Canada Investment Summit Day 2: Carney announces corporate tax ‘mega deduction’ and plan to open airports to private investors

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09/15/26 19:14

Here are all the announcements that came out of the summit

- Globe Staff

It’s been a jam-packed two days in Toronto, so if you lost track of all the deals, partnerships and initiatives unveiled during the Canada Investment Summit, you’re not alone.

From Ottawa’s plans to open four major airports to private investment to BCE’s data centre expansion, here is a list of all the announcements surrounding the event.

Read the full story.

09/15/26 18:35

What the Canada Investment Summit means for you

The summit has been a who’s who of the world’s wealthiest investors, but it will still affect ordinary Canadians. Senior political reporter Stephanie Levitz breaks down the benefits Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government says the summit will bring, and why Canada is courting foreign money so hard in the first place.

09/15/26 18:31

Suncor CEO pitches Canada to foreign investors

– Emma Graney

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For the foreign investors in the room of an energy panel at the Four Seasons in Toronto, Suncor Energy Inc. CEO Rich Kruger drew on his own experience working in the oil and gas industry in more than 20 countries to pitch Canadian energy as an attractive prospect.

Between Canada’s enormous resources, democracy and rule of law, sanctity of contracts and skilled labour, “we very much have the ingredients for long-term success in the oil and gas world,” he said.

“After 42 years in this industry, 11 years as a CEO with Canada’s two largest integrated oil companies, I am as encouraged or optimistic today as I’ve ever been for what our future holds.”

Nuclear power also got a look in – perhaps unsurprisingly, given the technology is experiencing something of a global renaissance as countries look to lower emissions and secure their electricity systems.

Nicolle Butcher, the CEO of Ontario Power Generation, said Canada pioneered the first generation of nuclear power plants. Now it’s building the first small modular reactor in the Group of Seven countries, and remains unique in the world when it comes to nuclear.

“Nobody in the world, save maybe China, has the supply chain, the project management, the engineering capabilities that we have to take on nuclear,” Ms. Butcher said.

09/15/26 18:22

Energy CEOs say Ottawa’s oil and gas shift has them revisiting Canada plans

- Emma Graney

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Energy companies say they are revisiting their Canadian investment plans in response to the federal government’s shift in oil and gas regulations and policy, as well as the “mega deduction” tax incentive program announced Tuesday.

At Calgary-based oil sands giant Suncor Energy Inc., chief executive Rich Kruger is dusting off projects that the company wasn’t considering a few years ago.

Canada once had a reputation for complex, overlapping regulations and long waits to reach the finish line – if companies could even manage to get there at all, Kruger told the Canada Investment Summit on Tuesday during an energy panel.

But between the formation of Ottawa’s Major Projects Office, collaboration between provinces and the federal government, more streamlined project approvals and “an aligned vision” of Canada’s potential as an energy superpower, that reputation is rapidly changing, he said.

“For a capital allocator and investor, that presents opportunities today that I wouldn’t have considered a few short years ago,” he said. “It’s a very different environment today.”

It’s a similar story at TC Energy Corp., where CEO François Poirier just one year ago said his company intended to invest predominantly in projects in the United States until capital spending in Canada became more competitive.

Uncertainty played a big role in the company’s focus on the U.S. and Mexico, Poirier said Tuesday. But the federal government under Prime Minister Mark Carney “has been listening to the private sector to a degree that we’ve not seen in quite a long time,” and those consultations are being reflected in proposed regulatory reform legislation, he said.

Current policy support has “already had a major influence in where we are allocating our development dollars,” Poirier added.

09/15/26 18:16

Deutsche Bank and Barclays CEOs on possibility of expanding in Canada

– Stefanie Marotta

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Here’s a fun bit of discussion from Deutsche Bank and Barclays. Well, fun if you’re into banking. (That’s all of us, right?)

The banks’ chief executives were asked what it would take for them to expand their businesses in Canada.

Both CEOs said they’ll save their requests for creating a level playing field for their regulators back home. (To my great dismay. Give us the Canada regulatory tea!)

Deutsche Bank AG CEO Christian Sewing said he would be “willing to allocate capital to Canada,” but his priority is the bank’s overall performance.

Barclays CEO C.S. Venkatakrishnan said running a retail bank outside of a lender’s home country is “really hard.”

“You’ve got to be able to build a brand, have a low-enough cost to produce and to serve the customers, and it takes a long, long time. It’s a very difficult road,” he said.

Global banks operate in this country, but they are less visible to the everyday consumer as Canada’s big six banks dominate the retail banking market.

And despite what U.S. President Donald Trump has said, U.S. banks have sizable operations in Canada. They are largely focused on capital markets and commercial services such as payments and foreign exchange.

In the past, U.S. banks have attempted to gain a foothold in Canada’s retail banking market, but ultimately gave up trying to take market share from domestic banks.

09/15/26 18:09

Ford pushes Billy Bishop expansion after Carney airport announcement

– Laura Stone

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Ontario Premier Doug Ford, who has been notably quiet during this week’s investment summit, weighed in on Prime Minister Mark Carney’s pitch to privatize airports on Tuesday.

In a statement released by his office, Ford referred to his plan to expand Toronto’s downtown Billy Bishop airport – a proposal that the federal government previously shut down.

In July, Ottawa said it wouldn’t expand the airport to allow for larger commercial jets “at this stage,” instead focusing on safety enhancements to the runway.

But after Carney proposed allowing private investors to run Canada’s four major airports, Ford clearly saw an opening to revisit his proposal.

