Canadian real estate investment trusts (REITs) helped initial public offerings in the country to rise above the benchmark index. This year, REITs comprised more than half of the IPOs.

These REITs were led by Choice Properties REIT. The company's IPO was considered to be the largest. The IPO, held last July 5, raised Can$400 million.

There was a 0.2% gain in the Standard & Poor's/TSX Composite Index (SPTSX). The last time IPO stocks outperformed the index was on 2009. Specifically, there was a 3.5% gain in eight stocks that started trading in Canada this year. This data was according to Bloomberg, which compiled data on companies with at least Can$100 million (US$96.2 million) market value.

According to a McLean & Partners in Calgary fund manager, Anil Tahiliani, "Anything yield-oriented is still doing well, outside of that it's hard to get anyone excited about putting money into resource exploration companies or energy companies."