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By Dr. You-Zhi Tang | 2026-9-21
PM Mark Carney has been receiving plenty of applause lately. From international leaders to global investors, Canada appears to be attracting renewed attention. The recent Canada Investment Summit in Toronto brought together investors from nearly 30 countries representing more than $100 trillion in assets under management. The government says the summit generated or highlighted nearly $500 billion in investment and financing commitments, while setting an ambition to mobilize $1 trillion in investment over the next five years.
For a country that has struggled with weak productivity growth, underinvestment and painfully slow major-project development, this renewed confidence is good news. However, this may also be the moment when Carney needs to be most careful, simply because applause can build confidence but it cannot substitute for results.
Carney has already helped change Canada’s economic conversation. Investment, infrastructure, energy, productivity and national competitiveness are once again at the centre of public policy. His “build, build, build” message resonates because it addresses a long-standing Canadian frustration: We have abundant resources, capital, talent and strong institutions, yet often struggle to turn good ideas into completed projects.
The real test, however, is only beginning.
First, investment commitments must become actual investment. Announcements, financing capacity and expressions of interest are not the same as mines opened, transmission lines built, factories expanded or technologies commercialized.
Second, Canada needs not simply an investment boom, but a productivity boom. Capital flowing mainly into existing assets can increase valuations without substantially increasing productive capacity. Investment in energy, transportation, advanced manufacturing, AI, automation, R&D and critical infrastructure can have a very different economic impact.
Third, Canada must become better at execution. “One project, one review, one year” is an attractive objective, but Canada’s delays involve multiple levels of government, regulatory processes, Indigenous consultation, infrastructure constraints and sometimes lengthy legal proceedings. Changing slogans is easier than changing systems.
Fiscal discipline matters too. Government should help remove barriers and provide essential infrastructure, but it should be cautious about turning nation-building into a competition in subsidies. Successful investment ultimately has to create sustainable economic value.
Most importantly, ordinary Canadians must eventually feel the difference. Investors can look at tax rates, businesses can look at capital returns, and governments can publish GDP and investment amounts, but the real concern for ordinary families is still wages, housing, food, taxes, healthcare, transportation, and whether the next generation has better opportunities. If Canada attracts a large amount of capital in a few years but per capita real income does not improve significantly; If GDP grows but productivity and living standards remain stagnant, then grand investment strategies will struggle to sustain social support in the long term.
The logic chain is straightforward:
Capital → Investment → Construction → Productive Capacity → Productivity → Income → Living Standards.
If that chain works, today’s optimism may mark the beginning of an important Canadian economic renewal. If it breaks somewhere along the way, today’s applause will eventually fade.
Carney’s financial expertise, international credibility and ability to communicate with global capital are genuine assets. But leaders surrounded by success or applause also face a particular danger: hearing increasingly from people who agree with them. Canada should welcome the renewed confidence; Carney should welcome the applause; But perhaps the most important voices for any successful leader are those that applause can easily drown out.
Hearing the applause is easy. Hearing what lies beyond the applause is wisdom.