“If the objective is attracting $5 billion in new investment into Canada and creating thousands of good-paying jobs, we have the perfect, shovel-ready project: expanding Billy Bishop airport,” Ford’s office said in a statement.

These were the first public comments by the Ontario Premier since the summit began.

09/15/26 18:04

Australia’s mixed results with privately run airports

– Chris Wilson-Smith

The new airport ownership model Mark Carney announced plans for on Tuesday has been likened to the system used in Australia, where airports have been privately operated since the late 1990s.

In a March report, Australia’s competition watchdog estimated the country’s four largest airports are planning nearly A$20-billion in capital spending over the next decade.

But the report also warned that the spending would lead to higher charges for airlines as airport operators seek to recover their investments, costs that would ultimately be passed on to travellers through higher airfares.

Speaking with reporters after the announcement, Carney acknowledged that while Australia’s shift to private operators led to increased fees, it also successfully unlocked billions in new airport infrastructure. Canada can avoid the worst outcomes of global privatization by maintaining public ownership of the land and designing a smarter lease framework, he said.

If Ottawa follows a similar model, one of the biggest questions is how – or whether – it would prevent private operators from raising fees on airlines and travellers after paying billions of dollars for long-term concessions.

Another question is what would happen to the airport authorities that currently run Canada’s major airports, such as the Greater Toronto Airports Authority. It was created in 1996 after Ottawa transferred the operation of Pearson to a local not-for-profit agency.

The GTAA did not immediately respond to questions from The Globe about whether it expects to continue operating Pearson under a concession model. In a statement, it highlighted plans to expand the airport’s role as “one of Canada’s largest employment hubs,” building on the 52,000 jobs it says Pearson supports today.

09/15/26 17:45

European and British banks are bullish on Canada

– Stefanie Marotta

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The heads of major European and British banks say they’re bullish on Canada.

Christian Sewing, chief executive of Germany’s largest bank, Deutsche Bank AG, said Canada’s efforts to diversify its economy have been “heroic.” He took notes from the summit on what the German government needs to do to “top” Canada when it holds its investment summit next month.

As geopolitical turmoil has escalated, global investors have shifted their approach in the past year, emphasizing democratic values, independent institutions and reliability – which they can find in Canada. The country is “on the map” and more important than ever as investors seek new opportunities to diversify their portfolios, he said.

This is a major reason Deutsche Bank and major German investors, including state-owned development bank KfW, travelled to Canada to attend the summit, Sewing said. However, he added, the ability to execute is the greatest hurdle faced by Canada.

“You have the capital, you have the skills, you have the resources, and, in my view, you have something which the Prime Minister again and again emphasized – you have trust and values. In the times we are living, the latter point is so important,” Sewing said. “What you really need to show over the next four months is delivery.”

Barclays CEO C.S. Venkatakrishnan said the rupture in Canada-U.S. trade and bilateral relations is the jump-start the country needed to diversify its economy.

“This is an opportunity to correct an imbalance,” he said.

09/15/26 17:22

Harper ends with optimism and a standing ovation

– Stephanie Levitz

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Stephen Harper closed out his remarks with a note of optimism – he said he hopes the conference is not a one-off, but becomes a regular event.

He said that in the discussions around commercial opportunities, the investors in the room have deepened the trust upon which business relationships are built. He said Canada offers more than just resources and investment opportunities – but also a mindset of respect, collaboration and partnership.

Harper thanked all of the attendees, wished them well and ended with his customary “God bless Canada.”

He appears to have received a standing ovation from the crowd.

And with that, the formal program for the summit has come to a close.

09/15/26 17:17

Harper shows his two hats

– Stephanie Levitz

Stephen Harper is now the chair of the board for AIMCo, the Alberta Investment Management Corporation, and he said Tuesday he’s speaking with that hat on but also as a former prime minister – and it is from that perspective he’s now talking about Canada-U.S. relations.

He said he believes Ottawa had no choice but to walk away from the bargaining table with Washington – and he says that as a long-time admirer of the U.S.

But he said that for Canada to maintain its sovereignty, it must pursue diminished reliance upon the United States.

“There will be significant costs to this effort,” Harper said, but he added he believes they are costs that Canadians are prepared and willing to accept. He didn’t elaborate on what those costs are.

Harper also took a swipe at the previous Liberal government, saying that in 2015, Canada was on the cusp of becoming a global energy superpower, but then it didn’t happen. That year, Justin Trudeau and the Liberals defeated the Harper Conservative government.

The current government is changing course on that, Harper said, but more can be done – and he said he believes the “new government” is committed to those changes.

09/15/26 17:09

Harper makes rare public appearance to close out summit

– Stephanie Levitz

Former prime minister Stephen Harper is up onstage for the final event of the investment summit.

It’s a rare public appearance by Canada’s 22nd prime minister, whose Conservative Party was in power from 2006 to 2015.

Earlier Tuesday, Liberal Prime Minister Mark Carney – who was appointed governor of the Bank of Canada by Harper – said he was pleased Harper was supporting the intention of the summit.

He observed that Harper has influence with business and investors, and called it helpful for Canada.

09/15/26 17:04

Watch: Stephen Harper delivers closing keynote

09/15/26 16:59

RBC CEO says corporate tax deduction is a ‘wow’ moment

- Stefanie Marotta

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A crowd of reporters scrummed with Royal Bank of Canada chief executive officer Dave McKay and Northleaf Capital Partners managing partner Stuart Waugh after the panel on growth capital on Tuesday.

