Foreign investors optimistic about Canada’s changing investment environment — SkimNews
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- Blackstone president Jon Gray called Canada a 'sleeping giant' economically, citing cumulative impact of regulation, permitting and taxation that must ease, with his firm overseeing US$1.3-trillion in assets
- BlackRock CEO Larry Fink said his US$15.3-trillion firm has historically been 'challenged in finding deals within Canada,' but identified surging AI infrastructure demand as an untapped opportunity and said BlackRock is 'ready to put the money in the ground' once projects materialize
- Ottawa announced an expanded upfront 'mega deduction' on investment costs and launched a process to allow private investment in four major airports — Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal and Calgary — as tangible deliverables from the summit
- Deutsche Bank CEO Christian Sewing called Canada's investment push 'heroic' and said Germany needs to 'top' it at its own summit next month, warning Canada must show 'delivery' over the next four months
- Barclays CEO C.S. Venkatakrishnan said the rupture in Canada-U.S. trade is being felt in U.S. border states including Vermont, Maine and Michigan, framing the disruption as 'an opportunity to correct an imbalance'
- French asset manager Ardian already holds about $7-billion invested in Canada and co-CEO Mark Benedetti said he is 'really seriously' considering launching a fund to invest in Canada's middle market
- Canada Pension Plan Investment Board CEO John Graham, a summit co-organizer with $864-billion in assets, said maintaining momentum after the summit is the most important priority
Why it matters: Carney used the two-day Toronto summit to convert investor interest into concrete commitments, announcing a 'mega deduction' tax incentive and airport privatization in response to CEOs who praised Canada's stability but flagged permitting and tax friction as deal-killers. Sewing's four-month delivery deadline — echoed by Fink's demand for visible projects — means Ottawa's regulatory follow-through now has a hard clock, with Blackstone's $1.3-trillion and BlackRock's $15.3-trillion both publicly signaling they have capital ready to deploy if Canada clears the path.
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