After the Summit: Canada’s Investment Agenda

Roundtable Luncheon with Sashen Guneratna, John Stackhouse and Russ Wenman.

C.D. Howe Institute events and webinars are open to members and their guests.

Please follow this link or contact events@cdhowe.org to register.

Sashen Guneratna, Executive Vice President, Public Infrastructure, Canada Infrastructure Bank

Sashen Guneratna is a senior infrastructure finance leader with deep experience delivering large-scale investments across several different asset types. As Executive Vice President, Public Infrastructure, he leads a team focused on investments with contracted revenue streams that deliver stable, year over year impacts for Canadians, in areas including power transmission, non-emitting generation, energy storage, trade and transportation, investments to enable housing and digital infrastructure.

During his tenure at the CIB, Sashen has been responsible for the $20B+ clean power and broadband priority sectors, leading investments across the country in renewable power, transmission, energy storage and district energy, including spearheading the CIB’s investment in Canada’s first small modular reactor and the organization’s first interprovincial transmission and equity investment.

Sashen brings more than 25 years of banking and advisory experience across multiple sectors and jurisdictions. Prior to joining the CIB, he was a Partner in PwC’s Capital Projects and Infrastructure group, with a focus on power and utilities, water and wastewater, and Indigenous-led projects. Sashen previously worked in debt capital markets and project finance advisory at National Bank Financial and power and utilities lending at Scotia Capital.

He holds an MBA and BBA from the Schulich School of Business, an ICD.D designation from Rotman, and serves on the board of Wasoqonatl Transmission Inc.

John Stackhouse, Senior Vice-President, Office of the CEO, RBC

John is one of Canada’s leading voices on innovation, economic disruption and geopolitical change. He is Senior Vice-President in the Office of the CEO at Royal Bank of Canada, where he created and leads the RBC Thought Leadership team that publishes cutting-edge research and convenes national conversations designed to inform and inspire Canadian prosperity. Before joining RBC in 2015, John was Editor-in-Chief of The Globe and Mail, where through a 25-year career he led its digital transformation, transformed its business and investing coverage, and was the newspaper’s correspondent in Asia through the 1990s, winning five National Newspaper Awards. John is the author of four books on Canada and its place in the world, and in addition to his role at RBC, is a senior fellow at the C.D. Howe Institute and the Munk School for Global Affairs and Public Policy and sits on the Board of the Canadian International Council.

Russ Wenman, Executive Vice President and Group Head, Execution and Advisory, Canada Development Investment Corporation (CDEV)

Russ Wenman, Executive Vice President and Group Head, Execution and Advisory at Canada Development Investment Corporation (CDEV), leads the execution of complex, high-value transactions and strategic initiatives on behalf of CDEV, its subsidiaries, and the Government of Canada. His responsibilities include acquisitions, disposals, strategic alliances, financings, asset reviews, and new program launches, and he works closely with senior government stakeholders to support the delivery of key commercial priorities and investment decisions.

Prior to joining CDEV, Mr. Wenman was a Deals Partner at PwC, where he spent 14 years in the firm’s London practice before transferring to Toronto in 2016. He advised corporate and institutional investors on acquisitions, divestitures, financings, and complex cross-border transactions across sectors including natural resources, infrastructure, energy, and financial services, and played senior leadership roles on some of the firm’s most significant mandates.

Mr. Wenman holds a Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Biological Sciences (Cell Biology) from the University of Leicester, a Postgraduate Diploma in Law from Nottingham Law School, and is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.

Matt Milton, President, Microsoft Canada 

Matt Milton is the President of Microsoft Canada. Matt is responsible for leading a talented team of experts that help our Canadian customers leverage our full suite of capabilities to lead in the era of AI.

With over 20 years of global leadership experience, Matt has led multi-billion-dollar businesses all over the world in senior executive roles at IBM and Kyndryl. Most recently, he served as Senior Vice President of Finance and Strategy at Kyndryl and was the company’s first U.S. President.

As a proud Canadian, Matt earned his Bachelor of Economics from the University of Western Ontario. Matt is driven by a deep passion for people and helping them create meaningful change —building strong, high-performing teams, empowering others, and fostering cultures where individuals thrive and meaningful impact follows.

To stay connected with the ever-evolving technology landscape, Matt is an angel investor, providing seed capital and strategic guidance to help early-stage startups accelerate their growth. Outside of work, Matt is married to his high school sweetheart and has three children and a Golden Retriever. Matt enjoys trail running, skiing, hockey, golf, and soccer.