McKay said there was a “wow” in the room when Prime Minister Mark Carney announced the productivity tax deduction Tuesday morning. Ottawa has introduced a “differentiated advantage now in creating economic returns for foreign investment in Canada,” he said.

“I feel a renewed interest in Canada for sure,” he told reporters. “The feedback I’m hearing is there’s a consistency of message between the Prime Minister and his team, the premiers and their teams, and CEOs. We’re pulling in the same direction. That hasn’t happened in a long time.”

09/15/26 16:54

‘This is Canada’s big rebuild,’ Toronto Region Board of Trade CEO says

– Sean Silcoff

The Toronto Region Board of Trade is co-hosting an event Wednesday to try to make sense of Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Canada Investment Summit for global investors and what comes next.

The invitation-only gathering at St. Regis hotel, called Beyond the Summit: Strengthening Canada’s Competitiveness Forum, is one of a few such events in the city. It will feature federal ministers Tim Hodgson (energy and natural resources) and Steven MacKinnon (transport), CEOs (Emera, Bank of Nova Scotia, Ontario Power Generation, Canaccord Genuity), investors from abroad (Mubadala, KKR) and home (TorQuest Partners), among others.

Media aren’t permitted at the event itself, but Giles Gherson, chief executive officer of TRBOT, spoke in an interview Tuesday about the historic gathering this week that inspired it.

“I think the summit is doing its job” by giving foreign investors “exposure to the kinds of opportunities that are available here,” the former journalist and civil servant said. “It could be a turning point. We got them curious about Canada. Now we have to move from curiosity to interest, and from interest to commitment.”

The big what’s-next question, he said, is “Can we get out of our own way? We’re going to have to do some things in order to make these investable projects” with changes to taxation, regulation and interprovincial trade barriers “that make us a costly place to invest.”

Gherson was particularly pleased about Tuesday’s announcement by the Prime Minister of a “productivity mega deduction” tax incentive to encourage investment, which TRBOT has been calling for, and a government promise to provide advance income tax rulings on large projects to provide more certainty to investors.

“The sense of momentum that the government is trying to build has merit in itself because it can change attitudes,” he said. “This is Canada’s big rebuild.”

09/15/26 16:39

Defence procurement is finally picking up pace, CEOs say

– Andrew Willis

In Canadian defence circles, procurement is a dirty word. Selling new equipment to the army, navy or air force has been a laboriously slow process for domestic suppliers, stunting the sector’s growth.

On the sidelines of the Canada Investment Summit, CEOs are saying the pace of procurement is finally picking up, just as the armed forces ramp up spending. In an interview after a session on stage, Telesat Corp. chief executive Daniel Goldberg gave Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government a thumbs-up for improving the way it purchases equipment, and for its commitment to getting better.

In August, Telesat signed a $2.3-billion, 15-year contract to supply Military Ka-band Arctic service for the armed forces, as part of a project known as the enhanced satellite communications project.

“The solution that we’re building, it wasn’t the easiest thing in the world to get done, but it was dramatically easier than it would have been a couple of years ago,” Goldberg said. He added: “They’re serious about it.”

Over the next decade, the government’s Defence Industrial Strategy calls for roughly $180-billion in procurement spending.

09/15/26 16:26

Sask. NDP call for data centre moratorium day after BCE expansion announced

- The Canadian Press

Saskatchewan’s Opposition NDP is calling for a moratorium on the construction of hyperscale artificial-intelligence data centres in the province.

Leader Carla Beck said such development should be paused until a process for assessing these projects and their effects is implemented and robust public consultation occurs.

She made her remarks one day after Premier Scott Moe and Prime Minister Mark Carney announced that BCE Inc. intends to quadruple the size of its planned data centre outside Regina. They made the announcement at a side conference prior to the Canada Investment Summit in Toronto on Monday.

The expansion would boost capacity of the data centre to 1.2 gigawatts from 300 megawatts.

Beck said Moe made the announcement unilaterally with no public consultation.

The NDP Leader said residents are concerned that their electricity bills will increase to help run the facilities and they’re questioning the Saskatchewan Party government’s hasty approval of BCE’s project.

The government was not immediately available for comment.

Moe has said Saskatchewan has enough power in its grid to operate the Bell data centre and that more would be available as the province moves toward nuclear technology.

09/15/26 16:10

Toronto venture capitalists predict rush of global capital into early-stage funding

– Sean Silcoff

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Two of Toronto’s most prominent venture capitalists, both of whom participated in the Canada Investment Summit on Tuesday, said they’re optimistic that global investor capital will gush into the early-stage funding space.

Jordan Jacobs, whose Radical Ventures announced the launch Tuesday of an AI-focused mega-venture fund, told reporters that he expected the money to move “fast. Everyone is motivated” to invest.

Janet Bannister, whose Staircase Ventures invests in seed-stage software companies, told reporters that she’d spoken with European and Japanese investors who hadn’t seriously considered Canada before. “Now they’re saying, ‘Hey, you know what, we’re learning a ton about Canada, and we’re interested in digging in and spending more time and finding great opportunities here.’ Nothing is done until the cheques are in the bank, but I think it’s definitely a positive sign so far.”

The pair spoke on a panel at the summit with the CEOs of two of Canada’s up-and-coming global tech stars: AI company Cohere Inc., and Xanadu Quantum Technologies Ltd., developer of quantum computers based on light.

