As Prime Minister Justin Trudeau pitched Canada at a Toronto summit that gathered some of the world’s most powerful investors on Monday, the head of Canada’s economic advisory council said he’s never seen anything like it.

“These types of events happen in different parts of the world, but I am not aware of anywhere of the scale of investors that are here,” said Dominic Barton, who is also global managing partner with McKinsey & Co., in an interview with BNN.  “We’ve got literally the largest long-term investment funds in the world here.”

Trudeau’s investor summit was attended by nine cabinet members – including Finance Minister Bill Morneau – who urged foreign investors to focus on Canada, and specifically on infrastructure.  The event included BlackRock, the world’s largest money manager, and its clients – including public pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, central banks and insurance companies, representing more than $21 trillion in assets. 

Barton said the event shows Ottawa is putting on a “full-court press” to attract foreign investment.

“That’s an astounding amount of capital that’s learning about Canada and figuring out ways to invest,” Barton said. “This isn’t just some sideshow – we’re all lined up. It’s very unique.”

As part of the advisory council’s preliminary recommendations to stimulate the Canadian economy, Barton last month recommended an agency with a mandate to boost foreign investment. Morneau plans to spend $218 million over five years to create a so-called Invest in Canada Hub to attract more foreign investment.

Canada’s foreign investment push also comes less than a week after Donald Trump’s U.S. election win – and the timing likely won’t be lost on both Ottawa and institutional investors, Barton said.

“It’s an opportunity for Canada because it’s a relatively stable, diverse democracy,” said Barton. “If you’re a long term investor, [that’s a] juxtaposition of what’s going on around the world.”

Barton also pointed out that Canada’s $35-billion infrastructure bank plan itself may help attract investors, since it shows the country is “going to get things done.”  

The results of Monday’s investors’ summit won’t be clear in the near term.

“It will have to be measured over time… [The summit] is a ‘we’re open’ and [the government wants] to tell you from a Canadian point of view what the different opportunities are,” Barton said.

“It will take a year or so to see it. The biggest win right now is that they showed up …  and people didn’t send their underlings.”

With files from Jon Erlichman