Canada's international transactions in securities, March 2026
Released: 2026-05-15
Foreign investors purchased $4.6 billion of Canadian securities in March, the lowest monthly investment since the beginning of 2026. Meanwhile, Canadian investors acquired $3.9 billion of foreign securities, well below the monthly average investment of $16.7 billion during the previous four months.
As a result, international transactions in securities generated a net inflow of funds of $719 million into the Canadian economy in March.
Chart 1
Canada's international transactions in securities
Foreign investment in Canadian securities slows down
Foreign investors acquired $4.6 billion of Canadian securities in March, for a total of $57.8 billion for the first quarter of 2026. In March, foreign acquisitions of debt securities (+$8.5 billion) were moderated by a divestment in shares (-$3.8 billion).
In March, foreign investors added $8.5 billion of Canadian debt securities to their portfolios, largely provincial government bonds denominated in euro. Meanwhile, the activity in federal government and corporate debt securities was marginal, as investment in money market instruments offset a divestment in bonds. Specifically, non-resident investors reduced their exposure to corporate bonds by $1.7 billion, largely reflecting retirements of covered bonds. At the same time, foreign investors reduced their holdings of federal government bonds by $1.2 billion, after five consecutive months of investment totalling $54.9 billion.
Chart 2
Foreign investment in Canadian bonds, by sector of issuer
In March, non-resident investors reduced their holdings of Canadian shares by $3.8 billion, following a $9.1 billion divestment in February. March's divestment was attributable to retirements of Canadian shares resulting from cross-border merger and acquisition activities. On an industry basis, the divestment in March was led by shares of the banking (-$7.5 billion) and the energy and mining (-$6.0 billion) industries, and it was moderated by an investment in shares of the manufacturing industry. Canadian share prices, as measured by the Standard & Poor's/Toronto Stock Exchange composite index, decreased by 4.6% in March.
Chart 3
Foreign investment in Canadian equity and investment fund shares
Record investment in United States corporate bonds
Canadian investors increased their exposure to foreign securities by $3.9 billion in March. Purchases of US corporate bonds and shares were moderated by a divestment in US government debt securities.
Canadian investment in US corporate bonds reached a record high for a second consecutive month, with purchases totalling $10.4 billion in March, following a $4.8 billion investment in February. Nearly half of March's acquisitions were in bonds denominated in Canadian dollars. In contrast, Canadian investors reduced their holdings of US government bonds (-$7.8 billion) and foreign money market instruments (-$2.4 billion). In March, both US long- and short-term interest rates were up.
Chart 4
Canadian investment in foreign bonds
Canadian investors acquired $1.9 billion of foreign equity securities in March, considerably down from the $32.7 billion investment in February. Investors added $2.7 billion of US shares in March, bringing the first quarter investment to an unprecedented $40.3 billion. Investment activity in the quarter largely targeted US large capitalization technology shares.
Chart 5
Canadian investment in foreign equity and investment fund shares
Note to readers
The data series on international transactions in securities covers portfolio transactions in equity and investment fund shares, bonds and money market instruments for both Canadian and foreign issues. This activity excludes transactions in equity and debt instruments between affiliated enterprises. These are classified as foreign direct investment in international accounts.
Equity and investment fund shares include common and preferred equities, as well as units or shares of investment funds. For the sake of brevity, the terms "shares" and "equity and investment fund shares" have the same meaning.
Debt securities include bonds and money market instruments.
Bonds have an original term to maturity of more than one year.
Money market instruments have an original term to maturity of one year or less.
Government of Canada paper includes Treasury bills and US-dollar Canada bills.
All values in this release are net transactions unless otherwise stated.
Next release
Data on Canada's international transactions in securities for April 2026 will be released on June 16.
Products
The International trade statistics portal is available on Statistics Canada website.
As a complement to this release, the data visualization product "Securities statistics," part of the series Statistics Canada – Data Visualization Products (71-607-X), is available online.
The User Guide: Canadian System of Macroeconomic Accounts (13-606-G) is also available.
The Methodological Guide: Canadian System of Macroeconomic Accounts (13-607-X) is available.
Contact information
For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact us (toll-free 1-800-263-1136; 514-283-8300; infostats@statcan.gc.ca) or Media Relations (statcan.mediahotline-ligneinfomedias.statcan@statcan.gc.ca).
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