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The B.C. Securities Commission (BCSC) has issued its annual BC Capital Market Report 2022, which shows that capital-raising in the province declined for the first time six years. Even with the decline, 2022 was B.C.’s third-most active year ever for capital-raising.
“B.C.’s investment markets are cyclical in nature,” said John Hinze, the BCSC’s Corporate Finance Director. “The global markets in 2022 showed volatility, due in part to the pandemic, supply-chain issues, inflation, and interest rate hikes. These factors led to a global equity market downturn which, in turn, affected B.C.’s capital market.”
The report combines information from BCSC records and other publicly available information to provide a snapshot of capital-raising activities of B.C. companies and investment funds globally, and capital provided by B.C. investors for non-B.C. companies and investment funds.
After five years of consecutive growth in capital-raising, averaging 12 per cent per year, activity in B.C.’s capital market fell 17 per cent in 2022.
Most sectors and sub-sectors that the BCSC tracks – mining, technology and communication, oil and gas, forestry and utilities, real estate, bio-tech and cannabis – saw declines in capital-raising in 2022, with the exception of banking and finance, which increased 8 per cent.
