Disruptions to the world order on trade and an increase in military conflict are turning the spotlight on Canada as a reliable potential partner for global investment, foreign affairs minister Anita Anand said Monday as her government kicked off its inaugural Canada Investment Summit.”Around the world, wherever I am, and it is truly almost every single time I am in another jurisdiction … countries are asking how we can partner with Canada,” she said.The areas of interest in doing business with Canada extend from trade and investment to cooperation on priority areas for the Canadian government including artificial intelligence, defence and security, she said.Prime Minister Mark Carney’s speech in Davos, Switzerland, in January calling for “middle powers” to respond to unchecked policies of the United States by working together was a pivotal moment that helped spark many of the projects being presented to global investors this week, she said.“Canada has vast amounts of natural resources, critical minerals, and very sound institutions, including in the financial sector,” she said. “When you put these factors together, you have the picture of a country that is ripe for foreign direct investment, and that’s what makes this summit so exciting, because you have the global context paired with a country that has more to give, and that is a trusted partner around the world.”Global investors are being pitched on a “dealbook” of 167 projects, ranging from conventional and clean energy to critical minerals, port infrastructure and digital technology, but Anand said there are no limits being placed on possible investment.“The idea of a prospectus is that it sets out some of the key pieces of infrastructure that Canada will build, and invites investment organizations to participate in those projects,” she said. “But the summit is very much the starting point of a new phase of our FDI (foreign direct investment), and the projects will continue to be introduced.”For example, Anand said the federal government’s $80 billion investment in the Canadian Armed Forces and national defence in the 2025 budget will lead to a lot of work, much of it in the Arctic, and that will require collaboration.“That work is going to continue over years, and so my hope is that we will continue to have investment summits like this with an annual prospectus where we set out the new projects that are being introduced on a yearly or periodic basis,” she said. International investors are responding to Canada differently than a decade ago when Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government tried to sway global funds to channel money into Canadian infrastructure projects because of how the world has changed, Anand said. Yet she acknowledged that some reservations remain, such as the speed at which major projects get done. “We have a complex (system) in Canada, with federal, provincial and municipal levels of government across 13 jurisdictions, and (it’s) very complex legislatively,” she said. “So what we are doing as a federal government, in conjunction with the provinces, is to say that the path to permit must be as short as possible.” Anand said this in a non-negotiable when it comes to attracting foreign investors and capital, noting that the Major Projects Office is underpinned by federal legislation. “We’ve done that because capital flows where certainty exists,” she said. “I was pleased to sit down with the premiers (Sunday) night to hear their about their work on reducing red tape and ensuring that we can get projects built as soon as possible.” It is a marked change from the approach before trade disruptions with the U.S. “The difference (now) is we’re all on the same page,” Anand said. Canada Investment Summit live: Banks commit billionsCanada Nickel CEO hopes investment summit restores lustre to early stage mining projects • Email: bshecter@nationalpost.com
‘All on the same page’: Collaboration between provinces on approvals a key selling point at summit, Anand says
