While Canadian equity activity retreated, debt issuance climbed in the first quarter, according to new data from LSEG Data & Analytics.
The firm reported that Canadian debt issuance rose 24% in the first quarter to $79 billion (all figures in Canadian dollars), amid a surge in government debt issuance ($47 billion worth), and a more modest increase in corporate new issue activity.
With governments accounting for over half of the new issue activity, the financial sector led the corporate side, followed by issuers in the energy and power sector.
RBC Capital Markets led the debt underwriting league tables, and was tops in corporate debt, knocking off last year’s leader in both categories, BMO Capital Markets, which slipped to fourth place overall and third place in corporate debt.
CIBC World Markets ranked second overall, followed by TD Securities Inc., with Scotiabank rounding out of the top five in LSEG’s overall debt rankings.
While BMO slipped in the debt market rankings, on the equity side, it ranked first overall, pushing RBC down to second spot. Scotia ranked third, followed by National Bank Financial (NBF), which led the way in the rankings for retail structured products. U.S. giant, JP Morgan, rounded out the top five.
According to the data, equity issuance was down by 55% in the first quarter, compared with the fourth quarter of 2025, coming in at $7.4 billion.
First quarter equity issuance was driven by $6.1 billion in secondary offerings, and $613 million in structured products, LSEG reported — while there were just a couple of initial public offerings (IPOs) recorded in the quarter.
The materials sector led the way, accounting for $2.7 billion in quarterly new issue activity, followed by health care at $1.2 billion, and industrials at $1 billion.