Overseas investors purchased $13.7 billion of Canadian bonds in February, the largest monthly investment since May 2010, according to Statistics Canada.
The investments were led by $10.2 billion of federal government bond purchases from both new issues and secondary market acquisitions. Most of these purchases were in shorter term-to-maturity federal bonds.
The remainder of the activity in Canadian bonds was largely related to foreign purchases of new bonds issued by public and private corporations.
Foreign investors added $442 million of Canadian stocks to their portfolios in February, after a $1.5 billion divestment in January. Foreign investment was all in new issues of Canadian shares.
In contrast, secondary market activity resulted in a second month of net sales by non-residents. Canadian stock prices were up 1.5% in February, the second consecutive monthly increase.
