Foreign investors bought $10.23 billion worth of Canadian securities in December, sealing a new annual record for purchases of bonds, stocks and money market paper, Statistics Canada said on Friday.

Net securities' investment from outside Canada in 2016 totaled $161.28 billion. The previous yearly high was the $127.69 billion seen in 2010.

In December, foreigners bought $9.71 billion in stocks, most of it accounted for by purchases on the secondary market. Canadian share prices rose by 1.4 per cent in December and 17.5 per cent in 2016 as a whole.

Non-resident investment in bonds slowed for the third month in a row, dropping to $2.36 billion on diminishing appetite for corporate bonds. Foreigners sold $1.83 billion in money market paper, the third divestment in four months.

Canadians bought $6.66 billion in foreign securities in December, purchasing $11.67 billion worth of stocks while selling bonds and money market paper. In 2016 as a whole, Canadians bought a net $13.79 billion in foreign securities, sharply down from $60.24 billion in 2015.