While debt market activity was down in the first half of the year in Canada, equity issuance rose, according to new data from LSEG Data & Analytics.
Through the first six months of the year, firms raised a total of $10.8 billion in new equity on Canadian markets — up 6% from the same period last year.
The volume of equity deals was even stronger, rising 20% year over year, LSEG reported.
The vast majority of the dealmaking came from secondary offerings, with the total raised increasing 3% year over year.
The initial public offering market remained quiet, with just one IPO in the first half.
Issuers also raised $1.2 billion in preferred securities, and retail structured product issuance rose as well, LSEG said.
RBC Capital Markets led the overall equity underwriter league tables, followed by CIBC World Markets Inc., TD Securities Inc., National Bank Financial Inc. and Scotiabank.
CIBC ranked first in the preferred share league tables, while Canaccord Genuity led in structured products.
On the debt side, new issue activity declined, with overall deal value dropping 11% to $142.9 billion. The volume of debt deals also fell 12% year over year.
While government debt issuance declined 6% this year, corporate issuance was weaker still — down 17% in the first half compared with the same period in 2024.
RBC also topped the overall debt league tables. BMO Capital Markets ranked second, TD was third, while CIBC and Scotiabank rounded out the top five.
While RBC led the corporate debt tables with a 27% market share, BMO edged it out for top spot in government debt underwriting. BMO jumped to first place from fifth in 2024.