Canada opens its borders

A change in regulation allowing investors to hold more debt issued by non-Canadian entities has proved a fillip to the country's bond markets. Nadia Damouni looks at how the credit markets in Canada are evolving

Historically the Canadian bond market has not been amongst the global capital markets' top performers, generating meagre returns of between 2% and 3%. A still-slowly maturing local bond market that is being held back by non-centralised regulatory procedures and a traditionally conservative investor nature can partly explain this.

On the supply side, investors have been left with slim pickings in their hunt for new ways to diversify their portfolios as local financial institutions, government and