TORONTO (Reuters) - One nation's crisis is another's bonanza.

To the delight of Canadian investment banks and the satisfaction of provincial finance officials, Canadian debt is benefiting from the fiscal woes that have gripped Greece and threatened to envelop other European countries.

As confidence in Europe erodes, the attraction of Canada, with its stable economy and rising currency, has grown ever stronger for international investors looking for sure-fire returns, underwriters say. "From the outside in, Canada has never been under such a positive spotlight ... and it started when the troubles, especially across the pond, started rearing their ugly heads," Alex Corley-Smith, managing director of debt capital markets at BNP Paribas, said at a recent Euromoney forum in Toronto. Net foreign acquisitions of Canadian securities, predominantly bonds, jumped to an unprecedented C$109.37 billion ($107.6 billion) in 2009, about twice the amount of the previous record in 2004.

Non-residents invested C$82.5 billion in Canadian bonds in 2009, almost equally split between net new issues and secondary market purchases. They added a further C$7.8 billion in February, the last month for which data is available, with mortgage bonds attracting sizable amounts of foreign funds.

"Everyone within the 'Maple Leaf Inc' is painted in a wonderful glow at the moment. When they meet investors internationally, they automatically have doors opened to them," Corley-Smith said.

Last week, Standard & Poor's cut its ratings on Spain by one notch to AA from AA-plus, cut Greece's credit rating to junk status and slashed its ratings on Portugal. But S&P affirmed Canada's AAA rating on April 23 and lauded the country for having the strongest finances of any Group of Seven country.