Prime Minister Carney announces the appointments of new Chair of the Board and CEO of Invest in Canada

OTTAWA, ON, Aug. 31, 2026 /CNW/ -- The world is changing rapidly. In response, Canada's new government is focused on what we can control: building a stronger, more resilient, more independent Canadian economy that is not reliant on any single trading partner. Central to this mission is our ambitious plan to catalyse $1 trillion in total investment in Canada over the next five years.

Invest in Canada is a key player in this mission – guiding investors from initial interest to shovels in the ground. To drive this mission, the Prime Minister, Mark Carney, today announced the appointment of Dominic Barton as Chair of the Board of Directors of Invest in Canada and Gurinder Grewal as Chief Executive Officer of Invest in Canada.

Mr. Barton brings extensive experience in global business, investment, and public service. He is the Chair of Rio Tinto and of LeapFrog Investments and spent more than 30 years at McKinsey & Company, including nine years as Global Managing Partner. He previously chaired Canada's Advisory Council on Economic Growth and served as Canada's Ambassador to China from 2019 to 2021.

Mr. Grewal has spent his career putting capital to work in the energy, industrials, infrastructure, and technology sectors. He is the Founder and Managing Partner of MEM Growth Partners and previously spent more than a decade at Advent International, where he was a Partner and Co-Head of Industrials, Infrastructure, and Energy.

Together, Mr. Barton and Mr. Grewal will lead Invest in Canada to catalyse billions of dollars of new investment in Canadian energy, critical minerals, artificial intelligence, and infrastructure. Working with provincial, territorial, Indigenous, and municipal partners – and in close coordination with the Major Projects Office – Invest in Canada will bring the world's largest investors to Canadian projects and guide them from initial interest to actual shovels in the ground.

In its new, more ambitious form, Invest in Canada will take on a more prominent role – working closely with the largest foreign investors to build a stronger, more independent, more resilient Canadian economy.

The Prime Minister thanked Karl Tabbakh for his service as Chair of the Board of Directors during his three-year term. Mr. Tabbakh helped guide Invest in Canada through a period of significant global disruption, as it strengthened its role in attracting and facilitating major investments, deepened collaboration with partners across every order of government, and expanded its support for global investors looking to invest and grow in Canada. In 2025, Canada was the G7 country with the highest FDI inflows per capita and the second-highest FDI outflows per capita. Mr. Tabbakh has agreed to remain on the Board of Directors of Invest in Canada beyond the expiry of his term to ensure continuity, support the leadership transition, and help oversee the implementation of the next phase of the organisation's journey.

Canada's new government is building a stronger, more independent, more resilient economy. Foreign direct investment (FDI) in Canada is at its highest level in two decades, running at twice the rate of our nearest G7 competitor. Invest in Canada will help build on this momentum – catalysing billions of investment into Canadian workers, businesses, and industries that will create hundreds of thousands of high-paying jobs for Canadians.

Quotes
"Canada has what the world wants. We're an energy superpower, with the most educated workforce in the world and rock-solid fiscal strength. As we look to capitalise on these strengths with new investors, Dominic Barton and Gurinder Grewal have the experience and ambition Canada needs. Under their leadership, Invest in Canada will catalyse billions in new investments into Canada to build a stronger, more independent, more resilient Canadian economy for all."
-- The Rt. Hon. Mark Carney, Prime Minister of Canada

"Canada has what the world needs – critical minerals, clean and conventional energy, and the skilled workforce to build major projects at scale. I know that Mr. Grewal and Mr. Barton will bring exactly the experience needed to build on Invest in Canada's strong foundation and attract global capital to the projects that will define Canada's economic future."
-- The Hon. Dominic LeBlanc, President of the King's Privy Council for Canada and Minister responsible for Canada-U.S. Trade, Intergovernmental Affairs, Internal Trade and One Canadian Economy

Quick facts

• Mr. Barton will hold the position of Chair of the Board of Directors of Invest in Canada on a part-time basis for a term of three years, and Mr. Grewal will hold the position of Chief Executive Officer on a full-time basis for a term of five years.
• Invest in Canada is Canada's FDI attraction and promotion agency, established under the Invest in Canada Act, which came into force in 2018. It recently moved under the responsibility of Minister LeBlanc to better align with Canada's efforts to build a stronger Canadian economy and work more closely with other organisations, including Canada's Major Projects Office.
• The stock of FDI in Canada reached $1.6 trillion at the end of 2025, a 6.9% increase over the previous year. FDI inflows totalled $96.8 billion in 2025 – the highest annual level since 2007.
• Over five years, the government's capital investments and incentives in support of third parties, totalling about $280 billion, are expected to enable more than $1 trillion in total investment from public, private, and institutional partners.
• In May 2026, Canada was ranked the world's most attractive market for infrastructure investment by the Global Infrastructure Investor Association.
• With 16 free trade agreements across 51 countries, Canada has preferential access to 1.5 billion consumers representing two thirds of global GDP.

Biographical notes

• Dominic Barton
• Gurinder Grewal

This document is also available at https://pm.gc.ca

SOURCE Prime Minister's Office

PMO Media Relations: [email protected]