Foreign investors acquired C$20.7 billion in Canadian securities in July 2026, falling short of the C$28.64 billion forecast and well below June’s C$41.25 billion. The month’s activity was driven primarily by robust foreign demand for federal government bonds, with purchases totaling C$22.7 billion. Since the start of the year, foreign investment in these bonds has reached a record C$104.0 billion, compared with just C$13.8 billion over the same period in 2025. As a result, the share of outstanding federal government bonds held by foreign investors rose from 40.2% to 46.5% in the first seven months of 2026.
At the same time, a C$11.9 billion foreign divestment from money market instruments tempered overall inflows, driven mainly by reductions in private corporate paper (-C$7.6 billion) and federal government paper (-C$3.2 billion). Foreign investors also bought C$7.2 billion in Canadian equities, marking the largest monthly investment in Canadian shares so far in 2026.
