Meanwhile, foreign investors picked up Canadian money market instruments
With Donald Trump re-elected to the White House in November, Canadian investors were anticipating gains for US equities.
These investments were among the key drivers of a strong return to foreign securities investments in November 2024, the latest month of data released by Statistics Canada, which shows a significant rebound from the previous month.
The $5.1 billion in US shares acquired made up the bulk of the net increase in exposure to foreign equities ($5.9 billion) following two months of divestment. The S&P 500 was up almost 6% in November following a 1% decline in October.
Foreign bonds were also in focus, accounting for $10.3 billion acquired including $6.7 billion of non-US bonds and $3.6 billion US bonds. Total foreign debt securities totalled $11.9 billion.
Total foreign securities acquired by Canadian investors in November was $17.8 billion, the highest amount since March 2024 and following the $2.7 billion divestment in October.
Foreign investors eased back slightly with a total $16.4 billion in Canadian securities acquired following the $21.5 billion seen in October.
Debt securities were key with $25.2 billion acquired, mostly federal government instruments. But money market instruments were the big story, setting a new record with $19.5 billion acquired by non-resident investors. This included $15.3 billion in Canada Treasury bills, along with $2.3 billion in provincial and $2.7 billion in private corporate paper.
Bonds were less enticing for foreign investors with just $5.7 billion invested, a low for 2024. However, year-to-date they have acquired almost $192 billion compared to $75 billion in the same period of 2023.
There was also a pullback from Canadian shares in November, with a divestment of $8.8 billion. This followed two strong months of acquisitions totalling $24.7 billion and was driven by sales on the secondary market and, to a lesser extent, redemptions of portfolio shares resulting from merger and acquisition activities.
Overall, international transactions in securities saw a net outflow from the Canadian economy of $1.4 billion in November 2024, snapping a two-month period of strong inflows.
