HALIFAX — Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne says there has been a surge of interest in Canada from foreign pension funds and other investors who increasingly view the country as a stable destination amid the trade disputes and kinetic wars rocking global markets.

“Most of them would tell me they’re underweighted in Canada,” Champagne said of international investors at the Canadian Venture Capital and Private Equity Association’s (CVCA) annual conference in Halifax on Thursday. “The world is craving what Canada has to offer.”

As tariffs, geopolitical tensions and supply-chain disruptions reshape global markets, Champagne said investors are looking for markets that offer political stability, rule of law and predictable institutions. As a result, he said he has never seen global investors as interested in Canada as they are right now.

Attracting capital into Canada is a key piece of the federal government’s economic strategy, targeting $1 trillion in new investment over the next five years. To that end, it’s introduced initiatives, such as the proposed Canada Strong Fund—a $25-billion sovereign wealth vehicle intended to help finance major domestic projects—as tools to draw more money into the country.

Ottawa is also preparing to host 100 of the world’s top investors and business leaders at a summit in Toronto this fall, at which it will pitch them on Canadian companies and projects in sectors such as AI, critical minerals, energy and infrastructure. Prime Minister Mark Carney was in New York Thursday promoting Canada as an investment hub to entrepreneurs, business, CEOs and money managers. 

The challenge goes beyond attracting the money, Champagne said, to figuring out how to deploy it quickly and effectively to help the next generation of Canadian startups grow into globally competitive companies. “What we need is speed and scale,” he said. 

In an onstage discussion with Champagne, CVCA president Benjamin Bergen pointed to long-standing concerns that Canada remains relatively strong at financing startups in their earliest stages, but still struggles to support companies as they scale. That gap, Bergen argued, has often left later-stage firms reliant on U.S. investors, increasing the likelihood they move operations or ownership abroad.

Champagne said one obstacle was structural. Large institutional investors, including Canada’s Maple 8 pension funds, often operate at a scale that makes it difficult to invest directly in startups and scaleups, which typically raise rounds that are too small to be useful to such large institutions, said Champagne. “[We need] to connect smaller players with bigger funds,” he said. 

Champagne argued that the government’s role here is to help derisk investments that large institutional backers might otherwise overlook. He pointed to the fund-of-funds model—where large investors back venture capital funds that invest the money on their behalf—as one possible bridge between institutional capital and startups. Ottawa is currently in the process of designing the next iteration of its flagship venture capital program, called the Venture and Growth Capital Catalyst Initiative. The government committed $1 billion for the VC fund-of-funds program, plus $750 million for “early-growth” capital. 

Exactly how to use that $750 million has been a topic of debate among investment groups who disagree over what funding gaps need filling. Champagne said the capital is intended for “early-stage” companies—a broad description that can mean anything from angel cheques worth thousands of dollars to Series B deals in the tens of millions.