Both are looking for lots of money. Xanadu has a $1.3-billion project in the federal deal book pitched to investors at the summit to build a sophisticated facility to make its cutting-edge computers; the federal government recently provided $195-million in loan support through its Strategic Response Fund. Cohere CEO Aidan Gomez, meanwhile, said on the panel his company “will continue to raise billions of dollars and invest heavily.” (The Globe last week reported Cohere is looking to raise up to US$3-billion in a financing that would value the company at US$20-bilion.)

09/15/26 15:57

What Carney’s privatization plan means for our airports

- Andrew Willis

Prime Minister Mark Carney’s plan to open up four major airports to private investment might change your experience flying in and out of Montreal, Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver. But it doesn’t mean those airports will be privately owned.

Business columnist Andrew Willis breaks down the big announcement from Tuesday’s Canada Investment Summit – and why he thinks it’s a good thing for passengers.

09/15/26 15:39

Spectators gather outside Four Seasons as Carney departs for Europe

– Stephanie Levitz

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Throughout the summit, the heavy security and numerous black SUVs have prompted a lot of people to stop outside the Four Seasons Hotel and wonder who exactly is inside.

Some get excited when they find out it is the Prime Minister, while others end up disappointed to learn it is not a Hollywood celeb. (The Toronto International Film Festival is also under way.)

But as Prime Minister Mark Carney left the Four Seasons on Tuesday afternoon, people hoisted their cellphone cameras in hopes of catching a glimpse.

As he climbed into his own black SUV, Carney popped his head up over the door and waved at the crowd. Spectators waved back as the car sped off to the airport, where the PM will depart for his next destination: Europe.

09/15/26 15:10

Visa rules for Canadians and Europeans are on table, Carney says

– Steven Chase

Prime Minister Mark Carney said visa rules for Canadians and Europeans are on the table as part of talks to form what he calls a unique alliance with the 27-member European Union.

He said the partnership will span several strategic sectors, including energy, critical minerals and artificial intelligence, as Ottawa seeks to safeguard Canada against economic coercion.

He told journalists at the summit that the real meat of this discussion will take place in October at the Canada-EU meeting in Montreal rather than during his brief visit to Strasbourg, France, this week. The Prime Minister is set to address the European Parliament on Thursday.

Asked if talks will include visa-free travel or other visa-free opportunities for Canadians and Europeans, Carney said “this is one aspect of the discussion.” Visa rules affect how long visitors can visit, study or work in each other’s jurisdiction.

Without naming the United States, Carney said economic integration is “being used as a weapon by certain countries,” and that Canada must take steps to strengthen its sovereignty by shoring up ties to other partners, such as the EU.

On Sunday, the Prime Minister told reporters Canada is “not looking to become a member of the European Union” but instead seeking a novel form of partnership.

“What we are looking and will begin discussion for, is a unique alliance with the European Union,” he said at the time.

Read the full story.

09/15/26 14:50

Defence panel a reminder of Canada’s business opportunities with European countries

– Andrew Willis

The summit’s panel on defence and advanced manufacturing is a reminder of how much business Canada already does with European countries, as Prime Minister Mark Carney works to diversify trade away from Donald Trump’s America.

CAE chief executive Matthew Bromberg, a former U.S. Navy submarine officer, said the Montreal-based simulator manufacturer is striking new partnerships across the Atlantic.

In March, CAE announced it would be a supplier to German and Norwegian submarine maker TKMS. TKMS’s contract to supply Canada with up to a dozen submarines could be worth up to $100-billion.

In July, CAE expanded a partnership with Rome-based Leonardo to build a new generation of training systems for fighter jet companies.

With more soldiers, sailors and air crews being trained and NATO military spending expected to double over the next decade to US$3-trillion, Bromberg was bullish on the European growth opportunities for Canadian defence companies.

Telesat CEO Daniel Goldberg, Linamar executive chair Linda Hasenfratz and Bombardier CEO Éric Martel are also on the panel, with CIBC CEO Harry Culham leading the presentation.

09/15/26 14:40

Competition for global capital is fierce, but Canada could be a large beneficiary: BlackRock CEO

– James Bradshaw

BlackRock CEO Larry Fink, Temasek Holdings CEO Dilhan Pillay and APG Group CEO Annette Mosman were also on the panel with Blackstone president and COO Jon Gray.

Fink said BlackRock has historically been challenged to find enough projects for investment in Canada. There is also fierce competition for global capital, which he said is increasingly in short supply relative to the demand to build new infrastructure.

But if Canada can deliver on what it has promised at the summit, “even in this more challenging world for supply of capital, Canada will be a large beneficiary,” he said.

In particular, Fink said the demand for AI capacity is outrunning the available supply. “We’re waiting to see those projects. We’re ready to put the money in the ground,” he said.

At the start of the panel, Fink – who oversees US$15-trillion at BlackRock – sank into his low-slung armchair and said, “These are deep chairs.”

“Deep chair for deep pockets, Larry,” replied Mark Wiseman, Canada’s ambassador to the U.S., who moderated the discussion.

09/15/26 14:33

Canada is a ‘sleeping giant, economically,’ Blackstone CEO says

– James Bradshaw

To Blackstone president and chief operating officer Jon Gray, “Canada is a bit of a sleeping giant, economically.”

The country has coveted assets such as critical minerals, natural gas and hydro power, as well as untapped capacity to build and power data centres, he said on a panel discussion. But it has been too cumbersome to invest here.

