Foreign investors flocked back into Canadian securities in October.

“Surprisingly, in a month when the Canadian dollar set a new record low and interest rates traded in a tight range until the last few days, foreigners pumped up their net holdings of Canadian securities by $13.5 billion,” says BMO Nesbitt Burns.

The firm notes that the month’s net foreign investment in October more than offset the upwardly revised $8.7 billion divestment in September.

Most of the buying was in U.S. dollar-denominated corporate bonds, reflecting record issuance by Canadian firms in international markets, it says. Year-to-date, foreigners have purchased $31.4 billion of Canadian bonds, a small fraction of which is denominated in Canadian dollars. Foreigner investors also shed $2.1 billion of Canadian stocks, slashing the net investment this year to just $1.6 billion.

At the same time, Canadians reduced their holdings of foreign stocks and bonds by $3.4 billion. “Although investment in foreign bonds is down for the year thus far, Canadians are still on pace to have the second largest net investment abroad on record,” it says.