Picture a room full of bank chairs, pension fund executives, and infrastructure builders, all gathered in Toronto because the prime minister asked them to show up with checkbooks.
That is essentially what happened on September 15 at Mark Carney’s first Canada Investment Summit. By the end of the day, nearly $500 billion in commitments had been announced, according to the prime minister’s office.
The number is big enough to make headlines. But the more useful question for investors is narrower: which parts of the economy will see that money land first, and which Canadian stocks sit closest to the flow.
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Why Canadian stocks have a front-row seat
Pension funds pledged about $100 billion, and the big banks committed roughly $325 billion, largely in lending capacity.
Bell Canada and Saskatchewan announced a $52.5 billion expansion of an artificial intelligence infrastructure hub. CPP Investments and Brookfield Asset Management (TSX: BAM) launched a $50 billion vehicle called the Maple Fund, aimed at large-scale infrastructure and strategic industry projects across the country.
Ottawa also introduced a new tax deduction that drops the marginal effective tax rate on new business investment from 13% to 6.4%, designed to pull more private capital off the sidelines.
Experts quoted by BNN Bloomberg and Canadian Affairs have flagged potential hurdles, including labor shortages, community and Indigenous consultation, and slow approval timelines.
Top TSX Stocks set to benefit from the investment push
Brookfield Asset Management and Scotiabank (TSX: BNS) are two top TSX stocks to watch in September 2026.
Brookfield is the counterparty on the Maple Fund itself, with CPP Investments and Brookfield each committing up to $25 billion in equity over five years.
The fee structure has not been disclosed, so it is too early to size up what that fund is worth to shareholders. But it adds to a business that is already raising capital at a record pace.
In the second quarter, Brookfield reported capital raised of US$77 billion and fee-related earnings of US$808 million, up 20% year over year. Fee-bearing capital reached US$672 billion, up 19%.
Because Brookfield earns fees managing other people’s money rather than owning every project outright, more infrastructure spending across Canada can flow through to shareholders without loading up the balance sheet with project risk.
Scotiabank is the lender in this story. The bank committed more than $100 billion in financing, underwriting, and investment over five years to projects tied to Ottawa’s Major Projects Office and to high-growth areas such as artificial intelligence.
Speaking at a Barclays conference just a day before the summit, Aris Bogdaneris, Scotiabank’s Group Head of Canadian Banking, connected the dots himself.
“The investment summit this week by our prime minister is a very important one for Canada in terms of gathering the interest around investment,” Bogdaneris told the conference. “We’re seeing actually the strongest pipeline, deal pipeline we’ve seen in a long time in our commercial business.”
In fiscal Q3 of 2026 (ended in July), BNS grew adjusted earnings per share by 21% year over year to $2.28. Its Global Banking and Markets earnings rose 37% to $647 million on record underwriting and advisory fees, precisely the business line that benefits when large projects need financing.
The Foolish takeaway
Neither stock is a screaming buy right now. Brookfield trades at around 23 times forward earnings and pays a quarterly dividend of US$0.5025 per share, a yield near 4%.
Scotiabank is cheaper at roughly 14 times forward earnings, pays $4.56 per share annually for a yield around 3.5%, and carries a “Hold” consensus rating from analysts.
Investors should also remember that Scotiabank booked $1.08 billion in provisions for credit losses last quarter, a reminder that lending always carries risk.
The real story will unfold over years, as projects are yet to clear approvals. Investors who build positions gradually in the companies financing and managing that build-out are better positioned for the long run.
