OTTAWA — The Canada Revenue Agency will give priority treatment to tax ruling requests tied to investments worth $1 billion or more as the Carney government tries to convince some of the world's largest investors to put their money into Canada.Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne announced the change Monday as Prime Minister Mark Carney opened the first Canada Investment Summit in Toronto.The measure takes effect immediately and applies to requests made through the CRA's Advance Income Tax Rulings program. "When investors are considering major projects, certainty matters," Champagne said."By prioritizing advance tax rulings for investments of $1 billion or more, we are giving them the clarity and predictability they need to invest with confidence, create opportunities and help build Canada's economic future."Advance rulings allow companies to ask the CRA how Canadian income tax law will apply to a proposed deal before committing their money. The ruling is binding on the CRA as long as the transaction proceeds as described..The government did not announce a new service standard for billion-dollar investments Monday, only that those requests will now receive priority.For other advance rulings, the CRA's existing target is 90 business days after it receives all required information. The agency met that target or an agreed alternative deadline in 91% of cases in the 2024-25 fiscal year. The announcement comes as Carney courts hundreds of investors in Toronto with an ambitious target of attracting $1 trillion in investment over five years.The two-day summit brings together roughly 300 executives representing firms with more than $120 trillion in assets, according to the Associated Press. Investors from BlackRock, Blackstone, Temasek and other major firms are among those attending. More than 160 Canadian projects are being pitched, ranging from mining and energy to artificial intelligence, data centres and infrastructure. One proposal involves a high-speed transportation system between Calgary and Edmonton.Carney has made attracting capital a central part of his economic agenda as Canada deals with a trade war with the United States and looks to expand its economic relationships overseas.The government says Canada has secured more than $97 billion in foreign investment commitments over the past year.The push also follows concerns about Canada's ability to retain capital.RBC reported earlier this year that Canada experienced roughly $1 trillion in net foreign capital outflows over nine years, with about $2 leaving the country for every $1 coming in. The government has responded with faster project approvals, efforts to reduce internal trade barriers and a push to attract foreign money into energy, critical minerals, defence and infrastructure.Monday's tax measure builds on the spring economic update, which promised priority treatment for advance tax rulings involving major nation-building projects and investments considered important to Canada's economic priorities.The new policy sets a clear threshold: investments of at least $1 billion will move to the front of the CRA's tax-ruling queue.
