Mark Carney plans to thread the needle on trade with Asia, Europe through investment summit

Prime Minister Mark Carney said in an interview Monday that his government’s investment summit is part of a strategy to line up foreign capital behind Canada’s manufacturing sector while boosting trade with Asia and Europe.

The summit, taking place Monday and Tuesday at the Four Seasons in Toronto, is being attended by global investors and watched closely by a domestic audience waiting to see Mr. Carney’s next move in the trade war with the United States.

On the first day of the event, which welcomed roughly 300 executives, among them many of the world’s largest asset managers, Mr. Carney said capital is just one of many ingredients required to boost Canada’s economy.

“You need capital, you need deals, you need projects, you need the proper regulatory environment, you need a competitive tax environment, and you need ambition and action,” Mr. Carney said. He said the summit is meant to bring all these factors together, to the benefit of all Canadians, not just business leaders.

“We are launching the investment supercycle that the country needs,” he added, perched on the edge of a Four Seasons hotel chair and occasionally jabbing a finger in the air to drive home his point.

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“There is a massive opportunity for Canada both in Europe and Asia,” said the Prime Minister. “It’s safe to say we haven’t realized our potential in those markets.”

In sectors where Canada is a powerhouse, such as energy and critical minerals, the country has an opportunity to strengthen relationships that have become both economic and strategic. “It’s the strategic benefits that make Europe, Korea and other countries interested in doing more with us,” the Prime Minister said.

“Our reputation, hard-earned over decades by Canadians, is for being reliable and trustworthy, we honour what we sign,” said Mr. Carney. “Canada is a low-risk jurisdiction, and that works to our advantage.”

The federal government’s data show Europe is the largest untapped market for Canadian goods and services, particularly for small- to-medium-sized business. Mr. Carney said while Canada has a free trade agreement with the EU, “we are not fully utilizing it.”

After the Toronto summit concludes on Tuesday, Mr. Carney is scheduled to fly to Europe and address the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France. The Prime Minister said his goal is to strike a “unique alliance” between Canada and the European Union.

Speaking of U.S. President Donald Trump’s second term in office, Mr. Carney said, “one of the lessons people are taking for the rupture, if I may use that term, is that economic integration can be weaponized.”

Last month, Canadian negotiators walked away from trade talks with the U.S. government, in part over the Trump administration’s attempts to repatriate truck manufacturing.

“We don’t want to lock in a competitive disadvantage for the Canadian auto sector,” said the Prime Minister. “That is not in the interest of U.S.-based auto firms. It is certainly not in best interest of the Canadian auto sector.”

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Mr. Carney said he is confident the government can negotiate a “uniquely Canadian solution” that ensures a “vibrant, competitive auto sector” tied to U.S., Chinese and European manufacturers. He added trade negotiations with the U.S. are complicated by the fact that the auto industry is going through a period of transformation.

Canada’s focus in negotiating global trade alliances is on being a player in the auto sector that is “electric and connected,” Mr. Carney said, emerging areas where he said Canada has built expertise. While he never said Donald Trump’s name in the course of a 20-minute conversation, Mr. Carney did point out that two days ago the “U.S. President” spoke approvingly of Chinese automakers building U.S. plants.

Since taking office in March, 2025, the Prime Minister has met twice with China’s President Xi Jinping. Mr. Carney said those face-to-face sessions and the government’s diplomatic outreach have resulted in setting the “guardrails” needed to boost trade with the world’s second-largest economy while navigating issues such as security.

“We have taken the first steps in resetting our relationship,” Mr. Carney said.

“We can go deeper in agriculture with China, deeper in fish exports, energy exports and financial services, a sector in China that will ultimately open up.”

Executives from several Chinese asset managers, including the chief strategy officer from the US$1.6-trillion China Investment Corp., are at the Toronto summit this week.

As CEOs from Canada’s largest companies join federal and provincial politicians in Toronto to pitch the country as a place to invest, Mr. Carney said the key to the event’s success will be landing both cash and expertise from global fund managers, such as Singapore-based Temasek Partners, a US$400-billion fund that ranks among the world’s largest infrastructure investors.

“Investors like Temasek bring capital, and they catalyze change,” Mr. Carney said. “That makes a decisive difference when combined with the ambitions of Canadians up and down this country.”

Mr. Carney said his government is hoping to lure such investors in part by making significant changes to Canada’s tax regime.

“We need to extend corporate tax advantages to make Canada more attractive,” the Prime Minister said, suggesting Ottawa is developing tax measures meant to boost corporate investment in companies and incentivize entrepreneurs to scale-up business.

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On Monday, Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne announced a new federal program to offer “advance tax rulings” for investments of $1-billion or more. That would give investors a binding decision from the Canada Revenue Agency on how Canadian tax law will apply to a transaction before they commit capital, giving them more certainty.

Mr. Carney said: “We’ve got more to do, above and beyond the advance tax ruling, so watch this space.”

The Prime Minister said the government also remains committed to streamlining the regulatory process to ensure a “one project, one review, one year” outcome for every initiative that requires federal sign-off, not just proposals selected by the Major Projects Office the government launched in August, 2025.