BMO and Sun Life Financial have put a combined $75 billion behind Canadian infrastructure and strategic industries, adding private financing capacity to a federal investment push spanning pipelines, electricity, artificial intelligence, defence, critical minerals, and transportation.
The commitments are not equivalent investments. BMO said Friday it intends to mobilize up to $70 billion over 10 years, with the capital expected to come through bank financing, debt capital markets activity, and public equity raising. Its eligible sectors include electricity generation and transmission, pipelines, roads, airports, terminals, mining, critical minerals, AI computing, defence and security, and oil and gas.
The bank said its estimate incorporates expected demand from projects proposed to Canada’s Major Projects Office, the planned National Electricity Strategy, Canadian sovereign AI initiatives, defence spending, and energy projects linked to federal and provincial initiatives.
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Sun Life separately announced a $5 billion, five-year Canadian infrastructure initiative targeting digital technology, energy, transportation, and logistics. The insurer said $1.5 billion is intended for Canadian infrastructure equity managed through SLC Management and InfraRed Capital Partners, dependent on amendments to federal insurance legislation allowing the contemplated equity investments.
The announcements arrive days before Prime Minister Mark Carney’s first Canada Investment Summit, scheduled for September 14 and 15 in Toronto. Ottawa has set a goal of catalyzing $1 trillion of total investment over five years, with the summit built around attracting long-duration capital into productive Canadian assets.
The private commitments have begun accumulating ahead of the event. Power Sustainable, a subsidiary of Power Corporation of Canada, announced Thursday that it plans to invest and mobilize more than $10 billion over five years across Canadian infrastructure, credit, clean energy, industrial businesses, and agri-food.
Taken together, the three announcements represent more than $85 billion of planned investment and capital mobilization disclosed within two days, although the figures include financing raised from outside investors.
