Carney opens four largest airports to private capital and cuts the tax rate on new business investment to 6.4%
The first Canada Investment Summit closed in Toronto on the evening of September with nearly $500bn in new investment commitments, according to the Prime Minister's Office.
Canada's top banks accounted for roughly $325bn of that figure, and pension funds, insurers and institutional investors for close to $100bn.
Prime Minister Mark Carney used the main day of the two-day event to announce the Productivity Mega Deduction, expanding immediate expensing from roughly 15 percent of asset categories to more than 65 percent.
Eligible assets now include fibre-optic cable, mining property, oil and gas pipelines, software, research and development, computer equipment, aircraft and vehicles, patents, rail track, bridges and roads.
Immediate expensing becomes permanent.
Canada's marginal effective tax rate on new business investment will fall from roughly 13 percent to 6.4 percent, less than half the rate in the United States.
The Canadian Press reported a government backgrounder put the fiscal cost at $36bn over five years starting this year.
Carney also announced that Canada will seek private investment through long-term concessions to operate Toronto Pearson, Vancouver International, Montreal Pierre Elliott Trudeau International and Calgary International airports.
The federal government retains ownership of the underlying land and assets, with proceeds, expected in the tens of billions of dollars, directed to regional airports, local transportation infrastructure and a sovereign broadband backbone.
"Canadian pension funds already invest successfully in many airports around the world. It is time to bring that same expertise home to more directly benefit all Canadians," Carney said, as reported by Financial Post.
Two asset managers told Reuters on the sidelines that they would be interested in investing in airports.
Canadian labour groups have said they oppose privatization on the grounds it would raise costs for travellers.
John Graham, chief executive of CPP Investments in Toronto, told the summit his fund invests in more than 50 countries and is not obliged to invest domestically.
Its mandate is to maximize long-term returns for more than 22 million Canadians without undue risk, he said in prepared remarks distributed by CPP Investments.
The fund invests in Canada only when an opportunity earns its place on a risk-return basis, Graham said.
He called the summit a working session, not a "victory lap," Financial Post reported.
Larry Fink, chief executive of BlackRock, said his firm has historically had difficulty finding Canadian investment opportunities.
"I do believe what has been announced the last two days is going to be opening up the opportunities to bring forth more capital to Canada," he said, as reported by Financial Post, referring to the airport announcement.
Dilhan Pillay Sandrasegara, chief executive of Singapore's Temasek Holdings, said his fund would pursue direct Canadian investments only alongside a domestic institutional partner.
"I don't see us competing with Canadian capital in Canada," he said, Financial Post reported.
Former prime minister Stephen Harper delivered the closing keynote on Tuesday evening.
He said the current US administration views Canada's level of economic integration as incompatible with separate sovereignty, and that Canada must pursue diminished reliance on the United States.
"I do find this all very sad, just as equally necessary," he said, as reported by Financial Post.
Harper is chairman of Alberta Investment Management Corporation and co-founder of Vision-One Management.
He said he hopes the conference becomes a regular event, The Globe and Mail reported.
Charles St-Arnaud, chief economist at Servus Credit Union, said in a note reported by Financial Post that the $1tn five-year target "will not be enough," estimating a minimum requirement of $180bn to $200bn per year simply to stop Canada falling further behind other OECD countries.
Narrowing the gap would require $400bn to $450bn per year over the next decade.
Financial Post reported that all of the nearly $500bn appears to come from domestic sources, with no major commitment announced by an international fund in attendance.
Hundreds of demonstrators, including Indigenous leaders, labour unions and climate advocates, marched in downtown Toronto during the opening gala at the Art Gallery of Ontario on Monday evening, Reuters reported.
