M&A deal value jumped 17 percent to $209.7 billion in the period, up from $178.9 billion from a year ago, according to Thomson Reuters data. It was the best first nine months since 2007. Full-year figures will be available in January.

Morgan Stanley (>> Morgan Stanley), Barclays Plc (>> Barclays PLC) and Royal Bank of Canada (>> Royal Bank of Canada) were the top three advisers for Canadian M&A in the period, followed by Goldman Sachs (>> Goldman Sachs Group Inc), JPMorgan (>> JPMorgan Chase & Co.) and Bank of Montreal (>> Bank of Montreal). CIBC (>> Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce) took the third position among Canadian banks.

The biggest deal of the year so far is Enbridge Inc's (>> Enbridge Inc) planned acquisition of Spectra Energy Corp (>> Spectra Energy Corp.) at about $28 billion (C$37 billion). A move by Canadian fertilizer producers Potash Corp of Saskatchewan Inc (>> Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan Inc) and Agrium Inc (>> Agrium Inc.) to combine in a merger of equals was another highlight.

"Investors in the market broadly are strongly endorsing these deals. People are very supportive of strategic M&A," said Derek Neldner, RBC's head of Canadian investment banking, who noted that there were several transformational deals this year.

"Fundamentally we find M&A activity is driven by confidence - board of director and management confidence," he added.

RBC helped advise Potash Corp in its deal with Agrium, and Enbridge in its deal with Spectra.

After a lull in recent quarters, the traditional driver of Canadian deal activity - mining and resource M&A - has begun to pick up.

"We're starting to see a slow but steady rebound in the resource sectors, and that generally leads to more M&A and fundraising," said Bruce Rothney, chief executive of Barclays Canada.

"There's some evidence of a turning point in mining and, to a degree, oil and gas."

Barclays advised Agrium and Spectra on their respective blockbuster deals.

Other highlights of the year include TransCanada's (>> TransCanada Corporation) $10.2 billion acquisition of Columbia Pipeline Group and Fortis Inc's (>> Fortis Inc) proposed $11.3 billion purchase of ITC Holdings Corp (>> ITC Holdings Corp.), which is expected to close by the end of the year.

(Reporting by John Tilak; Editing by Bernadette Baum)

By John Tilak