Premiers Chase Capital at Carney's Toronto Investment Summit
Prime Minister Mark Carney convened the first-ever Canada Investment Summit in Toronto on September 14 and 15, 2026. Provincial premiers held back-to-back meetings ahead of the formal start to court capital for projects in their own jurisdictions. The Globe and Mail
Hundreds of investors overseeing nearly $120 trillion in assets were expected to gather in Toronto for the summit. Al Jazeera Ottawa describes the event as a practical forum focused on long-horizon capital. Government of Canada
Carney announced the summit on April 17, billing it as a vehicle to draw billions in new investment to Canada. An earlier preview put the expected investor pool at $120 trillion in assets under management. The September program was built around a prospectus of more than 160 projects in various stages of development that are open for investment.
The competition was visible. The provinces did not wait for the main agenda to make their case.
Provinces run parallel pitches
New Brunswick and British Columbia deployed mobile promotional billboards circling Toronto's Yorkville neighbourhood during the summit. New Brunswick Premier Susan Holt and Natural Resources Minister John Herron went to Toronto to promote more than $30-billion in capital investment opportunities described by the province.
The New Brunswick list includes mining projects, a Belledune port expansion and a Lorneville data centre. The size of the package, and the decision to send both the premier and the natural resources minister, put the province among the most active delegations in Toronto.
Saskatchewan hosted its own Invest in Saskatchewan Forum on Monday ahead of the national summit, with Premier Scott Moe participating. At that forum, Moe and BCE Inc. announced plans to quadruple BCE's investment in artificial-intelligence data centres in Saskatchewan.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said she had a list of 34 proposed projects to pitch to investors at the summit. CityNews Alberta came with a list. The number gives a sense of how provinces are packaging existing proposals for a single shop window, rather than arriving with one flagship ask.
Carney had said in July that he looked forward to welcoming Saudi investors to the Investment Summit in Toronto in September 2026. The invitation fits the stated objective of bringing long-horizon foreign capital to Canadian projects, though the verified facts do not detail commitments from any delegation.
Churchill, data centres and the 160-project list
Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew pitched investors on a major expansion of the Port of Churchill at the Canadian Global Growth Forum, a side event organized by the Canadian Venture Capital and Private Equity Association. Kinew said Manitoba will offer a provincial sales tax exemption on major capital investments related to the Port of Churchill Plus project.
The proposed expansion would require icebreakers in Hudson Bay to extend the shipping season, as well as an upgraded rail line and a new energy corridor. In February, the federal government announced a market-sounding study to gather industry input on the project's potential.
The Churchill proposal illustrates the jurisdictional split at the centre of the summit. The province can adjust its own tax treatment. Ottawa controls icebreaking capacity and has a role in rail and energy corridor approvals. Private capital is being asked to carry much of the construction risk, with public policy setting the conditions.
The summit prospectus included a proposed $10.9-billion high-speed rail link. The Globe and Mail That entry sits alongside provincial resource, port and digital infrastructure proposals in the more than 160-project inventory compiled by organizers.
Carney has previously said Ottawa would declare a certain number of projects to be in the national interest to get them built faster. Reuters That designation power, and the federal assessment and permitting changes attached to it, forms part of the background to the Toronto pitches.
The broader context here is a familiar federal-provincial negotiation conducted in public. Ottawa convenes investors and compiles a national prospectus. Premiers use the same rooms, and in some cases rooms down the street, to advance projects that fall largely within provincial jurisdiction over resources, electricity and local approvals.
Looking at what this means for practitioners, the test is not the size of the prospectus or the size of the investor pool. It is conversion. The summit aggregates proposals, from the Churchill expansion to prairie data centres to Atlantic ports and mines, but procurement, permitting, Indigenous consultation and final investment decisions still proceed project by project. The side forums, provincial billboards and tax pledges in Toronto suggest premiers understand that dynamic. They treated the summit as an opening bid, not a closing.
