The Globe and Mail reports in its Thursday edition global mergers and acquisition volumes are at multiyear highs, and Canada has benefited from that momentum, boosting the country's investment banks in the first nine months of the year. The Globe's Jacqueline Nelson writes according to data from Thomson Reuters, the value of M&A deals involving a Canadian buyer or seller was up to $149.8-billion in the first three quarters, from $111.3-billion in the same period last year (all figures U.S.). RBC Dominion Securities advised more Canadian M&A deals than any other bank, with $43.6-billion worth of transactions, including a slice of the largest deal this year so far -- the $14.6-billion tie-up of Tim Hortons and Burger King. While RBC's fast-food deal was a standout to RBC, so was SNC-Lavalin's sale of AltaLink LP to Berkshire Hathaway. As confident business leaders and relatively strong share prices encourage deals, financing has followed. Peter Buzzi, co-head of mergers and acquisitions at RBC, noted the tendency of Canadian pension funds to invest overseas, as well as Canadian corporations making investments outside of Canada, but adds that these trends have been in place for several years.