Carney sells Canada to global investors but says US ties still key

Prime Minister Mark Carney pitched Canada as an investment haven on Tuesday at a gathering of global financial elite but conceded ties with the US remained crucial despite an escalating trade war.Carney convened the Canada Investment Summit as part of his push to diversify an economy he insists had grown too reliant on an increasingly protectionist US.The guest list for the event in Toronto included representatives of Gulf sovereign wealth funds, European banks, the China Investment Corporation, as well as Africa’s richest man, Nigerian tycoon Aliko Dangote, along with US investors.“Our goal is to catalyse C$1 trillion (US$720 billion) of investment in Canada over the next five years,” Carney told the event, promising tax deductions and less red tape to make the country more attractive to foreign capital.Carney said Canada had the reserves of critical minerals and clean energy that the world needs, calling these sectors the keys to “strategic autonomy”, also highlighting plans to build a new pipeline that will help bring “one million barrels of low-emission Alberta oil per day to Asian markets”.“We are unleashing our full potential as an energy superpower,” the prime minister said.US President Donald Trump (right) meets Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney in the Oval Office in October 2025. Photo: TNSHe said Canada would open its four largest airports to private investment, a controversial move rejected by previous governments, which Carney said could generate billions of dollars in public revenue.The CEO of investment behemoth BlackRock, Larry Fink, told the summit that “if the Canadian government follows through with the plans that have been presented today … I do believe international capital will seek out these opportunities”.