Canada's international transactions in securities, February 2026
Released: 2026-04-17
Canadian investors acquired $25.4 billion of foreign securities in February 2026, the largest investment since March 2024. Meanwhile, foreign investors purchased $6.2 billion of Canadian securities, following an unprecedented investment in January.
As a result, international transactions in securities generated a net outflow of funds of $19.2 billion in the Canadian economy in February, following a net inflow of $35.4 billion in January.
Chart 1
Canada's international transactions in securities
Record investment in foreign shares
Canadian investors acquired $25.4 billion of foreign securities in February. The activity reflected a record investment in shares (+$32.9 billion) moderated by a divestment in debt securities (-$7.5 billion).
Canadian purchases of foreign equity securities amounted to a record $32.9 billion in February, led by the highest monthly acquisition of US shares (+$29.2 billion) in a year. Shares of US large capitalization technology firms continued to attract the bulk of the Canadian investment. US share prices, as measured by the Standard & Poor's (S&P) 500 composite index, declined by 0.9% in February. Meanwhile, acquisition of non-US foreign shares totalled $3.7 billion, largely in the form of European shares.
Chart 2
Canadian investment in foreign equity and investment fund shares
On the other hand, Canadian investors reduced their holdings of foreign debt securities by $7.5 billion in February, led by a record $12.6 billion divestment of US federal government bonds. This activity followed a moderate $2.5 billion investment in January and an all-time high quarterly divestment of $20.5 billion in these instruments in the fourth quarter of 2025. Meanwhile, Canadian investment in US corporate bonds (+$4.8 billion) moderated the overall decline.
Chart 3
Canadian investment in foreign bonds
Foreign acquisitions of Canadian bonds continue
Foreign investors acquired $6.2 billion of Canadian securities in February, significantly lower than the investment of $46.8 billion recorded in January. Acquisitions of Canadian bonds (+$22.6 billion) were moderated by divestments in both Canadian money market instruments (-$7.3 billion) and shares (-$9.2 billion).
Foreign investors targeted Canadian corporate bonds (+$11.1 billion) in February, following a record investment in January. The activity in both months focused on foreign currency denominated bonds issued by Canadian financial corporations. Meanwhile, non-resident investors acquired $8.4 billion of federal government bonds, extending the strong level of investment observed since the fourth quarter of 2025. On the other hand, they reduced their exposure to Canadian money market instruments by $7.3 billion, primarily through federal (-$7.3 billion) and provincial (-$3.5 billion) governments paper.
Chart 4
Foreign investment in Canadian bonds, by sector of issuer
Foreign investors sold $9.2 billion of Canadian equity securities in February, mainly through secondary market activity. At the sector level, the divestment was widespread and led by the energy and mining sector (-$9.4 billion). A record $12.1 billion foreign investment in Canadian chartered bank shares moderated the overall divestment in the month. Canadian share prices, as measured by the S&P/Toronto Stock Exchange composite index, rose 7.6% in February.
Chart 5
Foreign investment in Canadian 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 March 2026 will be released on May 15.
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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