Event17 February 2026Document

StatCan: most of 2025's foreign 'selling' of Canadian stocks was shares retired in takeovers and buybacks

Foreign investors reduced their holdings of Canadian shares by C$19.4B in 2025, but C$13.2B of that was shares retired through buybacks and takeovers; net sales in the secondary market were C$6.3B (Statistics Canada, 17 February 2026). Shares retired in foreign takeovers reappear as direct investment, so 'net sellers of stocks' partly means foreigners bought whole companies.

Date

17 February 2026

Kind

Other

Where

Canada

Evidence

Document: An official document: a bill, a filing, an agreement text. How evidence is weighed

Who

Statistics Canada (acted)

Sources

• Statistics Canada, “The Daily: Canada's international transactions in securities, December 2025” (external site), 17 February 2026. source record

Claims that rest on this event

• SupportsMechanism

  Official forecasts show no boom (about 1.1% growth in 2026, from Finance Canada and the Parliamentary Budget Officer), and much of the record foreign direct investment in 2025 was takeovers and reinvested earnings rather than new investment.

  Most of 2025's foreign 'selling' of Canadian stocks was shares retired in takeovers and buybacks: the figures reflect companies changing hands more than new investment.