Canadian investors snapped up foreign securities in June, Statistics Canada said today.

Statistics Canada said today that Canadians bought $4 billion worth in the month after snapping up $10 billion worth in May.

The June purchases continue a trend of heavy purchases for a 17th consecutive month.

Foreign purchases of Canadian securities, on the other hand, declined substantially to a nominal $343 million in June from $5.9 billion in May.

The agency says Canadians also surpassed a record set in March by acquiring a further $5.6 billion in foreign bonds in June.

And they sold $864 million of foreign money market paper, the highest selloff since August 2005.

Non-residents decreased their holdings of Canadian equities, divesting $846 million worth in June, but they bought a record $4.5 billion of Canadian money market paper, $4.1 billion of which was issued by the federal government and its enterprises.

The June selloff of outstanding Canadian shares by foreign investors was $1.1 billion, StatsCan said.

American and British residents led investment in Canadian short-term paper, acquiring $3.8 billion and $1.1 billion respectively.

Foreign holdings of Canadian bonds dipped by $3.3 billion, due mainly to a $3.7 billion selloff of federal government issues.