February flows send more than $19 billion net funds abroad, Statistics Canada data show
Canadian investors poured a record $25.4bn into foreign securities in February, even as Ottawa prepares a Toronto summit aiming to draw $1tn of new investment into Canada over the next five years.
According to Statistics Canada, Canadian investors acquired $25.4bn of foreign securities in February, the largest investment in almost two years, while foreign investors purchased $6.2bn of Canadian securities after an “unprecedented” inflow in January.
These international transactions in securities produced a net outflow of $19.2bn from the Canadian economy in February, following a net inflow of $35.4bn in January.
Statistics Canada reports that Canadian investors drove this outflow through record buying of foreign shares.
They acquired $32.9bn of foreign equity in February, led by $29.2bn in US shares, mainly large‑capitalization technology firms, even as the S&P 500 composite index fell 0.9 percent.
Canadian investors also bought $3.7bn of non‑US foreign shares, largely European names.
On the fixed income side, Statistics Canada says Canadians reduced their holdings of foreign debt securities by $7.5bn, led by a record $12.6bn divestment of US federal government bonds, following a moderate $2.5bn investment in January and an all‑time high quarterly divestment of $20.5bn in the fourth quarter of 2025.
Increased investment of $4.8bn in US corporate bonds partially offset that pullback.
BNN Bloomberg reports that Canadians “moved a record amount of money into foreign assets in February, causing more money to leave the country than foreign investors brought in,” based on the same Statistics Canada release.
This $25.4bn in Canadian investment abroad “significantly” outweighed the $6.2bn that foreign investors put into Canadian assets and says Canadians spent a record $32.9bn on foreign stocks, “specifically large US tech firms.”
The same outlet reports that Conference Board of Canada chief economist Pedro Antunes is urging caution, saying “we need to take it with a grain of salt.”
He told the outlet that international transactional data “can be extremely volatile” and reflects portfolio decisions rather than longer‑term investments that underpin Canada’s growth.
He drew a line between securities trades and “a greenfield investment, which would involve building new productive physical assets,” and pointed out that “when we buy foreign assets, that does bring a stream of income into the country.”
For him, “all this suggests is that there was something more attractive for Canadian investors than perhaps what’s within Canadian markets at this point in time.”
On the inbound side, Statistics Canada says foreign investors acquired $6.2bn of Canadian securities in February, well below January’s $46.8bn.
Acquisitions of Canadian bonds of $22.6bn were moderated by divestments of $7.3bn in money market instruments and $9.2bn in shares.
Foreign investors bought $11.1bn of Canadian corporate bonds in February, after a record investment in January, focusing in both months on foreign‑currency‑denominated bonds issued by Canadian financial corporations.
Non‑resident investors also acquired $8.4bn of federal government bonds, extending what Statistics Canada describes as strong investment since the fourth quarter of 2025, while they cut Canadian money market holdings by $7.3bn, primarily federal and provincial paper.
Statistics Canada reports that foreign investors sold $9.2bn of Canadian equity securities in February, mainly through secondary‑market activity.
The agency says the divestment was “widespread” by sector and led by the energy and mining sector at -$9.4bn, while a record $12.1bn in foreign investment in Canadian chartered bank shares moderated the overall sell‑off.
Canadian share prices, as measured by the S&P/TSX composite index, rose 7.6 percent in February.
Against this backdrop, Global News reports that Toronto will host a global investor summit in September as the federal government seeks to “catalyse $1tn in total investment in Canada over the next five years.”
In his pitch for the first‑ever Canada Investment Summit, Prime Minister Mark Carney calls Canada “an energy superpower” with “the most educated workforce in the world and rock-solid fiscal strength.”
He says the summit will “help drive billions in new investments into Canada,” especially in clean energy, critical minerals, new technologies and artificial intelligence.
