Prime Minister Mark Carney announced a major leadership overhaul at Invest in Canada on Monday, appointing former Canadian ambassador to China Dominic Barton as chair of the agency’s board and naming Gurinder Grewal as chief executive.
The changes come less than two weeks before Carney hosts his inaugural investment summit in Toronto, where international investors and senior officials from major domestic funds will be pitched on Canadian projects. The move repositions the federal agency charged with attracting foreign direct investment under new leadership as it prepares to market the country to global capital.
Senior appointments and mandates
Barton, who served as Canada’s ambassador to China from 2019 to 2021, will take a part-time role as chair for a three-year term. His long career includes senior roles at the global consultancy McKinsey & Co., and current positions as chair of mining company Rio Tinto and LeapFrog Investments. He also previously chaired the federal government’s economic advisory council, which recommended the creation of Invest in Canada.
Grewal, the founder and managing partner of MEM Growth Partners, succeeds the outgoing chief executive. The government highlighted her background in deploying capital across the energy, industrial, infrastructure and technology sectors as a key qualification for the post.
“Under their leadership, Invest in Canada will catalyze billions in new investments with new investors.”
Outgoing board chair Karl Tabbakh will remain on the Invest in Canada board to support the transition.
Context: An agency born from economic advice
Invest in Canada was created following recommendations from the economic advisory council that Barton once chaired. The agency’s mandate is to attract and facilitate foreign direct investment into Canadian projects and sectors deemed strategic to national growth.
Barton’s diplomatic tenure included navigating a difficult stretch in Canada–China relations. His resignation as ambassador in 2021 followed efforts that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said helped secure the release of Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, two Canadians detained in China during that period.
What the appointments mean for policy and capital
The appointments align with the immediate objective of the upcoming Toronto summit: to bring international capital into Canadian projects. Carney’s selection of a high-profile, internationally connected chair and an experienced private-sector operator as CEO signals a strategy blending diplomatic experience with market-facing capital deployment expertise.
- Experience: Barton brings corporate and diplomatic networks; Grewal brings private capital deployment experience.
- Timing: Leadership changes announced mere weeks before a major investment summit hosted by Carney.
- Governance: Outgoing chair remains on the board to aid continuity during the transition.
The government emphasised that both appointees have the expertise to help Canada capitalise on its comparative strengths and to broaden the pool of investors engaged with Canadian opportunities.
| Appointment | Role | Term/Status |
|---|---|---|
| Dominic Barton | Chair, Board of Directors | Part-time, three-year term |
| Gurinder Grewal | Chief Executive Officer | Named as CEO (no term specified) |
| Karl Tabbakh | Outgoing chair | Remains on board to support transition |
Observers will watch whether the leadership change produces a measurable lift in investment leads and completed projects following the summit. Carney’s team is banking on the combination of Barton's international stature and Grewal’s sector experience to cultivate fresh investor relationships and accelerate capital commitments.
For now, the federal government’s public statement underscores a straightforward objective: to make Invest in Canada an engine for directing billions of dollars of new investment into the economy by leveraging the connections and expertise of its new senior leaders.
