Canadian companies raised $94.5 billion in debt on the capital markets last year, up nearly 40 per cent from 2023, according to data from LSEG Data & Analytics. Equity issuances, meanwhile, fell about 13 per cent year over year to $14.8 billion. (The Globe and Mail)

Talking point: Equity sales were the second lowest in 26 years and less than half of the $31.8 billion annual average over that period. Nitin Babbar, global co-head of equity capital markets at RBC, told The Globe many companies were waiting for interest rates to decline before selling stocks, which didn’t happen until the second half of 2024. High borrowing, meanwhile, was driven by economic uncertainty, as companies braced for unexpected costs, and by rate cuts later in the year.