{"id":80602,"date":"2026-06-09T11:16:08","date_gmt":"2026-06-09T11:16:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/80602\/"},"modified":"2026-06-09T11:16:08","modified_gmt":"2026-06-09T11:16:08","slug":"diversifying-trade-requires-banks-to-take-bigger-risks-official-advised-carney-before-cibc-meeting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/80602\/","title":{"rendered":"Diversifying trade requires banks to take bigger risks, official advised Carney before CIBC meeting"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>OTTAWA \u2014 Before Prime Minister Mark Carney headed into his first meeting with the new chief executive of CIBC last year, a senior official briefed him on how major lenders can help spur economic growth and reduce Canada\u2019s reliance on the United States.<\/p>\n<p>A key point in the backgrounder: Supporting Canada\u2019s push to diversify trade will require higher risk tolerance from those who bankroll the businesses making the leap into new markets.<\/p>\n<p>Talking Points<\/p>\n<p>A memo prepared for Prime Minister Mark Carney ahead of his meeting with the CEO of CIBC highlights the important role that business lending plays in trade diversification<br \/>\nThe document obtained by The Logic through the Access to Information Act dovetails with Carney\u2019s efforts to have the private sector help spur economic growth<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBusiness lending and credit availability is essential for economic growth, investment, innovation and business scaling,\u201d said the memo prepared for Carney\u2019s Dec. 12 meeting with CEO Harry Culham, who had recently taken over as head of Canada\u2019s fifth-largest bank.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn addition,\u201d the memo from the Privy Council Office said, \u201cas Canada looks to diversify its trading relationships, Canadian businesses will need to expand and penetrate other foreign markets\u2014an inherently riskier and often more capital-intensive endeavour.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\tRelated Articles<\/p>\n<p>\t<a href=\"https:\/\/thelogic.co\/news\/mark-carney-canada-investment-summit\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><br \/>\n\t<img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"768\" height=\"512\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Mark_Carney_Davos_Jan2026_Harun_Ozalp_Anadolu_Getty_2256691539_1920x1280-768x512.jpg\" class=\"attachment-medium_large size-medium_large wp-post-image\" alt=\"A close-up of Mark Carney wearing a solemn expression, with the World Economic Forum logo on a blue backdrop behind him.\" decoding=\"async\"  \/>\t<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\n\tBy<br \/>\n\tLaura Osman, Chaimae Chouiekh and Catherine McIntyre\n\t<\/p>\n<p>\t<a href=\"https:\/\/thelogic.co\/news\/spring-economic-update-canada-trade-trump-tariffs\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><br \/>\n\t<img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"768\" height=\"512\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Mark_Carney-April_2026-Sean_Kilpatrick-CP176214690-1920x1280--768x512.jpeg\" class=\"attachment-medium_large size-medium_large wp-post-image\" alt=\"Mark Carney emerges from a black van. A man wearing a dark suit and sunglasses stands behind him.\" decoding=\"async\"  \/>\t<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The Logic obtained the document through the Access to Information Act.<\/p>\n<p>The memo signed by Tushara Williams, deputy secretary to the cabinet, is heavily redacted. Not a single word in a section titled \u201cQuestions to Raise\u201d was released, as government censors determined it contained advice to cabinet. That makes it hard to know whether Carney went into the meeting with a specific ask for Culham. Yet the suggestion that more capital and a higher tolerance for risk would support trade diversification is in line with Carney\u2019s efforts to persuade financial executives to get on board with his vision.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFortune favours the bold in a crisis,\u201d Carney said May 20 in a fireside chat with the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade. \u201cYou really have to look for positive things. If you\u2019re pulling back and trying to minimize risk all the time, it will overwhelm you.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The Liberal government is striving to <a href=\"https:\/\/thelogic.co\/news\/analysis\/canada-trade-diversification-strategy\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">double<\/a> Canada\u2019s exports outside the U.S. by 2035, and to unleash $1 trillion of total investment\u2014including by <a href=\"https:\/\/thelogic.co\/news\/foreign-investment-surge-canada\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">attracting<\/a> $500 billion from the private sector at home and abroad over the next five years\u2014to fund major infrastructure projects.<\/p>\n<p>To support those goals, Carney is <a href=\"https:\/\/thelogic.co\/news\/mark-carney-canada-investment-summit\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">inviting<\/a> top CEOs, investors and other global business leaders to Toronto in September for a Canada Investment Summit co-hosted by the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and the Public Sector Pension Investment Board.<\/p>\n<p>Last month in Toronto, Carney reportedly <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theglobeandmail.com\/business\/article-carney-economy-financial-ceo-meeting\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">gathered<\/a> Bay Street executives, including Culham, for an hour-long private meeting. The discussion focused on how the private sector can work with the government to \u201cmobilize capital and create the right conditions to catalyze more investment in Canada,\u201d according to a statement by the Prime Minister\u2019s Office reported by The Globe and Mail.<\/p>\n<p>Ren\u00e9e LeBlanc Proctor, a spokesperson for Carney, said the federal government has been signing deals around the world as part of its efforts to diversify trade beyond the U.S. \u201cThis work is only getting started,\u201d she wrote in a statement to The Logic. \u201cPrime Minister Carney has spoken to a wide range of businesses and investors about opportunities to contribute, ultimately building a stronger, more independent, more competitive Canadian economy for all.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>CIBC spokesperson Tom Wallis said that the bank had no comment for this story.<\/p>\n<p>Carney has encouraged Canadian corporate leaders to take greater risks before\u2014with a less gentle tone. In 2012, when he was governor of the Bank of Canada, he <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theglobeandmail.com\/report-on-business\/economy\/free-up-dead-money-carney-exhorts-corporate-canada\/article4493091\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">accused<\/a> companies of \u201cexcessive\u201d caution coming out of the global financial crisis, which left them sitting on \u201cdead money\u201d better off in the hands of their shareholders.<\/p>\n<p>Weak business investment has long been a factor in Canada\u2019s sluggish productivity. This was the case before U.S. President Donald Trump launched his trade war, but the tariffs fuelled uncertainty that caused many businesses to pause their investment plans.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The most recent quarterly business outlook survey from the Bank of Canada <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bankofcanada.ca\/2026\/04\/business-outlook-survey-first-quarter-of-2026\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">suggests<\/a> many companies intend to get the ball rolling again within the next year. Yet Statistics Canada <a href=\"https:\/\/www150.statcan.gc.ca\/n1\/daily-quotidien\/260529\/dq260529a-eng.htm\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">reported<\/a> business capital investment fell 0.7 per cent in the first quarter of this year. It was the fifth quarterly decline in a row.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"OTTAWA \u2014 Before Prime Minister Mark Carney headed into his first meeting with the new chief executive of&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":80603,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[98],"tags":[9110,4033,235,383,2836,111,290,401],"class_list":["post-80602","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mark-carney","tag-banking","tag-cibc","tag-economy","tag-investment","tag-leadership","tag-mark-carney","tag-national","tag-trade"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80602","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=80602"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80602\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/80603"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=80602"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=80602"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=80602"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}