{"id":892696,"date":"2026-09-12T06:40:17","date_gmt":"2026-09-12T06:40:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/892696\/"},"modified":"2026-09-12T06:40:17","modified_gmt":"2026-09-12T06:40:17","slug":"canadas-banks-pension-funds-earmark-billions-for-investment-in-critical-sectors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/892696\/","title":{"rendered":"Canada\u2019s banks, pension funds earmark billions for investment in critical sectors"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Bank of Montreal says it will deploy up to $70-billion over 10 years, with a focus on key industries, including energy and transportation infrastructure, critical minerals, AI, defence and security, and oil and gas.Spencer Colby\/The Canadian Press<\/p>\n

Several of Canada\u2019s largest banks and pension funds are pledging billions of dollars in new investment and financing in the country ahead of a major summit next week led by Prime Minister Mark Carney.<\/p>\n

Bank of Montreal said Friday that it will deploy up to $70-billion in new capital over 10 years for sectors considered critical to Canada\u2019s economy. The bank said its plan is aimed at supporting Canada\u2019s economic security and resilience. <\/p>\n

BMO will focus on key industries, including electricity, energy and transportation infrastructure, mining and critical minerals, AI computing, defence and security, and oil and gas. The capital will be issued through bank financing, debt capital markets activity and the raising of public equity. <\/p>\n

The bank\u2019s chief executive officer, Darryl White, said foreign investors are most interested in projects that they can get involved in quickly and will offer the best returns. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s very important that we\u2019ve turned the tone in Canada to a build-first and an open-for-business-first tone, which is very inviting to the rest of the world,\u201d Mr. White said in an interview. \u201cAnd you\u2019re seeing it now in the [foreign direct investment] that\u2019s turning our way.\u201d <\/p>\n

Early next week, hundreds of the world\u2019s top financial-sector CEOs and senior executives will gather in Toronto for the inaugural Canada Investment Summit<\/a>. Mr. Carney and two Canadian pension funds are staging the event as part of a push to attract more foreign investment to the country. <\/p>\n

Over the past year, there have been persistent calls for Canada\u2019s six biggest banks to increase lending for small- and medium-sized business, and for pension funds to add to their investments in the country. <\/p>\n

Opinion: Investment summit will test Carney\u2019s Persian Gulf trade strategy<\/a><\/p>\n

Major Canadian pension funds have signalled a desire to do more domestically, but also emphasized their mandates to invest wherever they can get the best returns for plan members with the least risk.<\/p>\n

Ontario Teachers\u2019 Pension Plan announced Friday that it aims to invest an additional $10-billion in Canada by the end of 2027, increasing the size of its $100-billion domestic portfolio. <\/p>\n

The $303-billion pension fund said the new investments will be in both publicly traded equities and private assets that \u201cmeet its return objectives.\u201d That could include capital to help Canadian companies grow as well as backing for infrastructure projects. <\/p>\n

Teachers CEO Jo Taylor said the plan has already added about $1.5-billion of assets in Canada to its portfolio over the past few months.<\/p>\n

International investors attending the summit in Toronto are looking to gauge \u201cthe level of optimism and conviction that exists around local investors,\u201d Mr. Taylor said in an interview. \u201cAnd I think it is an appropriate time for Teachers to actually try and articulate in a clear way how we see that ambition.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe do intend to keep on investing proactively in in Canada,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Earlier this week, the $321-billion Public Sector Pension Investment Board said it is aiming to increase its investments in the country by roughly one-third, from $72.4-billion to $100-billion, over the next few years. <\/p>\n

In April, the $152-billion Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System (OMERS) was the first major Canadian pension investor to say it would add at least $10-billion<\/a> in new domestic investments over the next five years. <\/p>\n

Prospectus for Carney\u2019s summit highlights more than 160 projects open for investment<\/a><\/p>\n

Sun Life Financial Inc. also announced an infrastructure investing initiative Friday that seeks to deploy $5-billion over five years to \u201csupport Canada\u2019s economic growth and resilience, while delivering long-term returns,\u201d the company said in a statement. <\/p>\n

The initiative plans to focus on critical infrastructure including digital technology, energy, transportation and logistics. <\/p>\n

\u201cAt its core, the commitment we are announcing today underscores our belief that a stronger, more competitive Canada benefits everyone,\u201d Sun Life CEO Kevin Strain said in a statement. <\/p>\n

Earlier this month, Royal Bank of Canada announced it is launching a $1.4-billion fund<\/a> aimed at investing in Canadian technology companies, including aerospace and dual-use defence companies, whose products also have non-defence applications. <\/p>\n

Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce is committing $2-billion<\/a> over five years for small- and medium-sized defence-related and dual-use businesses as Ottawa spends to boost the country\u2019s military base. And Bank of Nova Scotia has announced it is planning to issue Canadian defence bonds<\/a> to help raise capital for companies.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: Bank of Montreal says it will deploy up to $70-billion over 10 years,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":892697,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[901,888,902,879,877,903,45,49,48,876,895,896,891,878,875,46,549,295,894,887,914,880,881,893,889,890,884,904,885,909,910,912,907,911,905,908,882,898,899,714,897,906,865,61,900,892,886,883,913],"class_list":["post-892696","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-alberta","tag-arts-news","tag-bc","tag-breaking-news","tag-breaking-news-video","tag-british-columbia","tag-business","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-canada-news","tag-canada-sports","tag-canada-sports-news","tag-canada-trafficcanada-weather","tag-canadian-breaking-news","tag-canadian-news","tag-economy","tag-education","tag-environment","tag-federal-government","tag-foreign-news","tag-globe-and-mail","tag-globe-and-mail-breaking-news","tag-globe-and-mail-canada-news","tag-government","tag-life-news","tag-lifestyle","tag-local-news","tag-manitoba","tag-national-news","tag-new-brunswick","tag-newfoundland-and-labrador","tag-northwest-territories","tag-nova-scotia","tag-nunavut","tag-ontario","tag-pei","tag-photos","tag-political-news","tag-political-opinion","tag-politics","tag-politics-news","tag-quebec","tag-sports-news","tag-technology","tag-travel","tag-trudeau","tag-us-news","tag-world-news","tag-yukon"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/892696","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=892696"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/892696\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/892697"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=892696"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=892696"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=892696"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}