Canadian Design and Construction Report staff writer
Canada’s largest pension funds, banks, insurers and investment firms announced almost $500 billion in new investment and financing commitments at the first Canada Investment Summit this week.
The announcements include almost $100 billion in new capital for Canadian assets from pension funds, insurers and other institutional investors, along with nearly $325 billion in financing commitments from major Canadian banks.
The money is earmarked for areas including infrastructure, energy, transportation, critical minerals, technology and defence.
CPP Investments and Brookfield Asset Management announced plans for a $50-billion fund focused on infrastructure and other strategic industries in Canada.
PSP Investments said it plans to increase its Canadian investments by 30 to 40 per cent, adding about $25 billion and bringing its total Canadian investments to $100 billion.
The Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan plans to add $10 billion to its Canadian investments by the end of 2027.
Sun Life Financial said it plans to invest $5 billion over five years in infrastructure projects involving digital technology, energy and transportation.
Investment firms also announced more than $14 billion in planned investments and financing.
Power Sustainable said it plans to invest and mobilize more than $10 billion for Canadian infrastructure, including electricity grids, fibre and data infrastructure, environmental projects and food supply chains.
Radical Ventures said it plans to invest and mobilize $4 billion through a new fund for Canadian artificial intelligence companies.
The major banks also announced financing programs:
- TD plans to provide $150 billion over five years for energy, critical minerals, defence and aerospace, digital technology, artificial intelligence and infrastructure.
- Scotiabank plans to provide more than $100 billion over five years to Canadian companies and projects.
- BMO plans to provide $70 billion over 10 years for energy and transportation infrastructure, mining and critical minerals, AI computing, and defence and security.
- CIBC plans to provide $2 billion for small and medium-sized defence and dual-use companies working in areas such as infrastructure, energy, cybersecurity and advanced technology.
- RBC plans to invest about $1.5 billion to support Canadian technology companies.
The federal government also announced proposed changes to business tax rules that would allow companies to immediately write off the cost of a wider range of assets.
The proposed Productivity Mega Deduction would cover assets such as fibre-optic cable, mining property, pipelines, software, computer equipment, aircraft, vehicles, patents, rail track, bridges and roads.
The government also plans to make immediate expensing permanent for eligible capital costs.
The government estimates the changes would reduce the marginal effective tax rate on new business investment from about 13 per cent to 6.4 per cent.
The government also plans to seek private operators for Canada’s four largest airports through long-term concessions.
The federal government would retain ownership of the land and airport assets.
Prime Minister Mark Carney said proceeds from the arrangements could be used for other infrastructure, including regional airports, local transportation projects and a proposed national broadband network.
Details on the structure and timing of the airport concessions have not been released.
The summit also featured a list of 50 major Canadian projects involving transportation, energy, critical minerals, housing and digital infrastructure.
The two-day summit was hosted in partnership with CPP Investments and PSP Investments and brought together investors from nearly 30 countries.
