Canadian dealmaking heads into 2026 with more confidence than the headlines might suggest. After a subdued start to 2025, mega deals in energy, mining, and infrastructure helped drive record transaction values, even as overall deal counts slipped. Lawyers say clients are learning to transact through uncertainty rather than wait it out.
At Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP, capital markets and M&A co-leader Sarah Gingrich sees that shift first-hand. “People get used to geopolitical uncertainty, tariff fluctuations, and market volatility. There’s pent-up demand to do deals, pressure on boards and CEOs, and private equity has a lot of dry powder, creating a more friendly environment for M&A,” she says.
McCarthy Tétrault LLP’s Jonathan See and Bennett Jones LLP’s Kristopher Hanc both point to 2025 as a record year by value, powered by large-cap consolidation and inbound capital into Canadian hard assets, even as mid-market private equity remained more selective.
This confidence is tempered by a more muscular state. Defence spending, trade protection measures, and investment screening are reshaping how cross-border deals are structured and timed. Dentons partner Myron Mallia-Dare expects Canada’s defence industrial strategy and its “build-partner-buy” framework to generate “a pipeline of M&A activity across sovereign capability areas such as aerospace, digital systems, ammunition, sensors, and infrastructure.”
At the same time, Bill C-34’s changes to the Investment Canada Act and forthcoming regulations are embedding national security analysis into almost every sensitive-sector deal. “Even smaller minority investments by non-
Canadian entities are attracting a lot more scrutiny under the Investment Canada Act,” says Mahdi Shams of MLT Aikins LLP.
Another striking development is the rapid mainstreaming of Indigenous equity. For many major projects, traditional benefits agreements are being replaced – and often eclipsed – by equal or majority Indigenous ownership. Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP partner Sam Adkins notes that “instead of seeing a 10 percent interest, you might see a 49 percent interest or 51 percent interest.”
The Lexpert Special Editions on M&A and Finance brings these themes together, profiling the top-ranked M&A and finance lawyers and unpacking the deals, policies, and structures shaping Canadian corporate strategy in the year ahead.
Congratulations as well to the Lexpert’s 2026 Awards of Excellence for top deals. The shortlisted Excellence Awardee deals were presented to a panel of judges, who were asked to choose a final winner in each category. Excellence Awardees for all categories, including non-deals, will be honoured and winners announced at an in-person gala on May 5 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre.