The shakeup lands two weeks before Carney's first investment summit
Invest in Canada has a new chair and chief executive two weeks before Prime Minister Mark Carney's inaugural investment summit in Toronto.
Dominic Barton, a former Canadian ambassador to China, will chair the agency's board of directors, while Gurinder Grewal, founder and managing partner of MEM Growth Partners, becomes chief executive, according to an announcement Carney's office made on Monday.
Barton spent more than 30 years at McKinsey & Company, including nine as global managing partner, and currently chairs Rio Tinto Group and LeapFrog Investments.
He served as Canada's ambassador to China from 2019 to 2021 and previously chaired the federal government's Advisory Council on Economic Growth, whose 2016 recommendations included the creation of Invest in Canada itself.
He takes the chair for a three-year term on a part-time basis, the Prime Minister's Office said in a release.
Grewal spent more than a decade at Advent International as a partner and co-head of industrials, infrastructure and energy, following earlier roles at Bain Capital and Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette.
He holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and an honours business administration degree from the Ivey Business School at Western University, according to the Prime Minister's Office.
His appointment runs five years, full time.
Barton and Grewal bring the experience the country needs, said Carney, who expects Invest in Canada to attract billions in new investment under them.
The release framed the appointments as a step toward a more independent Canadian economy.
Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc, who oversees the agency, said in the same release that Barton and Grewal "will bring exactly the experience needed to build on Invest in Canada's strong foundation and attract global capital to the projects that will define Canada's economic future."
The Prime Minister's Office set a target of $500bn in new private-sector capital and $1tn in total investment in Canada over five years.
The retooled agency will work alongside the Major Projects Office and provincial, territorial, Indigenous and municipal partners.
Grewal replaces Laurel Broten, a former Ontario cabinet minister under premier Dalton McGuinty, who is leaving the role roughly four years into what is usually a five-year term.
LeBlanc announced on social media Monday that he had accepted her resignation, effective September 1, and thanked her for four years of service.
Neither LeBlanc's office nor the Privy Council Office answered questions about the reason for her early departure, and Carney's statement made no mention of her exit.
Broten had been involved in planning logistics for the Toronto summit, including venue selection and session topics, according to a source familiar with the matter cited by the Globe and Mail, which did not name the source because they were not authorized to disclose the information.
A source familiar with summit planning told Global News that Invest in Canada assigned only a handful of staff to logistics for the event.
The Prime Minister's Office (PMO), other government departments, and co-hosts the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) and the Public Sector Pension Investment Board (PSP Investments) carried the bulk of the work.
Barton succeeds outgoing chair Karl Tabbakh, whose three-year term is ending.
Carney thanked Tabbakh for guiding the agency "through a period of significant global disruption," and Tabbakh will stay on the board to support the leadership transition.
The summit takes place in Toronto on September 14 and 15.
