Energy executives and think tanks push back on the government's interventionist approach
Canada is pitching itself as the world's most compelling investment destination but the executives, analysts and policy critics closest to the action are not yet fully convinced.
Prime Minister Mark Carney will travel to New York City from May 27 to 28 to deliver remarks at the Economic Club of New York, where he will outline Canada's new economic strategy and meet with top chief executives, entrepreneurs and capital managers.
The government is targeting $1tn in new investment over five years.
“Canada has what the world wants,” Carney said in a statement. “We’re an energy superpower, and we’re catalysing unprecedented levels of new investment.”
According to CBC News, a key pillar of that pitch is the $25bn Canada Strong Fund, announced April 27 as a sovereign wealth fund to co-finance major projects alongside the private sector.
Critics have questioned its structure.
The Fraser Institute argued in a commentary that Ottawa will need to borrow the initial $25bn allocation, adding to federal debt at a time when the government is already projecting a deficit well over $65bn.
The Institute also contended the Carney government is repeating the Trudeau-era playbook of using taxpayer money to pick winners and losers, pointing to $31.4bn in EV and battery plant subsidies that resulted in plant closures and exits by General Motors, Stellantis, and Honda.
The institute reported that business investment per worker fell 18.8 percent between 2014 and 2024 and that Canada experienced a net capital outflow of more than $500bn over the same period, all figures adjusted for inflation.
Oil and gas executives offered measured optimism following a new federal-Alberta deal, Reuters reported.
The deal eliminated some environmental rules, introduced a new industrial carbon pricing framework for the oil sands, and pledged faster regulatory approvals.
ConocoPhillips Canada president Nick McKenna said the agreement significantly improves the risk profile of oil and gas investments in Canada, but cautioned that competition from the US remains acute.
“The cost to do business in a jurisdiction matters,” McKenna said, according to Reuters. “It is a very, very competitive landscape.”
Alberta plans to submit a proposal for a second West Coast crude export pipeline, capable of moving 1 million barrels per day, before July 1, with construction targeted for September 2027.
No private company has yet committed to the project.
Canada West Foundation chief executive Gary Mar wrote in EnergyNow.ca that total upfront costs, covering pipeline capacity, new production and carbon capture infrastructure, could reach roughly $90bn, citing analysis by Servus Credit Union chief economist Charles St-Arnaud.
Mar argued that investors require clarity on approvals and confidence that regulatory conditions will remain stable once capital is committed.
He raised concerns about overlapping federal requirements, including carbon pricing, an oil and gas emissions cap, clean fuel standards, and methane reduction rules, that he said exceed what most competing jurisdictions impose.
Five Canadian cities are competing to host the headquarters of the new Defence, Security and Resilience Bank, according to Toronto Global.
The multilateral institution, modelled on the World Bank, was awarded to Canada on May 1 by approximately 40 NATO and allied Indo-Pacific governments.
The bank is expected to create more than 3,500 high-skilled jobs and will provide long-term, low-cost financing for defence procurement and infrastructure resilience across allied nations, Toronto Global said.
Toronto, Vancouver, Ottawa, Montreal and Halifax are all vying for the role, according to Toronto Metropolitan University.
Toronto Global has called on the federal government to establish a transparent, merit-based selection process with publicly disclosed criteria.
“A transparent process with published criteria is how Canada signals to the world that this institution will be run on its merits,” said Toronto Global president and CEO Stephen Lund.