“The regulation, the permitting, the taxation, all well intended, but people didn’t think about the cumulative impact,” he said.

Gray wasn’t speaking in the abstract, but from experience.

“It took us 16 years to build a transmission line of hydropower from Quebec to Queens, New York City,” he said. “Now I think everyone would have said this is an amazing project. Clean energy, win-win, and yet because of regulation on both sides, because of litigation, this took forever.”

He was referring to the Champlain Hudson Power Express project, which had US$6-billion of investment from Blackstone.

09/15/26 14:21

Poilievre lays out criticisms of summit, airport investment plan

– Stephanie Levitz

Across the country in Vancouver, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre criticized the summit as being another example of a lot of talk but no real changes for Canadians’ everyday lives.

He made the remarks at a press conference where he laid out his party’s plans to cut costs for Canadians.

Former Conservative prime minister Stephen Harper is set to give closing remarks at the summit later on Tuesday. Poilievre was asked whether that undermines his criticism of the event.

Poilievre said it doesn’t, and that he spoke to Harper about the event a few days ago. He said Conservatives are always going to put Canadians first and work with anybody.

Poilievre also said that if Mark Carney’s plan to open up airports to private investment doesn’t save money for Canadians, there’s no point.

“We want to make sure that it doesn’t end up being sweetheart deals for corporate power brokers and Liberal insiders at the expense of hard-working Canadians who are already struggling to put food on their table,” he said. “So, we’ll wait for the details, we will judge it based on how we can save more money for Canadians.”

09/15/26 14:03

Carney didn’t consult on opening up Vancouver airport to private investment, Eby says

– Stephanie Levitz

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British Columbia Premier David Eby is among the provincial leaders making the rounds at the summit, and he took a few minutes to field questions from reporters outside the Four Seasons Hotel.

He said Prime Minister Mark Carney didn’t consult him ahead of time on the plan to open up the Vancouver airport, along with three others, for private investment.

Eby says the details of that plan will be important. He pointed out that Vancouver’s airport is consistently recognized as one of the best on the continent and he doesn’t want that to change.

But he says he understands the intent of the idea – to free up more capital for investment in regional airports – and he can support that.

09/15/26 13:46

Banking panels coming up

– Stefanie Marotta

Hey, it’s Stefanie Marotta, banking reporter at The Globe. I’m on the ground again today covering the Canada Investment Summit. We have two interesting panels coming up.

Next up, Royal Bank of Canada CEO Dave McKay and Northleaf Capital Partners managing partner Stuart Waugh are discussing growth equity in Canada and what it takes to scale homegrown companies. I’ll also be asking them questions at the media scrum after the panel.

Later this afternoon, a couple of heavy hitter global banks will take the stage. Germany’s Deutsche Bank CEO Christian Sewing and Britain’s Barclays CEO C.S. Venkatakrishnan will chat about the global perspective on financing Canada’s future. Stay tuned!

09/15/26 13:28

Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew praises ‘mega deduction’ but declines to weigh in on airport plan

– Laura Stone

Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew on Tuesday said he aims to triple mineral production in his province over the next five years and praised the Prime Minister, saying Mark Carney and his team “knocked it out of the park” with the summit.

He declined to weigh in on the government’s airport privatization plan, saying it wouldn’t have much impact on his province. Instead, he said the corporate tax “mega deduction” will be significant for Manitoba, including for his pitch for a major expansion of the Port of Churchill.

“The thing that I think will move the needle for Winnipeggers is the announcement around this mega tax deduction that the feds have brought forward. That’s the one that will make a new mine proposal all of a sudden become viable. That’s the one that will make Port of Churchill more attractive to outside investment,” he told reporters at a news conference.

He added that the appearance of former prime minister Stephen Harper at the summit signals unity in the country.

“I think Donald Trump is a reminder that the differences between Canadians when it comes to politics are pretty minor to what’s going on around the world.”

09/15/26 13:26

Carney sits down with PSP Investments CEO Deborah Orida

– Andrew Willis

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After Prime Minister Mark Carney announced the government plans to sell concessions to operate Canada’s four largest airports, he sat down with PSP Investments chief executive Deborah Orida for the informal fireside chat that is all but mandatory at these sessions.

Orida, who runs a $320-billion fund that pays for the retirements of soldiers, Mounties and civil servants, was the perfect investor to talk airports. PSP owns stakes in six European airports, in Athens, Dusseldorf, Hamburg, Aberdeen, Glasgow and Southampton. The fund also has a concession at San Juan Airport in Puerto Rico.

The concession concept is a common approach to running airports in Europe, Asia and Australia. Outside investors such as PSP subsidiary AviAlliance run the restaurants, stores and other passenger-facing elements. Governments typically maintain ownership of the land and assets, and regulate returns on essential services such as baggage handling.

That is the structure that Carney promised for the Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto and Montreal airports. He said the government will bring “new capital and expertise into their operations and growth.”

09/15/26 13:14

Behind the scenes of the summit

– James Bradshaw

The foyer connecting the Four Seasons Hotel’s lobby to its restaurant, bar and elevators is a scene today.

Linger for a few minutes and you’ll see Jon Gray, president and chief operating officer of US$1.3-trillion asset manager Blackstone, having a meeting at a nearby table.

Just up the stairs, private equity firm Warburg Pincus’s CEO Jeffrey Perlman is having meetings at the hotel restaurant, Café Boulud, while Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan CEO Jo Taylor waits to be shown to his table.

Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew is walking down those same stairs as former federal finance minister Bill Morneau crosses the lobby.

Just behind him, the doors of a crowded elevator open and out step Deutsche Bank CEO Christian Sewing, Eurasia Group senior adviser Diana Fox Carney – who is also the Prime Minister’s spouse – and Bank of Montreal CEO Darryl White.

The only people who might outnumber the CEOs, and are even easier to spot, are the uniformed RCMP officers and ubiquitous security staff.

09/15/26 12:18

Champagne’s elevator pitch on the ‘mega deduction’

– Bianca Bharti

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Hi! Bianca here. I’m an audience editor at The Globe who works closely with our business section. Our tech reporter, Sean Silcoff, jumped into a lift at the Four Seasons Hotel with Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne, who practically gave him an elevator pitch on the “mega deduction.”

Sean sent me a clip of the quick scrum before taking off for another interview. If you’d like to hear the whole interaction, we’ve embedded it below.

As part of the announcement, the federal government made immediate expensing permanent. “That’s the biggest reform of corporate tax in half a century in Canada,” Champagne told Sean.

“This is a game changer,” he said, adding that the overall changes make Canada’s marginal effective tax rate one-third lower than the U.S.

09/15/26 11:55

Read and watch Carney’s full speech

– Arisa Valyear

In a roughly 20-minute address, Prime Minister Mark Carney welcomed attendees to the Canada Investment Summit, pitching the country as an energy superpower and outlining the government’s case for why Canada is “the most attractive place in the G7 to invest.”

Read the full transcript of Carney’s opening remarks here.

09/15/26 11:48

Teck CEO calls on Canada to invest in transportation corridors in remote mining regions

– Niall McGee

Mark Carney’s government is moving in the right direction to strengthen Canada’s critical minerals sector, but more investment is needed in crucial mining infrastructure, Teck Resources chief executive Jonathan Price said at the summit.

In a panel discussion alongside Cameco CEO Tim Gitzel and Agnico Eagle Mines CEO Ammar Al-Joundi, Price called for putting more money into electricity grids and transportation corridors, a move that would benefit many mining companies.

Price pointed to Northern Ontario’s Ring of Fire and B.C.’s Golden Triangle as remote areas of the country where infrastructure investment is needed.

“To unlock those deposits, we need access either by road or rail, we need power solutions, we need a route to port, and we need port capacity to get those products to market,” he said.

Read the full story here.

09/15/26 11:10

Carney asked about opening airports for investment

– Stephanie Levitz

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Prime Minister Mark Carney is now speaking with reporters after his opening remarks to the summit.

He’s being pressed on his announcement to open up airports for investment, with The Globe’s Bill Curry noting that the Liberals seriously considered the idea about a decade ago but ditched it after pushback.

Carney said that these are different times, and that the government is trying to build up the country in a more hostile world while at the same time retaining fiscal discipline.

He said to do that, Canada needs to be smart with the assets it has, and there’s also an opportunity to provide better experiences at airports and invest in other projects.

09/15/26 10:58

Canada is ideal place for AI data centres but needs to address public concerns: tech CEOs

– Sean Silcoff

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Cohere CEO Aidan Gomez made the case at the investment summit to become a global leader in AI data centre infrastructure – but cautioned that “we need to do it in the right way.”

Gomez, one of the co-authors of a foundational 2017 paper that paved the way for the AI revolution led by large language models like the ones developed by his Toronto-based company, said Canada offers advantages such as a cold climate, vast space and abundant clean energy to power data centres. But he said “there’s a burden of proof on us” to address public concerns, including those about water and power usage.

Gomez, whose company is in the process of raising a massive round valuing the company at US$20-billion, was speaking on a panel about frontier Canadian technologies. Other speakers included Jordan Jacobs, head of Toronto’s Radical Ventures, an early Cohere backer which announced an AI super-growth fund on Tuesday morning; Christian Weedbrook, founder and CEO of Toronto-based Xanadu Quantum Technologies; and Toronto-based venture capitalist Janet Bannister, managing partner of Staircase Ventures.

Bannister said Canada was an ideal place to build a technology company for three reasons: Toronto in particular is a fast-growing tech hub, the third largest by employees in the sector in North America. Secondly, because Canada is a relatively small market, startups here have to think “globally from day one,” she said. And she noted it’s not only cheaper to build a startup here, but that “Canadian businesses are used to doing more with less” as companies generally raise less than their Silicon Valley counterparts.

09/15/26 10:31

Canada’s mining CEOs take the summit stage

– Andrew Willis

CEOs of three of Canada’s largest mining companies are on stage at the summit, and Cameco boss Tim Gitzel used the podium to plug Canada’s reliability as a supplier.

Gitzel, who heads the world’s largest uranium producer, pointed out that nuclear power is becoming an increasingly important power source. The Saskatchewan native said that when someone builds a $15-billion nuclear power plant, “it’s a really bad day” if they run out of fuel.

He said Cameco, with its massive operations, is a dependable partner for power producers. That supply chain reliability is becoming more important to customers and countries (many power producers are government-owned) as geopolitical uncertainty becomes a greater risk.

That’s an intangible benefit of doing business in Canada that CEOs like Gitzel and politicians like Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe are stressing as they pitch for investment. Cameco is one of Saskatchewan’s largest employers.

Kazakhstan, Namibia and Russia are among Canada’s rivals for uranium production.

09/15/26 10:14

More background on Ottawa’s new ‘mega deduction’

– Andrew Willis

Here is the background on the new “mega deduction” at the summit, courtesy of Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne’s team.

