Canada just spent two days pitching itself to investors controlling more than $100 trillion. Yet it didn’t exactly leave with empty shopping carts.
The Canada Investment Summit produced nearly $500 billion in investment and financing commitments, spanning artificial intelligence (AI), energy, infrastructure, critical minerals, and defence. That said, the more interesting takeaway wasn’t one enormous number.
BlackRock Chief Executive Officer Larry Fink argued that ordinary Canadians should be able to “grow with Canada” and invest alongside this buildout. Blackstone President Jon Gray described Canada as something of a “sleeping giant economically.”
Prime Minister Mark Carney, meanwhile, offered investors a new standard for getting projects built: “One project. One review. One year.” So where would I actually invest? These three TSX stocks stand out.
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Canada wants more mines, AI data centres, factories and electric transportation. Unfortunately, plugging all of that into yesterday’s electricity grid would be next to impossible. Carney wants Canada to double its electricity grid. That’s why Hydro One (TSX: H) looks interesting.
It operates roughly 30,000 circuit kilometres of high-voltage transmission lines across Ontario. As electricity demand grows, Hydro One can invest in additional regulated infrastructure and potentially grow the rate base upon which it earns returns.
Shares recently traded around $52 with a roughly 2.7% dividend yield. The catch is valuation. Hydro One trades near 22 times forward earnings, which isn’t cheap for a regulated utility. Still, investors don’t need to guess whether AI, mining, or manufacturing wins. These all need electricity.
MDA
Defence was another major summit theme. CAE Chief Executive Officer Matthew Bromberg called current spending plans a “once-in-a-generation increase in defence spending” and argued that “trust and technology is what Canada brings to the future of defence.”
That makes MDA Space (TSX: MDA) one of my favourite growth plays. MDA builds satellite systems, robotics, and geo intelligence technology. Those technologies increasingly overlap with defence, Arctic surveillance, and secure communications.
Second-quarter revenue jumped about 34% year over year, while backlog finished at roughly $4 billion. Shares recently traded around $42, about 38% below their 52-week high. At roughly 28 times forward earnings, MDA isn’t cheap, and government contracts can move slowly. Still, Canada plans a huge increase in defence investment. MDA already has the technology governments increasingly need.
LNR
Not every summit opportunity requires waiting for Ottawa to approve something. Linamar (TSX: LNR) Executive Chair Linda Hasenfratz told the summit that the company’s Canadian factories are its “most productive in the world.” Even better, she said: “We have won record levels of new business in the last 12 months.”
That makes Linamar my value pick. The manufacturer supplies highly engineered products across automotive, agriculture, and industrial markets. Second-quarter sales rose 18.8% to a record $3.1 billion, while the company generated $236.5 million in free cash flow. Yet Linamar recently traded for only about 8.3 times forward earnings.
Tariffs, auto demand, and shifting electric-vehicle trends remain real risks. Yet Linamar has deliberately built flexible manufacturing operations that can adjust as customer demand changes. That’s exactly what I’d want during an investment cycle this unpredictable.
Bottom line
Investors don’t need to buy every company mentioned at the summit. Nearly $500 billion of commitments won’t arrive simultaneously, and plenty of announced projects will take years. I’d focus instead on businesses already earning money from the trends Canada wants to accelerate.
Hydro One provides the wires. MDA provides strategic technology. Linamar provides the factories. Canada may be promising a building boom. But these three don’t need to wait for the ribbon-cutting ceremony.
