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About

Who
we are

Invest in Canada is Canada’s foreign direct investment (FDI) attraction and promotion agency. We find the best to invest in Canada. This means working with our partners across the country and worldwide to attract global companies and support their expansion plans in Canada.

Our
services
for investors

Invest in Canada provides highly personalized services to global investors. This includes investment support, introductions and assistance in navigating Canada’s regulatory and business environment.

Discover our services

FDI
for Canada

When global companies invest in Canada, they invest in our people, our communities and our country. They bring opportunities for economic growth and jobs. Learn how Invest in Canada supports FDI in Canada.

Explore the benefits of FDI

Invest in Canada
CEO

Laurel Broten is an award-winning CEO, former Ontario Cabinet Minister, lawyer, legislator, advocate and community builder. Laurel served as President and CEO of Nova Scotia Business Inc., the agency responsible for investment attraction and export development for the Province of Nova Scotia, from 2015 to 2022. During this time, she led the agency’s transformation, delivering significant gains in both the quality and quantity of jobs created in the province. She also spurred material export growth in traditional and emerging sectors and industries.

From 2013 to 2015, as President and CEO of Broten Public Policy International Inc., Laurel provided strategic advice on complex public policy challenges, change management and government transformation to clients in Canada and abroad. This work included conducting a comprehensive review of Nova Scotia’s taxes and regulations.

From 2003 until 2013, Laurel served in a number of senior roles in the Government of Ontario, including Minister of Education, Minister of Children and Youth Services, Minister of the Environment, Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, Minister Responsible for Women’s Issues, Vice-chair of Treasury Board/Management Board, and Parliamentary Assistant to the Premier, to the Minister of Health and Long-term Care and to the Minister of Energy.

After graduating with distinction with her Juris Doctor from the University of Western Ontario, Laurel clerked at the Supreme Court of Canada for Madam Justice Claire L’Heureux-Dubé. Laurel then practised as a commercial and civil litigation lawyer with three leading Canadian law firms until her election to government in 2003.

Laurel lives in Halifax with her husband and twin teenaged sons.

Meet our Board of Directors

Laurel Broten
Chief Executive Officer

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