Canadian IPOs Are Back, and the Money Numbers Prove It
The Toronto Stock Exchange added 30 new equity listings in the first half of 2024, nearly triple the anemic 11 that appeared during the same period last year. The dormant years are over.
London Stock Exchange Group data shows Canadian equity capital markets pulled in $10.5 billion across primary and secondary offerings between January and June, a 78% climb from the $5.9 billion raised in H1 2023. The IPO drought that strangled dealmaking for two years snapped. Companies that had been waiting in the wings finally found buyers.
The IPO window opened fast
New equity listings drove the uptick. The 30 IPOs raised $1.8 billion in the first half, quadruple the $400 million from the same stretch last year. That shift is not cosmetic. It's capital that was sitting idle during the rate-shock years of 2022 and 2023, when underwriters could barely price a deal and institutional buyers stayed flat.
Among the largest offerings: Definity Financial, which raised $362 million in May; Neighbourly Pharmacy, which brought in $302 million in February; and Jamieson Wellness, which pulled $236 million. These are established businesses, not speculative plays. The market rewarded names with actual revenue.
Secondary offerings followed the same arc. Total secondary equity activity hit $8.8 billion in H1 2024, up from $5.5 billion a year earlier. Companies that already had public listings used the window to raise growth capital or refinance obligations. The availability of that capital, at rates borrowers could tolerate, is what changed. Not sentiment. Availability.
Debt markets stayed open through the drought
Canadian debt issuance climbed 5% year-over-year to $111 billion. That's a quieter gain than the equity numbers, but the base was higher to begin with. Investment-grade bonds and credit facilities didn't close during the downturn the way equity windows did. Borrowers with solid balance sheets could always find money, just at a higher cost.
Corporate bonds made up the bulk of debt offerings, with banks and real estate investment trusts leading issuance. The Big Six banks alone accounted for roughly $25 billion of the total, refinancing maturing paper and funding loan-book growth. Real estate issuers, hit hard by the rate cycle, raised roughly $8 billion to manage near-term maturities and avoid forced asset sales.
What the data does not show is deal velocity, how long it took to price and close. Anecdotally, IPOs that took six months to prepare in 2022 were closing in 10 weeks by mid-2024. The compression in timeline is a proxy for demand. When the book builds in two days instead of two weeks, the window is real.
The return is patchy, not universal
Toronto accounted for nearly all of the primary equity activity. The TSX Venture Exchange, historically a staging ground for junior resource issuers, remained quiet. Small-cap mining and exploration companies still can't get deals done at valuations that make sense for founders. The IPO revival is a large-cap story, concentrated in financial services, healthcare, and consumer sectors.
Geography matters too. British Columbia saw the largest volume of new listings, followed by Ontario and Alberta. Quebec lagged. Part of that is sectoral, BC's strength in mining and technology aligns with TSX listing criteria. Part of it is issuer choice. Companies that could list in New York often still do.
The rebound also hasn't yet touched venture-backed tech. No major venture exit via IPO appeared in the first half. The SPAC wave that carried a handful of Canadian tech companies public in 2020-2021 left burn scars. Institutional buyers remain skeptical of early-stage software businesses without a clear path to positive cash flow. Those deals will come, but later.
For now, the headline number is the one that matters. Canadian equity markets raised nearly twice as much capital in H1 2024 as they did a year earlier. The IPO pipeline is no longer theoretical.
The Toronto Stock Exchange added 30 new equity listings in the first half of 2024, nearly triple the anemic 11 that appeared during the same period last year. The dormant years are over.
London Stock Exchange Group data shows Canadian equity capital markets pulled in $10.5 billion across primary and secondary offerings between January and June, a 78% climb from the $5.9 billion raised in H1 2023. The IPO drought that strangled dealmaking for two years snapped. Companies that had been waiting in the wings finally found buyers.
The IPO window opened fast
New equity listings drove the uptick. The 30 IPOs raised $1.8 billion in the first half, quadruple the $400 million from the same stretch last year. That shift is not cosmetic. It's capital that was sitting idle during the rate-shock years of 2022 and 2023, when underwriters could barely price a deal and institutional buyers stayed flat.
Among the largest offerings: Definity Financial, which raised $362 million in May; Neighbourly Pharmacy, which brought in $302 million in February; and Jamieson Wellness, which pulled $236 million. These are established businesses, not speculative plays. The market rewarded names with actual revenue.
Secondary offerings followed the same arc. Total secondary equity activity hit $8.8 billion in H1 2024, up from $5.5 billion a year earlier. Companies that already had public listings used the window to raise growth capital or refinance obligations. The availability of that capital, at rates borrowers could tolerate, is what changed. Not sentiment. Availability.
Debt markets stayed open through the drought
Canadian debt issuance climbed 5% year-over-year to $111 billion. That's a quieter gain than the equity numbers, but the base was higher to begin with. Investment-grade bonds and credit facilities didn't close during the downturn the way equity windows did. Borrowers with solid balance sheets could always find money, just at a higher cost.
Corporate bonds made up the bulk of debt offerings, with banks and real estate investment trusts leading issuance. The Big Six banks alone accounted for roughly $25 billion of the total, refinancing maturing paper and funding loan-book growth. Real estate issuers, hit hard by the rate cycle, raised roughly $8 billion to manage near-term maturities and avoid forced asset sales.
What the data does not show is deal velocity, how long it took to price and close. Anecdotally, IPOs that took six months to prepare in 2022 were closing in 10 weeks by mid-2024. The compression in timeline is a proxy for demand. When the book builds in two days instead of two weeks, the window is real.
The return is patchy, not universal
Toronto accounted for nearly all of the primary equity activity. The TSX Venture Exchange, historically a staging ground for junior resource issuers, remained quiet. Small-cap mining and exploration companies still can't get deals done at valuations that make sense for founders. The IPO revival is a large-cap story, concentrated in financial services, healthcare, and consumer sectors.
Geography matters too. British Columbia saw the largest volume of new listings, followed by Ontario and Alberta. Quebec lagged. Part of that is sectoral, BC's strength in mining and technology aligns with TSX listing criteria. Part of it is issuer choice. Companies that could list in New York often still do.
The rebound also hasn't yet touched venture-backed tech. No major venture exit via IPO appeared in the first half. The SPAC wave that carried a handful of Canadian tech companies public in 2020-2021 left burn scars. Institutional buyers remain skeptical of early-stage software businesses without a clear path to positive cash flow. Those deals will come, but later.
For now, the headline number is the one that matters. Canadian equity markets raised nearly twice as much capital in H1 2024 as they did a year earlier. The IPO pipeline is no longer theoretical.
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