Carney sells Canada to global investors but says US ties still key

Prime Minister Mark Carney pitched Canada as an investment haven on Tuesday at a gathering of global financial elite but conceded ties with the US remained crucial despite an escalating trade war.

Carney convened the Canada Investment Summit as part of his push to diversify an economy he insists had grown too reliant on an increasingly protectionist US.

The guest list for the event in Toronto included representatives of Gulf sovereign wealth funds, European banks, the China Investment Corporation, as well as Africa’s richest man, Nigerian tycoon Aliko Dangote, along with US investors.

“Our goal is to catalyse C$1 trillion (US$720 billion) of investment in Canada over the next five years,” Carney told the event, promising tax deductions and less red tape to make the country more attractive to foreign capital.