Two thirds of Canadian exports still head south as Ottawa hunts new buyers
Verheul, a PPF fellow, said Canada “cannot diversify by signing agreements and hoping commercial activity follows.”
In the report’s release, he called for the infrastructure, investment capacity, and commercial strategy needed to turn market access into exports, investment, and jobs.
Foreign direct investment into Canada rose to $100bn in 2025, its highest level in a decade, the PPF report notes, citing a recent RBC report that identifies oil and gas, metals and minerals, electricity, agriculture and food processing, defence, and space as the export-oriented sectors with the greatest growth opportunities.
The federal Canada Strong Fund carries a commitment to catalyze $1tn in new investment across Canada over the next five years, the report states, alongside an investment summit in Toronto on September 14 and 15.
Ottawa has set a goal of doubling non-US exports over the next decade by generating $300bn more in trade, per the report, which also points to a new Strategic Exports Office at Global Affairs Canada created to coordinate engagement across federal departments.
