Canadian Investors Increase Holdings of Foreign Securities in June

In June, Canadian investors saw a significant increase in their holdings of foreign securities, marking the largest amount in seven months. At the same time, foreigners continued to invest in Canadian securities, resulting in a net outflow from the Canadian economy of approximately 1.88 billion Canadian dollars (equivalent to $1.39 billion).

According to Statistics Canada, nonresident investors purchased a net of C$12.56 billion in Canadian securities during June. They focused primarily on federal government money-market instruments for the second consecutive month, following two months of strong investment.

On the other hand, Canadian investors bought C$14.43 billion in foreign securities, representing the highest amount since November. This figure reflects a significant shift from the previous month when they sold C$1.71 billion in securities. The agency reported that Canadians were particularly interested in U.S. government bonds after two months of divestment, as well as non-U.S. foreign bonds. However, they reduced their holdings of foreign equities, with almost all of them being non-U.S. foreign shares.

The analysis of international securities transactions includes equity and investment fund shares, bonds, and money market instruments for both Canadian and foreign issues. It does not include transactions between affiliated enterprises.

During the second quarter of the year, Canadian investors increased their holdings of foreign securities by approximately C$14.6 billion, which is a significant turnaround from the reduction of about C$$23.4 billion in the first three months of the year. On the other side, foreign investment in Canadian securities amounted to approximately C$36.5 billion in Q2.