Carney gambles on the world's biggest investors betting on Canada

Carney gambles on the world's biggest investors betting on Canada

In the midst of a trade war with the US, the prime minister leveraged his connections in global finance to invite some of the world's biggest investors to Canada.

Trade talks collapsing, tit-for-tat tariffs, and Donald Trump's talk of making Canada a '51st state' have all fueled this bitter feud between the two North American neighbors.

Now, as Canada's top pitch man, Carney is looking to leverage personal relationships from his time spent in the top tiers of global finance to woo some of the world's wealthiest asset managers and business leaders to bet on his country.

For two days, Toronto will host more than 100 global investors overseeing more than C$100tn ($72tn; £53) in assets, in the hope that new economic relationships will help Canada navigate an increasingly unstable geopolitical climate.

On Sunday, at a gala ahead of the summit, the prime minister said the investors 'will come to 'peer into our shop window' because the world is looking at Canada differently'.

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On Monday and Tuesday, a luxury hotel will host guests from major sovereign wealth funds from around the world - including the United Arab Emirates and Norway - and chief executives from major finance companies, like BlackRock's Larry Fink and Blackstone president Jon Gray.

Carney himself will open the summit on Monday with a private dinner and a keynote address the following morning. Closing the conference will be Stephen Harper, who appointed Carney to lead Canada's central bank during his time as prime minister.

Over roughly 24 hours, Carney hopes to pitch them on Canada's energy and resource sectors, as well as the country’s political stability, in the hopes of getting them to invest in AI, defence, transportation, and infrastructure projects across the country.

It is all part of a strategy to build a 'more independent, more resilient economy' in Canada in the wake of the tariff war with the US, which has escalated in recent weeks.

But there is no guarantee that the deep-pocketed investors will be easily sold, and challenges include a track record in Canada of lengthy approvals for projects.

A recent report by the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, which will co-host the summit, cautioned that the scale and depth of investible opportunity is the country's greatest weakness.