The Globe and Mail reports in its Friday edition that after the deal-making frenzy that was 2025, Canadian merger-and-acquisition activity slowed considerably in the first three months of 2026. The Globe's Jameson Berkow writes that $51.9-billion (U.S.) worth of M&A deals involving Canadian companies were announced during the first quarter. That is 23.6 per cent below the deal volume from the same period in 2025 and 16 per cent below the $61.8-billion (U.S.) first-quarter average over the past 10 years. Another metric that is continuing to gain momentum is the long-moribund market for stock sales. Canadian public companies issued a combined $7.4-billion in new shares during the first quarter, an increase of more than 88 per cent on a year-over-year basis. While that total is still below the $8.5-billion first-quarter average over the past 10 years, it is nonetheless a sharp rebound from the generational lows of the equity issuance market from as recently as mid-2024. "It has not just recovered, it has been very active," said Peter Miller at Bank of Montreal, the top investment bank for stock sales in the first quarter. "It has been more earnings driven versus just multiple expansion, which is healthy."