Seen & Heard at Canada’s Post-Investment Summit Luncheon

Canada’s first Investment Summit put the country’s ambitions on display. The question now is what follows.

On September 16, the Council of Canadian Innovators (CCI) and The Conference Board of Canada brought CEOs and investors together in Toronto for a candid discussion about what the summit could mean for Canadian competitiveness, capital formation and the companies trying to scale from here.

Hosted at the offices of Osler, the luncheon moved quickly past the announcements themselves. The focus was execution and whether the commitments made around the summit will change investment decisions, unlock capital and improve the conditions for building globally competitive companies in Canada.

Stephanie Levitz of The Globe and Mail moderated a discussion with John Ruffolo, Founder and Managing Partner of Maverix Private Equity; Hamid Arabzadeh, CEO of Ranovus; Lisa Raitt, Vice Chair of CIBC; and Justin Sadrian, Co-Head of Technology at Warburg Pincus.

The opening question was deliberately simple: what did investors and CEOs hear that mattered? Each panellist came at it from a different vantage point, but the conversation returned repeatedly to the same test. Investment announcements matter only if they change behaviour. Does capital become easier to deploy? Do companies have stronger reasons to build and expand here? Does Canada become a more compelling place to take risk?

That distinction between signalling and execution shaped much of the discussion. For high-growth companies, the issue is not simply whether more capital is available. It is whether Canada has the broader conditions that allow companies to absorb that capital and turn it into growth: customers, talent, competitive tax policy, regulatory certainty and access to global markets. For investors, the calculation is equally practical. Capital moves toward opportunity, but also toward jurisdictions where the rules, incentives and prospects for returns justify the commitment.

The panel also wrestled with an important tension in Canada’s investment agenda: attracting more international capital while ensuring Canada continues to create, finance and retain globally competitive companies of its own. Those goals are not mutually exclusive. But achieving both requires more than selling Canada as a destination for investment. It means making Canadian companies themselves more investible.

That brought the conversation to the role of Canadian institutional investors, private capital and business leaders alongside government. Public policy can improve the conditions for growth, but governments do not build globally competitive companies on their own. CEOs deploy capital, hire talent, enter markets and take risk. Investors decide which ambitions to back. Canada’s competitiveness depends on those decisions reinforcing one another.

The afternoon ended on the question that may matter most: a year from now, what evidence will tell us that this moment produced something durable?

“The Investment Summit demonstrated the depth of interest in Canada and the scale of the opportunity in front of us,” said Gillian Riley, President of The Conference Board of Canada. “The work now is converting that interest into investment, growth and stronger Canadian businesses.”

CCI Chief Executive Officer Patrick Searle said the value of the luncheon was bringing the people making those decisions into the same room.

"If Canada wants more investment, we need to make Canadian companies more investible,” said Searle. “That means competitive tax policy, strong conditions for growth, and giving investors a reason to make a long-term bet on Canadian firms. Attracting capital to Canada matters. Making sure it backs Canadian companies matters just as much."

The Investment Summit created much needed momentum for Canada. What matters now is whether Canada can convert that momentum into companies built here, capital deployed here and growth that stays here.

This event was generously supported by CIBC, CPA Ontario, Warburg Pincus and Osler.

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About the Council of Canadian Innovators (CCI)

The Council of Canadian Innovators (CCI) is Canada’s business council for the 21st century economy. We are a collective of over 175 of Canada’s fastest-growing and most ambitious companies, and the founders, CEOs, and executives behind them, working together to improve the business conditions that help more homegrown companies scale, compete globally, and drive long-term prosperity.