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From the Collaborative Bond and Money Market Data Portal

Definition: As the name suggests, this is the reverse of the "Maple" distribution, which is issuance by foreign borrowers in CAD. "Reverse Maple" therefore is a name for a distribution of bonds, given to instruments issued by Canadian entities in any currency except Canadian dollars (CAD), in any market other than the Domestic Canadian ("Maple") market. 

Data Model: In the CMDportal Collaborative Bond and Money Market Data Model, "Reverse Maple issuance" can be filtered for by setting the Issuer country field to Canada, and selecting all values in the Instrument currency field except CAD. 

Effects on bond and money markets: There are a variety of reasons a Canadian issuer may choose to fund in currencies other than CAD, including: 

1. Scale and liquidity: the markets of other currencies such as EUR and USD are much larger than the CAD market. If a Canadian borrower needs to raise a large amount, trying to do it all in CAD may exhaust local demand and drive up the interest rate they have to pay. By going to New York or London, Canadian issuers can raise larger amounts more easily
2. Accessing different maturity tenors: The CAD market is often strongest at the 5y -10y range, meaning if an issuer wants to fund with longer-dated issuance, other markets might be better suited to meeting that demand.
3. Credit ratings constraints: Canada's domestic market generally focuses on "high quality" (investment grade) debt. Other markets, like USD, have a much larger appetite for lower-rated issues.
4. Natural hedges: Many Canadian companies are global — if a Canadian company sells its products in USD, it makes sense to have USD-denominated debt in order to be able to service it more easily.
5. Specialised markets: Accessing markets like the ESG market is currently easier in EUR. A Canadian issuer wanting to launch a "Green" project might issue in EUR because they may receive a higher "Greenium"