Foreign investors continued to scoop up Canadian securities in March, but not enough to help the loonie, says BMO Nesbitt Burns.

Statistics Canada reported international securities transaction data this morning, showing that international investors took home a whopping $6.2 billion of Canadian bonds in the month. This was the largest inflow since July 1994.

For the first quarter, bonds took in a total $8.9 billion, the biggest amount in over four years. BMO Nesbitt notes that, “corporate bonds took in the lion’s share with a net inflow of $4.5 billion, followed by purchases of federal debt to the tune of $2.9 billion.”

Canadian equities also attracted some buyers for the third month in a row. “A net $6.1 billion of new investment flowed into Canadian stocks in Q1, a not too shabby result considering the TSE 300 dropped 15% in the period. However, the first quarter’s activity was not enough to reverse Q4’s huge outflow,” says BMO.

At the end of the day though the action has left the Canadian dollar with minimal support. “While there was a moderate net inflow in March, portfolio inflows were in a small deficit in Q1, keeping downward pressure on the loonie,” concludes BMO.