Canada's international transactions in securities, May 2026
Released: 2026-07-17
Foreign investors purchased $7.9 billion of Canadian securities in May, down from a sizable $46.9 billion investment in April. Meanwhile, Canadian investors acquired $22.3 billion of foreign securities, following a divestment of $11.4 billion in the previous month.
As a result, international transactions in securities generated a net outflow of funds of $14.4 billion from the Canadian economy in May, the first net outflow since February.
Chart 1
Canada's international transactions in securities
Largest divestment in Canadian shares since February 2025
Foreign investors acquired $7.9 billion of Canadian securities in May, a fifth consecutive monthly investment, for a total of $111.9 billion since January. In May, the investment activity focussed on Canadian bonds (+$18.0 billion) and money market instruments (+$6.0 billion). A $16.1 billion divestment in Canadian equity securities moderated the overall investment.
In May, foreign investments in the Canadian bond market continued and were led by acquisitions of federal government bonds (+$7.8 billion) and provincial government bonds (+$7.1 billion). This activity followed an unprecedented $38.5 billion total investment in these instruments in April.
Chart 2
Foreign investment in Canadian bonds, by sector of issuer
In addition, foreign investors increased their exposure to Canadian money market instruments by $6.0 billion in May, the highest investment since September 2025. This investment was primarily in private corporate papers (+$3.7 billion) and federal government business enterprises papers (+$2.8 billion).
On the other hand, non-resident investors reduced their holdings of Canadian equity securities by $16.1 billion in May, the largest divestment since February 2025. By sector, investors mainly sold shares of the energy and mining (-$7.7 billion) and the manufacturing (-$4.9 billion) sectors. Acquisitions of shares of the banking sector (+$8.2 billion) moderated the overall activity. Canadian share prices, as measured by the Standard & Poor's (S&P)/Toronto Stock Exchange composite index, rose 2.4% in May.
Chart 3
Foreign investment in Canadian equity and investment fund shares
Significant Canadian investment in US corporate instruments
Canadian investors increased their holdings of foreign securities by $22.3 billion in May, mainly through purchases of equity securities (+$11.0 billion) and bonds (+$10.2 billion).
Canadian holdings of foreign equity securities increased by $11.0 billion in May. This activity was led by purchases of US shares (+$16.0 billion), mainly of the technology sector. Meanwhile, Canadian investors sold $5.0 billion of non-US foreign shares, with the bulk in European shares. US share prices, as measured by the S&P 500 composite index, increased by 5.2% in May.
Chart 4
Canadian investment in foreign equity and investment fund shares
The overall investment in foreign bonds in May targeted US corporate bonds (+$11.0 billion), led by a record investment of $6.9 billion in Canadian dollar-denominated instruments. On the other hand, Canadian investors continued their divestment in US government bonds (-$1.7 billion), for a total divestment of $22.5 billion since the beginning of the year.
Chart 5
Canadian investment in foreign bonds
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 June 2026 will be released on August 17.
Products
The International trade statistics portal is available on Statistics Canada website.
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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