By Robb M. Stewart
OTTAWA--Foreigners continued to invest strongly in Canadian securities at the start of the year, including record purchases of bonds, while in the same month Canadian investors added to their holdings of U.S. shares and bonds.
As a result, international transactions generated a net inflow into the Canadian economy in January of 35.35 billion Canadian dollars, the equivalent of about US$25.82 billion, the highest level since October, Statistics Canada said Wednesday.
Nonresident investors bought C$46.73 billion worth of Canadian securities in the first month of 2026, which continued a trend of strong investment that began in the second half of last year and more than made up for the C$5.84 billion in securities offloaded in December.
Buying was led by an all-time high C$51.25 billion investment in Canadian bonds, which was moderated by a C$10.2 billion divestment of Canadian money market instruments, the national statistics agency said. The acquisition of bonds included an unprecedented C$31.5 billion investment in corporate bonds, largely focused on new issuances abroad of euro-denominated debt by Canadian banks. There also was a significant C$12.87 billion investment in federal government bonds, building on the record roughly C$33.6 billion investment in the last quarter of 2025.
Foreign investors also increased their holdings of Canadian equities by $5.68 billion in January. Statistics Canada said foreign purchases in the secondary market remained strong, reaching about $6.5 billion during the month after a record C$23.3 billion investment in the fourth quarter.
Meanwhile, Canadian investors acquired C$11.39 billion in foreign securities, after investing C$13.06 billion in December.
The agency said Canadian buying of foreign bonds reached C$9.09 billion in January, nearly offsetting the selling of these instruments in the previous month. Activity in January targeted U.S. bonds, split between government and corporate notes.
Canadian buying of foreign equity securities totaled C$2.43 billion for the latest month, including about C$8.4 billion of U.S. shares that offset a C$6 billion divestment of non-U.S. shares, mainly European equities.
The monthly international securities report covers a portfolio of transactions in equity and investment fund shares, bonds and money market instruments for both Canadian and foreign issues. The activity excludes transactions in equity and debt instruments between affiliated enterprises.
Write to Robb M. Stewart at robb.stewart@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 18, 2026 09:23 ET (13:23 GMT)
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