International Transactions in Securities in Canada

Measures the net monthly transactions in securities (bonds, money-market instruments and equities) between Canadian residents and non-residents. It forms part of the financial account of the balance of payments and is published by Statistics Canada.

Taken from the International transactions in securities release, broken down by instrument and issuer; the headline figure is net flows, that is purchases minus sales, in Canadian dollars.

It is a meaningful flow for the Canadian dollar: strong foreign inflows into Canadian securities tend to lift the CAD, while outflows into foreign securities weigh on it. It is watched alongside the trade balance as a gauge of the financial account.

It is a highly volatile series from month to month, driven by one-off large deals such as sovereign or corporate issuance, and is subject to revisions in later releases.