Canada woos investors with dozens of projects

Canada is handing the world a Cheesecake Factory-thick menu with CAD$1 trillion of investment opportunities in projects across AI, natural resources and transportation. Prime Minister Mark Carney presented it yesterday to executives managing $120 trillion in assets, who gathered in Toronto for a summit aimed at courting capital for the country amid a trade war with the US.

The pitch deck

Aside from touting the nation’s trade ties, educated workers, vast natural resources, and low government debt, Canada is sweetening the deal with the investment version of maple syrup:

• Canada is expanding a tax rule allowing write-offs of depreciating assets immediately upon investment as opposed to over the years to apply to the majority of investments—lowering the tax rate from 13% to 6.4%, which is below most developed countries.
• The government simplified its notoriously byzantine project approval process.

What are some projects open to investment? A $10 billion AI data center and a $25 billion oil pipeline in Alberta, a synthetic graphite plant in Ontario that’ll supply battery makers, and a spaceport in Nova Scotia are among the planned ventures seeking cash.

Looking ahead…officials say the deals will take 12 to 18 months to materialize. Analysts note that to improve the country’s investment attractiveness, Canada’s government has to show how the enterprises can actually deliver returns.—SK