Released: 2026-10-16
Foreign investment in Canadian securities
-$17.3 billion
August 2026
Canadian investment in foreign securities
$23.9 billion
August 2026
Canadian investors acquired $23.9 billion of foreign securities in August, led by purchases of US shares. Meanwhile, foreign investors reduced their holdings of Canadian securities by $17.3 billion, led by an unprecedented divestment in federal government debt instruments.
As a result, international transactions in securities generated a significant outflow of funds of $41.2 billion from the Canadian economy in August, following a net inflow of funds totalling $123.8 billion from January to July.
Chart 1 
Canada’s international transactions in securities
Canadian investment in US shares resumes
Canadian investors acquired $23.9 billion of foreign securities in August, following a sizeable divestment of $30.6 billion in July. Canadian acquisitions in August were led by purchases of US shares and were moderated by a divestment in US federal government bonds.
Canadian investors resumed their purchases of US shares, acquiring $28.9 billion worth in August after divesting $31.0 billion in July. Over the first eight months of 2026, Canadian investors have acquired an unprecedented $76.0 billion worth of US shares, compared with a $52.6 billion investment over the same period in 2025. Investors have largely targeted shares of large capitalization technology firms so far in 2026. US share prices, as measured by the Standard & Poor’s (S&P) 500 composite index, increased by 2.6% in August and by 12.3% since the beginning of the year.
Chart 2
Canadian investment in foreign equity and investment fund shares
On the other hand, Canadian investors reduced their exposure to US federal government bonds by $8.6 billion in August, a seventh consecutive monthly divestment. The divestment in August was partly offset by investments in foreign bonds denominated in Canadian dollars (+$2.7 billion), and in US federal government paper (+$1.8 billion).
In August, US long-term interest rates increased, while short-term rates remained stable. Meanwhile, the US dollar appreciated against the Canadian dollar.
Chart 3
Canadian investment in foreign bonds
Record foreign divestment in federal government debt instruments
Foreign investors reduced their holdings of Canadian securities by $17.3 billion in August, their first monthly divestment of 2026. Nevertheless, foreign investment in Canadian securities totalled $161.6 billion during the first eight months of 2026, compared with $27.1 billion over the same period in 2025.
In August, non-resident investors reduced their exposure to federal government debt securities by an unprecedented $17.5 billion (-$11.2 billion in bonds and -$6.3 billion in paper). This followed a cumulative investment totalling $99.4 billion from January to July. The foreign divestment in August was moderated by purchases of Canadian corporate bonds (+$7.6 billion) and provincial government bonds (+$1.6 billion).
Chart 4
Foreign investment in Canadian bonds, by sector of issuer
Meanwhile, foreign investors sold $9.9 billion of Canadian shares in August, after buying $8.6 billion cumulatively in the previous two months. August’s activity targeted shares from all industries except the banking sector. Canadian share prices, as measured by the S&P/Toronto Stock Exchange composite index, were up 3.0% in August.
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 September 2026 will be released on November 17.
Products
The International trade statistics portal is available on Statistics Canada website.
The User Guide: Canadian System of Macroeconomic Accounts (Catalogue number13-606-G) is also available.
The Methodological Guide: Canadian System of Macroeconomic Accounts (Catalogue number13-607-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).