Foreign Investment Hiked in August

Offshore investors poured into Canada in August.

Figures released Monday by Statistics Canada revealed foreign investors in Canadian securities rose the month before last to $12.74 billion from $9.10 billion in July, led by acquisition of bonds on the secondary market

The agency revised July's purchases by non-residents from an initial $5.23 billion to reflect the late arrival of data.

Investors from other countries bought $8.97 billion in Canadian bonds, most of them corporate. They also invested $2.6 billion in stocks and $1.17 billion in corporate paper.

Foreign purchases of Canadian securities from January to August hit a record $108.14 billion, much higher than the $71.66 billion amassed in the first eight months of 2015.

Over the same period, Canadians' net investment in foreign securities plunged to $1.6 billion in August from $4.59 billion in July, as purchases of foreign stocks were offset by sales of bonds and money market paper.

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