RBC Capital Markets said today that the “Maple bond” market continues to enjoy dramatic growth and the larger Canadian bond market is evolving to an open global market.

At a fixed income conference it is hosting, RBC says that the bond market is undergoing accelerating change, driven by investors seeking diversification and incremental yield, globalization, shrinking government bond supply and a myriad other factors.

“The repeal of the foreign investment limit, in July 2005, has helped spark the globalization of Canada’s bond market, bringing both opportunities and challenges to issuers and investors alike,” said Larry Bates, RBC Capital Markets Global Head of Debt Capital Markets. It notes that the repeal of the foreign content limit helped the Maple bond market grow from $21.6 billion in 2005 to $28.7 billion in 2006, a 33% increase. And in the first quarter of 2007, a total of $14.4 billion in debt was issued, putting the market on pace to double last year’s issuance.

“The growth in the Canadian debt market during the past couple of years has far exceeded expectations,” said Bates. “Most experts never thought it would take off as quickly as it has. We may not be completely global yet, but we are well on our way. The evolution of the Canadian bond market is clearly in full swing.”

Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan is the conference’s keynote speaker, with RBC president and CEO Gord Nixon scheduled to issue the conference’s opening remarks.