically popular, Canada's leader must now contend with a more difficult economic reality.
Carney is pitching Canada's political stability, educated workforce, global trade access, and energy and critical minerals as primary reasons to invest. Addressing the gathering, the prime minister stated that the investors are coming because of Canada, adding that if they wanted to go to the United States, they would go to the United States.