What percentage of Canada's federal debt is owned by domestic investors in 2025?

1. What the headline numbers say — marketable debt and foreign holdings

Recent market reporting put non‑resident holdings of Government of Canada debt at roughly $512 billion, about 36% of total outstanding marketable federal securities as of March 2025, a share well above historical averages and close to late‑2024 highs ^[1]. Taking that 36% figure at face value means domestic investors—Canadian banks, pension funds, insurers, mutual funds and other resident institutions—own the flip side, roughly 64% of marketable federal debt (100% − 36% = 64%) ^[1].

2. Why other numbers produce slightly different percentages

Alternate tallies complicate a single percentage claim: one commentator cites Statistics Canada data showing $527 billion held by international portfolio investors as of February 2025, and interprets that figure in ways that produce different implied foreign‑share percentages depending on which total‑debt denominator is used ^[3]. The government’s accounting measure of federal “debt” (the accumulated deficit) stood at $1,266.5 billion at March 31, 2025, per the Annual Financial Report, but that accounting aggregate is not identical to the stock of marketable securities tracked in investor‑ownership statistics ^[2]. Using the accounting aggregate without adjusting for definitional differences can overstate or understate the foreign share if compared to marketable‑securities holdings that form the investor base ^{[2] [3]}.

3. Which definition matters for the question being asked

The user’s question — percentage of federal debt “owned by domestic investors” — most naturally maps to ownership of marketable Government of Canada securities (bonds and treasury bills), since those are the instruments investors directly hold and trade; Statistics Canada and market commentators report non‑resident holdings specifically in those securities ^{[1] [3]}. By that marketable‑securities measure, contemporaneous reporting in 2025 puts non‑resident ownership at roughly 36–41% based on different sources and time snapshots, implying domestic ownership in the neighborhood of 59–64% ^{[1] [3] [4]}. The smaller the foreign share reported, the larger the domestic share; the spread reflects timing, valuation (book vs market), and which instruments are included (domestic currency vs foreign‑currency debt) ^{[4] [5]}.

4. Market context that explains the split

Institutional Canadian buyers absorbed large chunks of Ottawa’s issuance in early 2025: Statistics Canada and market commentary note that institutional investors registered record quarterly net purchases of federal bonds in Q1‑2025, effectively soaking up much of Ottawa’s new issuance when non‑residents stepped back at the start of the year ^{[6] [1]}. The Department of Finance’s debt management plans show large gross issuance and significant refinancing needs in 2024–26—features that attract a diverse investor base and make shifts in foreign demand salient to financing costs and liquidity ^{[5] [7]}.

5. Caveats, competing narratives and data limits

Public reporting is clear that foreign participation has risen in recent years, but the precise domestic share in 2025 depends on methodology: some commentators conflate marketable securities with broader accounting debt measures, producing divergent percentages ^{[3] [2]}. Official releases (Statistics Canada tables and government debt reports) provide the granular data needed to reconcile definitions, but the readily quoted headlines vary by source and quarter ^{[6] [1]}. Given those documented discrepancies, the most defensible answer from available reporting is that domestic investors owned roughly two‑thirds of marketable federal debt in early 2025 (around 60–65%), with non‑residents holding about one‑third (roughly 36%) according to contemporaneous market reporting ^{[1] [6] [3]}.