OTTAWA — Quebec is making its pitch to some of the world’s biggest investors, arguing its clean energy, manufacturing base and critical minerals put the province at the heart of Canada’s push to attract more private capital. Finance Minister Eric Girard says “Quebec is at the centre of the transformation of the Canadian economy” as he represents the province at the Canada Investment Summit in Toronto. “We have a significant manufacturing sector. We have clean energy, we have expertise in defence. We have critical and strategic minerals,” Girard said in a phone interview with The Canadian Press. The summit has brought together hundreds of business leaders, financial institutions, governments, project proponents and foreign investors. Girard, who arrived in Toronto on Monday, said the international investors attending are the key part of the gathering. “Here, you have representatives of private companies, financial intermediaries, major financial institutions, governments and project proponents, but the key element is the foreign investors who come here to study these projects,” he said. Girard says Canada and Quebec face a shortfall in private investment — a problem he said predates both the current trade war and Donald Trump’s return to the White House. Investors attending the federally organized summit include BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, and will be presented with a range of Canadian and Quebec projects. Girard said many of those projects require billions of dollars in investment. “What these projects all have in common is that they are capital-intensive — they require a lot of capital — and there is also a lot of uncertainty about prices at the time these projects will be carried out,” he said. Girard said the Quebec government is prepared to put public money into projects to help get them started, but its involvement should remain limited. That makes private and foreign investment essential, he added, so private capital bears most of the risk on projects that are important to Quebec’s economy. Major companies and institutions with a presence in Quebec are represented at the summit, including Bombardier, Desjardins and Rio Tinto. Hydro-Québec CEO Claudine Bouchard and La Caisse president and CEO Charles Emond are also on the participant list, along with Rio Tinto chair and former Canadian ambassador to China Dominic Barton. Girard said the gathering is unprecedented in its ability to bring together so many major international investors. But he cautioned that its success won’t be known immediately, saying it could take two years to determine whether the summit ultimately delivers results. --- Émilie Bergeron, The Canadian Press This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 15, 2026.
