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The Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) will mark the 35th anniversary of the first ETF today with a special market close event commemorating a Canadian financial innovation that transformed global investing.
The world's first exchange-traded fund, the Toronto 35 Index Participation Units (TIPs), launched on March 9, 1990, according to the press release. This product served as the prototype for modern ETFs, which have since become one of the most popular investment vehicles globally.
The milestone highlights Canada's pioneering role in creating investment vehicles now used by millions worldwide, with the Canadian ETF market recently surpassing $600 billion in assets under management across more than 1,000 products, according to a TSX press release.
"We are extremely proud to see that ETFs—a Canadian invention—have changed the financial markets and the way that investors interact with markets around the world," Loui Anastasopoulos, Toronto Stock Exchange CEO, said in the announcement.
Canadian ETF Market Continues to Innovate
Canada has maintained its leadership position in ETF innovation over the decades, according to TSX. The exchange listed the world's first fixed-income ETF in 2000 and the world's first bitcoin ETF in 2021, continuing a trend of financial product development.
At the end of January 2025, TSX ETFs held over $560 billion in assets under management across 1,073 products, according to the release. In 2024, $753 billion worth of ETF units were traded in Canada, with options available on 53 ETFs through the Montréal Exchange.
Graham MacKenzie, managing director of exchange-traded products at the Toronto Stock Exchange, noted in the release, "The Canadian ETF ecosystem has experienced remarkable growth and innovation in the past 35 years."
The anniversary celebration coincides with TMX Group's recent expansion in the ETF industry. In January 2024, the company acquired VettaFi, a U.S.-based indexing and analytics firm, according to the press release.