The new regime cuts Canada’s marginal effective tax rate on new business investment by more than half, from 13 per cent to 6.4 per cent. The government says that is the lowest rate of any major advanced economy.

As of 2026, the U.S. rate is 16.9 per cent and the OECD average is 19 per cent, according to the Finance Department.

The last federal budget allowed the “super” deduction on 15 per cent of assets. What the Prime Minister announced, the “mega” deduction, covers 65 per cent of assets.

09/15/26 10:08

Ottawa’s tax incentive aims to make it cheaper for businesses to invest

– James Bradshaw

Good morning. It’s institutional investing reporter James Bradshaw here, back at the summit.

The expanded tax incentive that Prime Minister Mark Carney announced Tuesday, called the “productivity mega deduction,” is aimed at encouraging businesses to spend more money to improve and expand their operations by making it “cheaper to invest.”

It makes a tax measure announced in last year’s federal budget, the “productivity super-deduction,” more generous.

The existing suite of tax incentives let businesses write off the costs of new capital investment in about 15 per cent of assets right away, focusing on manufacturing and processing, clean energy, productivity and research investments.

The new “mega” deduction covers about 65 per cent of assets, including fibre-optic cable, mining property, oil and gas pipelines, software, computer equipment, aircraft and vehicles, patents, rail track, bridges and roads.

That’s expected to cost Ottawa about $36-billion over five years. And it’s billed as a permanent measure to give businesses more certainty.

“The effect is straightforward. When you invest in Canada, you can deduct substantially more of that investment immediately,” Carney said in his Tuesday speech.

He said that will make Canada “by far the most tax-competitive advanced economy for new investment.”

09/15/26 09:46

Ottawa announces ‘mega deduction’ for companies on new investment

– Andrew Willis

Good morning. I’m Andrew Willis, a business columnist at The Globe and Mail.

I’m at the Canada Investment Summit today, and recently spent a week in Calgary, where I met with the CEOs of several oil sands producers.

Prime Minister Mark Carney just made a tax announcement that will thrill the heads of the country’s largest energy companies.

He announced a “productivity mega deduction” that allows companies to immediately deduct 100 per cent of the cost of new investment across far more assets than previously allowed.

The Prime Minister got a laugh when he joked the Liberals called it a mega deduction because they used the phrase “super deduction” in the last budget. The government’s briefing on the tax break specifically mentions the energy sector. Alberta-based oil sands operators need to invest billions to open up new properties that will in turn feed a potential new pipeline to a deep-water port on the Pacific Coast.

This tax change makes those projects far more likely. We will be looking for a response from companies like Cenovus, Canadian Natural Resources, Imperial Oil and Suncor.

09/15/26 09:40

Hello from Toronto’s Four Seasons Hotel

– Bill Curry

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Good morning from inside a conference room at Toronto’s Four Seasons Hotel, where more than 200 investors, premiers, government officials and former prime minister Stephen Harper are squeezed in to hear Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Tuesday morning speech.

Before he began, participants were encouraged to spend the day mingling and arranging meetings.

They were also told that they represent leaders managing $120-trillion in capital.

09/15/26 09:38

Ottawa to help finance nationwide sovereign internet network, Carney says

– Irene Galea

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The federal government will help to finance a new internet network to provide nationwide sovereign internet connectivity, Prime Minister Mark Carney announced.

“We will reinvest the tens of billions of dollars of capital we raise into the infrastructure that Canada needs for the next generation,” Carney said as part of his opening remarks.

That will mean “helping to finance new nation-building infrastructure, including a sovereign broadband backbone that connects Canadians from coast to coast to coast, with more direct and secure links to Europe and Asia,” he said.

A “broadband backbone” is the high-capacity core of the internet network that carries traffic between cities and countries.

The federal government previously signalled in its National Artificial Intelligence Strategy released in June that it planned to expand high-capacity fibre lines and satellite connectivity to improve network resilience and limit the effects of disruptions.

Read the full story here.

09/15/26 09:30

Carney’s message for Americans

– Stephanie Levitz

Though Carney is making a pitch to global investors to put more money into Canada, he also had a message for Americans.

Canada and the U.S. are now in a trade war, and some of the chatter around the summit has been about whether that will impact how investors react to Carney’s pitch.

In his opening remarks, Carney said Canada will continue to be the U.S.’s most important partner in many key areas, noting that at times of disagreement throughout history, the two countries have always stayed close.

He said that only works when the two countries “engage as true partners that respect each other’s traditions and sovereignty.”

And he took a look ahead, saying, “When those opportunities return, Canada will be an even better partner – stronger, more resilient, more independent – ready to advance our mutual economic and security interests.”

09/15/26 09:04

Carney details plans to open Canada’s four largest airports up for private investment

– Stephanie Levitz

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The first full day of the Canada Investment Summit is kicking off with an announcement by Prime Minister Mark Carney on opening up Canada’s four largest airports for private investment.

In his opening remarks to the gathering, Carney said the government will retain ownership of land and assets but seek private investment through long-term concessions to operate the airports.

Canada’s four largest airports are Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto and Montreal.

Carney said the capital raised through private investors will be reinvested into infrastructure, including regional airports.

Transport Minister Steven MacKinnon had briefed Liberal MPs on the plans in a late-day call on Monday, The Globe earlier reported.

Read the full story here.

