Barton tasked with boosting foreign investment in Canada
Dominic Barton intends to smooth the path for deal-making in Canada, a role he accepted after Prime Minister Mark Carney gave him a “bold and clear” mandate to “get it.” Barton, the new chair of the federal investment promotion agency Invest in Canada, said the government wants to catalyze $1 trillion in investment over five years. The veteran executive believes Ottawa must move beyond simple promotion to become a practical “one-stop shop” for foreign investors.
Avoiding the black hole
Invest in Canada does not approve projects, but Barton said he acts as a guide to help investors handle bureaucratic hurdles. The agency aims to remove obstacles like environmental assessments, consultations with First Nations, and slow-moving government processes. Barton described government decision-making as a “black hole” that causes frustration. He noted that Prime Minister Carney generates excitement for major projects, but investors still face lengthy timelines.
Barton will serve as part-time chair of Invest in Canada for a three-year term while leading the board of global mining giant Rio Tinto. He confirmed that a conflict-of-interest screen directs mining matters to other staff at the agency. The government’s internal analysis, obtained through the Access to Information Act, warned of conflicting priorities and disparate performance measures among departments that slow approvals. Barton said the goal is to create a “seamless investor experience” across all federal touchpoints.
During the Canada Investment Summit in Toronto, global leaders and investors gathered under one roof. Barton noted that investors clocked the presence of provincial premiers and seized the chance to ask questions about consultations with Indigenous communities. He said the summit showed that Canada understood the need to speed up project approvals. “Canada actually gets it. The time matters,” Barton said.
Even with duty-free access to the U.S. market, investors are looking at Canada independently of trade negotiations. Barton said he heard some saying there is an opportunity here regardless of what happens with the North American trade pact. RBC launched a $1.4-billion growth fund days before the summit, and Barton noted that foreign investors who had not heard of it until it was mentioned in Toronto are now actively discussing it.
Some of the summit’s momentum has continued on the road. Barton has taken the pitch book to Seoul and Shanghai, and then to London, where he met with investors from Europe and the Middle East who could not attend the main event. Still, Barton emphasized that activity does not equal impact. He hopes deals will begin coming together soon, noting that “we’ve got to get the things signed up.”
Ensuring long-term growth
The federal government set up the agency in 2018 as a single focal point for promoting and attracting foreign direct investment (FDI). It was also meant to make it easier for investors to turn their interest into reality. Barton said the new leadership team at the agency, which includes equity investor Gurinder Grewal as CEO, is tasked with moving beyond promotion to serve as a “one-stop shop” for investors needing help working through the process.
Barton said he heard at the Canada Investment Summit in Toronto last month that duty-free access to the U.S. market is an “upside” to investing here, but not a condition. By “it,” Barton means money. A lot of money. In an interview, the veteran corporate executive said Invest in Canada is tasked with supporting Ottawa’s efforts to “catalyze” $1 trillion of investment over five years—by making the process as smooth as possible for foreign investors. He mentioned that as just one example of the benefits of gathering global leaders and investors controlling $120 trillion in one place.
