Canadian securities transactions produce $41.2-billion August outflow

International securities transactions produced a net $41.2-billion outflow from the Canadian economy in August, after a cumulative $123.8-billion inflow from January through July.

Canadian investors acquired $23.9 billion of foreign securities during the month, led by $28.9 billion in purchases of U.S. shares. That followed a $30.6-billion divestment from foreign securities in July.

Foreign investors, meanwhile, reduced their holdings of Canadian securities by $17.3 billion, their first monthly divestment of 2026. The pullback included a record $17.5-billion reduction in federal government debt instruments, partly offset by purchases of corporate and provincial bonds.

Statistics Canada released the figures October 16. It said foreign investment in Canadian securities still totalled $161.6 billion over the first eight months of 2026, compared with $27.1 billion in the same period of 2025.

The figures measure portfolio transactions rather than direct investment between affiliated companies. Statistics Canada’s next release, covering September, is scheduled for November 17.

Illustrative financial-data image. Photo by Cht Gsml via Unsplash; cropped and resized.