Prime Minister Mark Carney has unveiled a new sovereign-style investment vehicle — the Canada Strong Fund — aimed at reducing the country’s economic reliance on the United States while ramping up domestic infrastructure spending, The New York Times reports.

The fund, structured to operate like a private-sector entity, will invest in major projects including pipelines, ports, nuclear energy and high-speed rail. It marks a strategic shift toward the model used by countries such as Norway and oil-rich Middle Eastern nations that deploy sovereign wealth funds to drive long-term growth.

“This will be a Government of Canada fund, but more importantly, it will be a people’s fund,” Carney said Monday. “Many countries that are blessed with natural resources, like Norway, have them. Canada has not until now.”

The initiative comes as Canada looks to fortify its economy against ongoing trade tensions with the U.S., including policies stemming from President Donald Trump’s trade agenda.

Ottawa is seeding the fund with an initial C$25 billion (about $18 billion), with investments to be made alongside private-sector partners and institutional capital. Officials say returns will largely be reinvested to expand the fund over time.

Carney — a former central banker and investment executive — is also pursuing a broader push to attract as much as C$1 trillion (roughly $730 billion) in global investment over the next decade, underscoring the scale of Canada’s infrastructure ambitions.

The Canada Strong Fund would be a fraction of Norway’s roughly $2 trillion sovereign wealth fund, the world’s largest, and differs in structure given that Canada’s natural resource revenues are controlled by provinces rather than the federal government.

Still, the move signals a significant policy pivot — using state-backed capital, alongside private investment, to build out infrastructure and reshape the country’s economic footing beyond its largest trading partner.