Canadian investors sold US government bonds while pouring a record $78.1 billion into US shares
Foreign buyers put $40.8bn into Canadian securities in June, and roughly $25.4bn of it went into federal government debt alone.
Statistics Canada reported in its release on Canada's international transactions in securities that non-resident investors acquired $100.6bn of Canadian securities in the second quarter, the highest quarterly total on record.
The month closed out that quarter.
Canadian investors moved $35.4bn the other way over the same month, into US corporate shares and bonds.
Statistics Canada put the resulting net inflow at $5.4bn for June and $55.1bn for the second quarter.
Debt drove almost all of the inbound activity.
Statistics Canada reported that non-resident investors acquired $39.9bn of Canadian debt securities in June and $175.0bn over the first half of 2026, a record.
That total ran well above the $20.8bn added in the same period of 2025.
Federal paper accounted for most of the increase, at $80.0bn over the six months.
Private corporate bonds drew another $16.2bn in June, mainly instruments issued by Canadian chartered banks and denominated in US dollars and euros.
Canadian shares attracted $901m in June, according to Statistics Canada, following a $16.1bn divestment in May.
Manufacturing shares led the buying, moderated by selling in the trade and transportation as well as the finance and insurance sectors.
The Standard & Poor's/Toronto Stock Exchange (S&P/TSX) composite index edged up 0.3 percent over the month.
On the outbound side, Canadian investors increased their exposure to US shares by $23.5bn in June.
First-half purchases of US shares reached a record $78.1bn, compared with $35.1bn a year earlier, with acquisitions in both years concentrated in large-capitalization technology firms.
The S&P 500 composite index fell 1.1 percent in June and gained 9.6 percent over the first half of 2026.
Foreign bonds took a further $5.3bn from Canadian investors in June, after a $10.3bn investment in May.
US corporate bonds led the activity in both months, largely instruments denominated in Canadian dollars.
A $9.9bn divestment in US federal government bonds partly offset the June total.
That retreat from US government paper is not new: Canadian investors sold $22.5bn of it over an earlier stretch of the year, Statistics Canada noted in its May release, and reduced holdings by $20.8bn between January and April.
Supply helps explain the appetite for Canadian government debt.
Ottawa projected annual gross bond issuance of $298bn in 2026-27 in the Spring Economic Update 2026, unchanged from the preliminary figure in Budget 2025, against aggregate borrowing of $571bn.
RBC Economics said the $298bn total sits below the record $317bn on a net basis, excluding Bank of Canada purchases, set in the prior fiscal year.
Provincial issuers have been tapping the same demand.
Ontario completed 59 percent of its 2025-26 long-term borrowing domestically, below its own guidance range of 65 to 80 percent, and has widened its 2026-27 guidance to 60 to 80 percent, according to the province's 2026 budget, which cited increased foreign demand and favourable international market conditions.
Heavy non-resident demand for federal and provincial bonds supports pricing on the long-duration assets liability-driven investment (LDI) strategies depend on, while compressing the yields available to buy-and-maintain mandates.
The record first-half flow into US equities, concentrated in a narrow band of technology names, adds to the concentration exposure many Canadian plans already carry through global equity benchmarks — alongside the currency risk that comes with it.
Statistics Canada will release July data on September 17.
