Foreign investment in Canadian securities totalled $20.8 billion in October, led by record acquisitions of Canadian bonds. At the same time, Canadian investors increased their holdings of foreign securities by $16.5 billion, mainly purchases of US shares.

Since the beginning of the year, foreign acquisitions of Canadian securities have totalled $171.0 billion. Nearly three-quarters of this was in instruments issued by Canadian private corporations; mainly bonds denominated in foreign currencies. Foreign investment in Canadian private corporate bonds has been significant in recent years, as these firms were actively raising funds abroad through the issuance of bonds, in the context of continued low interest rates.