Key Takeaways
- The "Buy Canadian" movement has led to an increase in interest in domestic investments, but the trend of money flowing to the US is expected to continue in 2026.
- A Vancouver-based company, GoParity Canada, is promoting local investments and community projects through its online platform.
- Responsible investing remains a priority for wealth managers, with environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) frameworks being crucial in making investment decisions.
- Despite the pushback on net zero policies, climate change mitigation and greenhouse gas emissions remain top considerations for investment managers.
Introduction to the "Buy Canadian" Movement
The "Buy Canadian" movement gained momentum in 2025, amid the ongoing tariff war and US President Donald Trump’s public threats to make Canada the 51st state. However, despite the surge in interest in Canadian products, the country’s investors continued to park their financial assets offshore, with much of it in the US. This trend is expected to continue in 2026, with US financial assets accounting for $111 billion of the foreign securities acquired by Canadians in the first three quarters of 2025.
Investing in Canada: A Wise Decision?
Daisy Mak, a certified financial planner at Vancouver Financial Planners, advises that investing domestically may have cooled off since the beginning of 2025. She notes that while Canada’s banking and insurance sectors continue to be a wise investment decision, the country still has to catch up in other sectors like technology or pharmaceuticals. Mak emphasizes that investing in Canada should be a part of a diversified portfolio, but not the only focus. She suggests that investors should consider a smaller portion of their portfolio to be allocated to Canadian assets, rather than going all-in on domestic investments.
GoParity Canada: Promoting Local Investments
Blake Bunting, the co-founder of GoParity Canada, says that his online investment platform felt the surge in Canadian patriotism this year. GoParity calls itself a "community capital" or crowd-lending platform, where users can invest in community projects with loans. The investors then earn money on the interest from the loans, with projects as diverse as clean energy on Vancouver Island or an Indigenous-run daycare in Stephenville, NS. Bunting notes that investing in local projects can have a significant impact on the community, and that it’s not necessary to move all of one’s assets into supporting small businesses.
Responsible Investing: A Priority for Wealth Managers
A report from the Responsible Investment Association found that for wealth managers, it remained important that investments are well-certified through an environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) framework. Over 80 Canadian asset and investment managers indicated that greenhouse gas emissions and climate change mitigation remained amongst the top considerations when making their organization’s investment decisions. However, the report notes that negative media coverage of responsible investment from other jurisdictions is the top factor that could deter the growth of responsible investing.
The Future of Local Investments
Bunting believes that offering small businesses smaller-scale funding options like GoParity means they can get help at a time when money is tight. He notes that there’s no shortage of businesses that are looking for financing that don’t quite meet the bank’s criteria, and that this market is growing fast in Canada. GoParity is filling gaps where the banks aren’t, and Bunting is optimistic about the future of local investments. As the "Buy Canadian" movement continues to gain momentum, it will be interesting to see how investors respond to the trend and whether they will prioritize local investments and community projects.