Ottawa Hosts Investment Summit as Provinces Make Their Own Pitches
Prime Minister Mark Carney convened the first Canada Investment Summit in Toronto on September 14 and 15, 2026. Provincial premiers held back-to-back meetings before it began to seek capital for projects in their own jurisdictions. The Globe and Mail
Hundreds of investors overseeing nearly $120 trillion in assets were expected in Toronto. Al Jazeera Ottawa describes the event as a practical forum for long-horizon capital, money intended to stay invested for many years. Government of Canada
Carney announced the summit on April 17 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 total value investors manage for clients. The September program was built around a prospectus, a formal catalogue for investors, of more than 160 projects at various stages and open for investment.
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, a large facility that houses computer systems.
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
Carney had said in July that he looked forward to welcoming Saudi investors to the Investment Summit in Toronto in September 2026. The verified public record does not detail commitments from any delegation.
Churchill, data centres and the 160-project list
Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew pitched investors on a large expansion of the Port of Churchill at the Canadian Global Growth Forum. That side event was 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. In plain terms, large building costs tied to the project would not face that tax.
The proposed expansion would require icebreakers in Hudson Bay to extend the shipping season. It would also need an upgraded rail line and a new energy corridor, a planned route for power and transmission.
In February, the federal government announced a market-sounding study to gather industry input on the project's potential. That is an early check to ask business what might work.
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. That is a federal label meant to allow quicker assessment and permits. Reuters
The broader context here is a familiar federal-provincial negotiation held in public. Ottawa convened investors and compiled a national prospectus. Premiers used 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. The billboards, the Saskatchewan forum and the size of the New Brunswick and Alberta lists show provinces treated Toronto as a contest for attention and packed existing proposals into a single shop window.
Looking at what this means for practitioners who follow approvals and deals, the test is conversion, not the size of the prospectus or the investor pool. 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, tax pledge and Saudi invitation fit that pattern. The premiers treated the summit as an opening bid, not a closing.
