Ontario Construction News staff writer
The federal government is bringing investors and business leaders together in Toronto this month as it tries to attract $1 trillion in investment over the next five years, with major construction projects expected to be a key part of the push.
The first Canada Investment Summit will be held Sept. 14 and 15. The government says it wants to connect investors with projects involving infrastructure, defence, energy, critical minerals and advanced manufacturing.
The $1 trillion figure represents the total investment the government hopes to generate from public and private sources. Ottawa says about $280 billion in federal investments and incentives could help attract the additional money.
For Ontario’s construction industry, the most important question will be how quickly that money translates into projects that can be designed, tendered and built.
The federal government’s Major Projects Office now lists 27 major projects and initiatives worth more than $192 billion in potential investment.
The projects cover areas including energy, critical minerals, transportation and other infrastructure.
The Major Projects Office was established to help move large projects through government approvals and toward construction.
Defence is another area expected to generate significant construction work.
The federal government has committed more than $81 billion over five years to defence, including $6.6 billion for its Defence Industrial Strategy.
The strategy is intended to increase Canada’s ability to produce defence equipment and supplies at home.
That could mean new or expanded factories, warehouses, research facilities, testing sites and other buildings, in addition to work at military bases.
The government says there are already about $8 billion in active defence infrastructure contracts through Defence Construction Canada.
The federal defence strategy also calls for Canada to build more of its own capabilities, work with allies where necessary and buy equipment from other countries when required.
The government says the defence buildup could create as many as 125,000 jobs over the next decade and significantly increase the size of Canada’s defence industry.
The investment summit will be followed by another event aimed at moving major projects forward.
Borden Ladner Gervais, PwC Canada and the Ontario Vehicle Innovation Network are hosting the Canada Investment Leadership Forum in Toronto on Sept. 15.
The forum will bring together business leaders and investors to discuss projects in areas including defence, energy, automotive manufacturing, artificial intelligence and infrastructure.
The focus will be on how to get projects financed, approved and ready to build.
The federal summit is being hosted in partnership with CPP Investments and PSP Investments, two of Canada’s largest pension investors.
Prime Minister Mark Carney announced the summit in April, saying Canada needs to attract more investment to strengthen the economy and build major infrastructure.
For contractors and other construction companies, the potential opportunity is significant.
But the $1 trillion target is not a construction spending commitment. Much of the work will depend on whether individual projects secure financing, approvals and contracts.
The coming months could provide a clearer indication of which projects are ready to move from government announcements to actual construction.
