Non-residents added $6.7 billion to their holdings of Canadian securities in February, all in Canadian bonds.

And Statistics Canada reports Canadian investors acquired $3.9 billion of foreign debt and equity securities in February, the largest outflow since March 2009 after significant divestments in January.

Non-residents acquired a further $7.8 billion of Canadian bonds in February, though at a slower pace than in January.

The agency says non-residents have added Canadian bonds to their portfolios for 14 straight months, with acquisitions totalling $100.7 billion.

Foreign investors reduced their holdings of Canadian money market instruments in February by $855 million, with about half of the divestment in provincial government paper.

Non-residents returned to trimming their holdings of federal government paper, down $315 million in February, as the market for federal government Treasury bills shrank for a fifth straight month.

Canadians resumed purchases of foreign bonds in February, adding $1.8 billion to their portfolios. Two-thirds of this investment was in U.S. government bonds, focused on the seven-year benchmark bond.

The remainder comprised purchases of both U.S. corporate bonds and non-U.S. bonds, the latter as a result of increased activity in the maple bond market.

Canadian investors also acquired $749 million of foreign money market instruments in February, adding to January's investment.

Canadians added $1.4 billion to their holdings of foreign stocks in February, the largest such investment since August 2009.