09/15/26 08:40

The agenda for today’s Canada Investment Summit

– Globe Staff

The Canada Investment Summit will consist of a plenary session, panel discussions, small group meetings and a concierge service to match people up for sideline discussions, much of which will happen behind closed doors.

Here’s the full schedule:

8:45 a.m. ET:

Introduction by Deborah Orida, president and CEO of the Public Sector Pension Investment Board

8:50 a.m. ET:

Opening keynote speech by Prime Minister Mark Carney and fireside chat

9:20 a.m. ET:

Panel conversation on Canada’s mining and critical minerals with Agnico Eagle Mines CEO Ammar Al-Joundi, Cameco CEO Tim Gitzel and Teck Resources CEO Jonathan Price

9:55 a.m. ET:

Panel conversation on financing Canada’s technology champions with Janet Bannister from Staircase Ventures, Jordan Jacobs from Radical Ventures and Cohere CEO Aidan Gomez and Xanadu CEO Christian Weedbrook

11:00 a.m. ET:

Breakout investment sessions with cabinet ministers:

• Canada’s nation-building agenda with Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc
• Exchanging investor insights with International Trade Minister Maninder Sidhu
• Partnering with Canada’s pension plans with Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne
• Catalyzing private investment with Industry Minister Mélanie Joly

12 p.m. ET:

Lunch

1:00 p.m. ET:

Remarks from John Graham, CEO of the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board

1:10 p.m. ET:

Panel conversation on global capital and Canadian opportunity with BlackRock CEO Larry Fink, Blackstone COO Jon Gray, APG CEO Annette Mosman and Temasek Holdings CEO Dilhan Pillay Sandrasegara

1:50 p.m. ET:

Panel conversation on defence and advanced manufacturing in Canada with CAE CEO Matthew Bromberg, Telesat CEO Daniel Goldberg, Linamar executive chair Linda Hasenfratz and Bombardier CEO Éric Martel

2:25 p.m. ET:

Panel conversation on growth equity in Canada with Royal Bank of Canada CEO Dave McKay and Northleaf Capital Partners managing partner Stuart Waugh

3 p.m. ET:

More breakout investment sessions with cabinet ministers:

• Canada’s nation-building agenda with Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc
• Exchanging investor insights with Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand
• Partnering with Canada’s pension plans with Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne
• Catalyzing private investment with Industry Minister Mélanie Joly

4:00 p.m. ET:

Panel conversation on financing Canada’s future with Deutsche Bank AG CEO

Christian Sewing and Barclays CEO C.S. Venkatakrishnan

4:20 p.m. ET:

Panel conversation on Canada’s energy sector with Ontario Power Generation CEO

Nicolle Butcher, Suncor CEO Rich Kruger and TC Energy CEO François Poirier

5:55 p.m. ET:

A speech on capturing Canada’s moment with former prime minister Stephen Harper

09/15/26 08:30

A sit-down with Mark Carney

– Andrew Willis

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Prime Minister Mark Carney said in an interview Monday that his government’s investment summit is part of a strategy to line up foreign capital behind Canada’s manufacturing sector while boosting trade with Asia and Europe.

The summit, taking place Monday and Tuesday at the Four Seasons in Toronto, is being attended by global investors and watched closely by a domestic audience waiting to see Carney’s next move in the trade war with the United States.

On the first day of the event, Carney said capital is just one of many ingredients required to boost Canada’s economy.

“You need capital, you need deals, you need projects, you need the proper regulatory environment, you need a competitive tax environment, and you need ambition and action,” Carney said. He said the summit is meant to bring all these factors together, to the benefit of all Canadians, not just business leaders.

“We are launching the investment supercycle that the country needs,” he added, perched on the edge of a Four Seasons Hotel chair and occasionally jabbing a finger in the air to drive home his point.

Read the full story here.

09/15/26 08:30

The deals and dealmakers to watch at the Canada Investment Summit

– Jason Kirby

Investors from around the world have descended on Toronto for the Canada Investment Summit, Prime Minister Mark Carney’s effort to show the world the country is ready to build big things again.

As part of that, Ottawa has identified scores of projects to showcase during the event, which 120 Canadian and international funds and investment companies with roughly $120-trillion in combined assets under management are expected to attend.

Here’s a look at possible candidates for deals and some of the big-name investors set to show up for the summit.

Read the full story and list of potential deals here.

09/15/26 08:30

Carney to deliver remarks, hold press conference on day two of investment summit

– The Canadian Press

Prime Minister Mark Carney is set to deliver remarks and hold a press conference at his government’s investment summit in Toronto today.

The prime minister is also scheduled to participate in a discussion with Deborah Orida, the CEO of PSP Investments which is one of Canada’s largest pension investors.

Hundreds of executives and global asset managers are in Toronto this week for Canada’s first-ever national investment summit and Carney has set an ambitious goal of attracting $1-trillion in new investment over the next five years.

Day one of the investment summit saw billion-dollar announcements and changes to Canada’s tax policy.

The federal government said investors putting $1-billion or more into Canada’s economy will get priority access to a program that offers binding decisions from the Canada Revenue Agency, while Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe announced an expansion of Bell’s AI data centre project in Saskatchewan.

The formal program kicked off with a gala dinner on Monday night. But the main event is on Tuesday, with a plenary session, panel discussions, small group meetings and a concierge service to match people up for sideline discussions, much of which will happen behind closed doors.

The event has been criticized by some Indigenous leaders, environmental groups and union leaders who say they worry about the future of public services, pipelines and arms manufacturing.