What percentage of Canadian sovereign debt is owned by foreign central banks versus private investors?
Executive summary
Canada’s marketable federal debt is predominantly held domestically—about 71% of Government of Canada market debt was held by Canadian investors in 2022–23, leaving roughly 29% in the hands of non‑resident (foreign) investors [1] [2]. The sources provided do not publish a definitive split of that foreign 29% into holdings by foreign central banks (official creditors) versus foreign private investors for Canada specifically, so any precise percentage breakdown cannot be credibly stated from the reporting at hand [2] [1] [3].
1. The headline numbers: domestic versus foreign ownership
Official Government of Canada reporting and summaries show that about 71% of marketable Government of Canada debt was held by Canadian investors in the 2022–23 fiscal year, implying that non‑resident investors held the remaining c.29% of marketable federal securities [1] [2].
2. Who sits inside the “foreign” bucket — broad categories, not exact shares
Public commentary and market reporting make clear that non‑resident buyers include a mix of foreign central banks and other official holders, sovereign wealth funds, insurance companies, pension funds, banks, hedge funds and portfolio investors, but the sources here do not give an official Canada‑specific percentage split between foreign official (central bank) and foreign private ownership [4] [1] [3].
3. Recent market developments that complicate a static split
Analysts at National Bank noted that foreign investors absorbed roughly 60% of newly issued federal debt in 2024–25—an unusually large share of new issuance that can alter the composition of holders quickly even if the stock position lags—yet that finding refers to the flow of issuance, not the stock breakdown of who ultimately holds all outstanding securities, and it does not isolate foreign central bank versus foreign private shares [4].
4. Data points that illuminate, but don’t close, the question
Statistics Canada reporting cited in independent analysis indicated international portfolio investors owned roughly $527 billion of federal debt securities as of February 2025, which signals a large role for private portfolio buyers among non‑residents, but the figure alone cannot be converted into a percent split between foreign central banks and foreign private investors without a matching, contemporaneous total‑debt denominator and an official breakdown by owner type [3] [1].
5. What academic and international datasets say about splitting holders (and why Canada matters)
Research papers and datasets assembled by BIS/CEPR/IMF teams show how sovereign‑debt ownership is commonly disaggregated into domestic versus foreign and into official (largely central banks) versus private banks and non‑bank investors, and these studies demonstrate that the official/private split varies substantially across countries and over time—meaning analogies from other countries (for instance, the U.S. foreign holdings split reported by Congress for U.S. Treasuries) are informative but not definitive for Canada [5] [6] [7] [8].
6. Conclusion and limits of available reporting
The most defensible, evidence‑based answer from the provided material is that non‑residents held about 29% of Government of Canada marketable debt in 2022–23 and that foreign holders comprise both official (central bank) and private investors; however, the exact percentage breakdown between foreign central banks and foreign private investors for Canada is not specified in the sources supplied and therefore cannot be stated with authority from this reporting [1] [2] [3]. To obtain a precise split, the holder‑by‑owner‑type tables from Statistics Canada, the Department of Finance debt‑management reports, or Bank of Canada custody/holdings publications would be the primary next stops [3] [1].