Picture a room in Toronto packed with 250 bank chiefs and pension fund managers who together control roughly $120 trillion.
The scene played out at the first Canada Investment Summit, as Prime Minister Mark Carney outlined a five-year $1 trillion capital investment plan. By the time the event wrapped up on September 15, Ottawa said commitments were already nearing $500 billion.
Most of that money came from Canadian banks and pension funds. Still, the sectors on stage tell investors where Ottawa wants global money to flow next: energy, critical minerals, artificial intelligence infrastructure, and defence.
For anyone building a portfolio of Canadian stocks, that map is useful. Here are three top TSX stocks sitting directly in that path, along with the risks worth knowing before buying in.
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Why top TSX stocks are tied to this summit
Nuclear power, AI data centers, and military spending require billions of dollars in capital spending at scale. These projects need years of financing, permitting, and construction.
Bell announced a $52.5 billion expansion of its Saskatchewan AI hub, one of the biggest announcements. CIBC pledged $2 billion for defence and dual-use businesses, and the Business Development Bank of Canada committed $700 million to a defence platform.
Cameco: A Canadian stock riding the nuclear revival
Cameco (TSX: CCO) is an easy way to gain exposure to nuclear energy. CEO Tim Gitzel appeared on a summit panel and pointed to Ontario’s plan to add 14 gigawatts of nuclear capacity, according to CKOM. He also welcomed a new federal tax deduction that he said benefits Cameco’s northern Saskatchewan projects.
Cameco expects to deliver more than 28 million pounds of uranium annually under contract for the next five years, and it owns a sizable portion of Westinghouse, which is preparing an initial public offering.
Long-term contract prices sit in the mid-$90s per pound and are creeping toward triple digits.
That said, second-quarter adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization) of $391 million came in below estimates, partly because Westinghouse contributed less than expected.
Celestica is powering the AI buildout
Celestica (TSX: CLS) was not part of the summit’s headline announcements, but it builds the hardware that AI data centres run on. Second quarter revenue jumped 62% to US$4.70 billion, and adjusted earnings per share nearly doubled to US$2.54.
CEO Rob Mionis raised the full-year outlook and told analysts that Celestica is now working with OpenAI and Broadcom on custom AI accelerator hardware, with production ramping through 2027.
He said demand visibility now stretches years into the future because customers are locking in orders that far ahead.
However, three customers made up nearly two-thirds of second-quarter revenue, and the stock has swung wildly, trading between roughly $315 and $655 over the past year. An investor day on October 27 should offer more clarity on long-term targets.
CAE is a top TSX stock in the defence sector
Canada hit NATO’s 2% of GDP defence spending target this year and has committed to 5% by 2035. CAE (TSX: CAE) could sit at the centre of that shift.
Defence revenue climbed 8.3% to $531.8 million in its fiscal first quarter, and the company’s defence backlog now stands at $10.7 billion.
CAE CEO Matthew Bromberg summed up the moment simply on the company’s August earnings call: “Fiscal 2027 is both an execution year and a reset year.” CAE is running a cost-cutting transformation plan even as it signs new partnerships with Leonardo, Saab, and TKMS on Canada’s submarine program.
Civil aviation margins fell to 16.5% from 20.2%, largely due to Middle East disruptions, and net debt sits at 2.27 times adjusted EBITDA.
The Foolish takeaway
Each of these three Canadian stocks carries its own risk: Cameco’s valuation and production hiccups, Celestica’s customer concentration, and CAE’s debt load and civil aviation weakness.
Even so, nuclear energy, AI infrastructure, and defence are multi-year themes with strong government support.
