TORONTO (AP) — Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney revealed Monday that his administration is establishing a state-controlled investment fund.
According to Carney, the fund will target significant Canadian industrial ventures across sectors including energy, infrastructure, mining, agriculture and technology. The initial funding will total 25 billion Canadian dollars, equivalent to approximately $18 billion USD.
The prime minister explained that federal resources will be combined with private sector investment. These combined funds will support major infrastructure initiatives that Carney’s administration prioritizes as Canada works to reduce economic reliance on the United States.
President Donald Trump has issued economic threats against Canada through proposed tariffs and has made provocative statements suggesting Canada could become “the 51st state.”
Carney previously served as central bank leader in both England and Canada and held the position of board chair at Bloomberg.
“We take a lesson other jurisdictions that had the foresight many decades ago to start sovereign wealth funds,” Carney stated. “In some cases they began with a domestic focus then outgrew the scale of the domestic focus.”
These government investment vehicles typically purchase assets including stocks, bonds and real estate properties. Such funds usually draw from national budget surpluses, though Canada currently operates with a deficit. The announcement precedes Tuesday’s scheduled release of the Carney government’s spring economic update.
More than 90 sovereign wealth funds operate globally, controlling over $8 trillion in combined assets, data from The International Forum of Sovereign Wealth Funds shows. This London-headquartered organization represents approximately 50 such entities.
Trump established a similar U.S. sovereign wealth fund last year. Within America, more than 20 state-level sovereign wealth funds currently operate, research from the Center for Global Development indicates. The Washington-based nonpartisan organization conducted this analysis.
