One in three Canadian business leaders plans a major buy as survey maps 2026 M&A hotspots
One in three Canadian business leaders is gearing up to buy a major business in the next 18 months – and that acquisition wave is landing just as trillions in assets shift hands from founders and boomers to the next generation.
KPMG Canada’s latest survey of 252 executives across 14 sectors shows 33 percent plan a major acquisition in the next 18 months, rising to 36 percent among private or private‑equity‑backed firms.
They want to capture growth while monetary and fiscal policy remain supportive, confidence improves and Canada’s “nation‑building” push kicks in.
At the same time, PwC Canada says the M&A market has moved off the post‑2021 roller coaster and onto more stable ground in 2025, with steady deal volumes and fewer extreme swings.
According to PwC Canada, there were 642 Canadian deals worth about $138.8bn between 1 July and 30 September 2025, and it expects transaction volumes to hold roughly steady through the first half of 2026.
KPMG frames 2026 as a policy‑driven M&A cycle.
Ottawa’s nation‑building strategy includes $115.2bn in infrastructure spending over five years, with $54bn earmarked for core public assets such as transit and AI‑enabled digital infrastructure.
The federal government expects that to crowd in more than $1tn of private investment.
KPMG’s Marco Tomassetti links that public‑private capital to a broad set of M&A hotspots: infrastructure, energy, critical minerals, defence and housing, plus AI‑enabled digital infrastructure like data centres, cloud capacity and related power and connectivity assets.
In his view, companies in construction and engineering, building materials, logistics, oil and gas services, advanced manufacturing, robotics and business services will see consolidation as buyers chase scale and capabilities.
PwC Canada points to the same federal priorities—defence, energy, critical minerals, artificial intelligence and housing—as the main drivers of “transformative business opportunities” in the near term, given Canada’s challenged macro-outlook.
PwC Canada expects these commitments to pull in private capital not just in those sectors, but also in adjacent industries that pivot their business models or supply chains towards them.
For wealth and asset managers, that translates into mandate opportunities across infrastructure, private credit, sector‑specific funds and direct or co‑investment structures.
On the ownership side, PwC Canada highlights a massive “succession tsunami.”
The Canadian Federation of Independent Business estimates that more than $2tn in business assets could change hands by 2033 as owners exit, while CPA Canada expects another $1tn to transfer from baby boomers over the next five years.
PwC Canada says these trends are creating powerful tailwinds for wealth management, even as firms deal with margin pressure from lower‑cost models, higher technology and regulatory costs, and clients demanding holistic, one‑stop advice.
According to PwC Canada, 2025 already delivered record M&A activity in the wealth management industry, with traditional financial institutions, insurance brokers and strategics all active, alongside private equity sponsors.
Deals such as iA’s acquisition of Richardson Wealth and OneDigital’s purchase of PWL show how platforms are bulking up and blurring the lines between retirement benefits and wealth.
PwC Canada expects this consolidation to continue—and possibly accelerate—into 2026, as acquirers from both core and adjacent sectors pursue scale and capabilities, and as banks and insurers selectively buy distribution to speed up their own build‑outs.
For advisory firms, that means:
- More motivated sellers among aging principals.
- A deeper bench of potential buyers, from national platforms to PE‑backed aggregators.
- Higher expectations on tech, product breadth and client experience to command a premium.
Both sources see domestic deals as central.
PwC Canada reports that local transactions—Canadian buyers acquiring Canadian targets—account for about half of all Canadian M&A and are likely to keep anchoring the market through 2026.
KPMG’s Neil Blair calls 2026 an opportune year for domestic dealmaking, as Canada tries to become more competitive and self‑sufficient.
He argues that major infrastructure, energy, critical minerals and business‑services projects demand bigger, more sophisticated players, which makes smaller specialist firms attractive targets and pushes larger ones to scale up.
He also flags continued succession‑led M&A and significant dry powder at private equity funds and family offices across North America.
PwC Canada, for its part, stresses that value creation and risk management now dominate how deals are done. It says ongoing economic and geopolitical uncertainty is driving deeper due diligence, more scrutiny and greater use of structures such as earn‑outs and flexible consideration, which together extend timelines.
Buyers and sellers who treat timing, preparation and fundamentals seriously are most likely to capture the upside of a busier but more disciplined M&A market.
Blair sums up the mindset: disciplined buyers look past short‑term noise to leadership, growth paths and resilience, while prepared sellers who enter the market with strong performance and visible runway stand the best chance of maximising value and closing on their terms.
