Latest government statistics show largest foreign investment in Canadian securities since first COVID wave
Non-Canadian investors poured cash into the country’s capital system at a torrid pace in October, according to Canada’s national statistical agency.
Newly released figures from Statistics Canada showed foreign investors purchased $23.9 billion of Canadian securities in October, the largest investment since the record COVID-fuelled investment seen during the first wave in April 2020. Foreign Canadian bond purchases amounted to $27.6 billion, likewise the largest investment since April 2020.
Foreign investment in private corporate bonds reached $19.4 billion, building on September’s $25.4 billion. Foreign purchases of federal government bonds in October reached $8.4 billion, more than making up for the $8 billion in divestments observed in September.
Foreign investment in Canadian equities amounted to $3.5 billion in October, adding to the $3.2 billion seen in September.
Meanwhile, Canadian investors snapped up $5.4 billion of foreign securities in October, a more moderate pace compared to the previous two months. Non-U.S. foreign bonds led Canadians’ investment activity in the month, which was tempered by a divestment in non-U.S. foreign shares; the prior months saw Canadians largely purchasing U.S. stocks.
Canadians’ invested a record of $7.2 billion in non-U.S. foreign bonds in October, mainly due to purchases of European government bonds. At the same time, they sold $2.7 billion of U.S. government bonds, the largest divestment since January.
Since the beginning of the year, Canadians have invested $22.8 billion in non-U.S. foreign bonds. During the same period in 2020, they invested just $1.3 billion.
After investing $8 billion in foreign shares in August and $16.6 billion in September, Canadians trimmed their foreign equity exposure by $1.8 billion in October. That included selling $2.5 billion of non-U.S. shares, primarily Asian shares, and investing $652 million in U.S. shares.
