Canadian Dividend Stocks to Buy and Mostly Forget
There are quite a few dividend payers in Canada, but the ones that provide steady dividend increases and those companies that have been paying dividends for generations is a rather short list. In that spirit, here are some Canadian stocks most dividend investors could potentially buy and forget* given they’ve paid steady dividends and tend to increase them routinely:
- Bank of Montreal (BMO) – paid dividends since 1829.
- Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS) – paid dividends since 1832.
- TD (TD) – paid dividends since 1857.
- CIBC (CM) – paid dividends since 1868.
- Royal Bank (RY) – paid dividends since 1870.
- Bell Canada Enterprises (BCE) – paid dividends since 1880 (formal records date back to 1949).
- Imperial Oil (IMO) – paid dividends since 1947.
- Canadian Utilities (CU) – paid dividends since 1950.
- Enbridge (ENB) – paid dividends since 1953.
- Fortis (FTS) – paid dividends since 1949 (increased for 40+ consecutive years!).
Here are some other selected Canadian companies that are on their way to becoming long-term dividend studs:
- National Bank (NA) – paid dividends since 1980.
- TransCanada Corporation (TRP) – paid dividends “since the early 90s” as per their Investor Relations team.
- Emera (EMA) – paid dividends since 1992.
- RioCan REIT (REI.UN) – paid dividends since 1994.
- Canadian National Railway (CNR) – paid dividends since 1996.
- Telus (T) – paid dividends since 1999.
- *And many more…
*I am not advocating you simply buy and forget what you buy or that you buy individual stocks in general. I am however stating based on the shareholder-friendly histories of these companies, if you’re going to invest in some Canadian stocks that have paid dividends for decades, in some cases generations, this might be a starting point for further research. Invest wisely.
Thanks to all the Investor Relations teams that kindly responded to my email requests for this information above.
What other Canadian stocks have paid dividends for at least 15+ years and tend to increase them every year?
Mark
My name is Mark Seed - the founder, editor and owner of My Own Advisor. As my own DIY financial advisor, I'm looking to start semi-retirement soon, sooner than most. Find out how, what I did, and what you can learn to tailor your own financial independence path. Join the newsletter read by thousands each day, always FREE.
Recently started reading this blog. Great list of stocks to start working on. Thanks
Thanks very much BRS. I hope you continue to enjoy the site and the articles. Check out the “Archives” page when you can.
CanadIan western bank didn’t make this list ?
Good point. I probably could have added CWB or Atco to this list as well. I find CWB very oil / energy stock dependent though.
Love the list! I have a few of those myself and am watching a few others on there as well. Also got to like how BNS/RY/NA /BCE to name a few have recently raised their dividends again this year!
For sure, and I’ll bet most of those will raise their dividends again next year regardless how the broader market performs.
Nice list. Thanks fr putting it together for us. Are most of the stocks on the list high yielding dividend stocks or are they lower-yielding high dividend growth stocks?
I would say there is mix of both (in this list). I haven’t done the math but I would suspect the average yield on that list is about 4%.
No matter one’s investing bias I still think diversification is key to managing risk and risk is big! As a DIY investor it’s hard managing a pile of stocks what with the hassle of research, keeping track of ACBs, rebalancing, and worrying about how many stocks are needed for optimal diversification :(. With XEI and it’s low .2% MER and ~75 stock sector diversification for the Canadian market it’s very reasonable. I’ve sold many of my individual stocks and bought XEI. The ~4% dividend is easy to take in retirement. Only one ACB to track it’s easy :).
Well that is the majority of my directly invested portfolio uncovered. The missing ones are probably held through ETFs and funds.
Even with the long dividend history, it does bother me that so much is invested in banks. UK banks were once a great investment, then they went bad.
Same Richard, I figure if I’m going to own any stocks then I best own the ones that have rewarded shareholders for a long time. Good point about UK banks, a good reminder to diversify.
Great list. TD, BNS and RY are in my portfolio. I was looking at BMO and CM too but haven’t pulled the trigger yet. Thanks for sharing.
Happy to share.
One stock that gas done well for me on the dividend front in a short period on time is Whitecap Resources TSE:WCP. It has many years to go before it could be added to your list since they just started paying dividends at the start of 2013. They have a stated policy of paying and increasing their dividend and so far they’ve followed thru. They started at 5 cents a month and just recently announced their 3rd or 4th increase up to 7 cents a month that will kick in shortly. Appears to be a very investor friendly company.
I don’t own WCP but have been looking into it. This would have been a great company to buy 5-years ago…quite the run! P/E seems a bit high, 19 for an entry point for me. Annual, rising, cash flows are a good sign, likely why the dividends have been increasing. Thanks for sharing gmf!
A couple of the many others like WCP out there… BEP.UN, CHE.UN, CGX, CMG, ESL, PBH, STN, SGY, VET…. there are many out there that offer dividends and growth… The issue you is more that we need to know what type of investors we are and what type of risks we want to take. For the record I own/have owned a few of these and have owned WCP for about 3 years now… Dividends are nice, but not always at the expense of lack of growth. Again there is a time and place in the economic cycle to own different securities… – Cheers.
Dividends are nice, but it’s total return that matters. I also agree Phil: there is a buying time and place for many companies because of their cyclical nature. With most of the companies I’ve listed in this article, they have managed to pay dividends and increase them almost every year since inception through all sorts of good and sometimes (very) bad economic cycles. Those types of companies are worth owning in my opinion outside of any broad market ETF.
Crescent Point hasn’t increased their dividend yet but it’s been a solid performer for me and returns about 7%. With the recent acquisitions they’re looking at an increase in cash flows which raises the chances they may increase the dividend, but even if they don’t its been solid and Im quite happy. I love monthly cash flows……I also own RioCan and although the stock hasn’t increased nearly as much since I bought it, I love the steady dividends and hoping they’ll increase in the future
I’m a fan of CPG as well. I figure that’s a long-term hold. Also own REI.UN in a registered account, happily DRIPping this one 🙂 Thanks for checking in Dan.
I currently own BNS and T from the list as provided… I tend to ride a little more risky though with my others, especially the past few years with a seemingly “growing market”. I like stocks that add more growth to my portfolio, with ones increasing dividends and providing capital gains too… When the tides turn (which we I’m sure will soon see) , I will shift to capitalize my gains to many listed here as I have in the past and wait out the market to cup on the downside, and then buy back into the growth potentials again… Like I said in the past, I’m not much the dividend investor like many of your readers, but there’s certainly a time and place that I’ll hold some of them in my portfolio again. Thanks for sharing! – Cheers.
I suspect the tides will turn within the year. I hope to have more money on hand to make more purchases when things crash. I wouldn’t mind eventually owning all these stocks individually, then, the rest of the my U.S. and international portfolio in indexed products. That might be my way to go. Thanks for the comment Phil!
Well Mark,
I couldn’t agree more, when i was looking over the first list I was thinking, but where is National bank of Canada?! and then later I see that you listed it. That bank has definitely been proving itself worthy of being apart of the elite banks in Canada.
Actually everything that i hold in my portfolio right now is
Telus
Rogers
Bell
Enbridge
Interpipeline
TD
NA
H&R Reit
Turns out the company’s you mentioned make up 86% of my portfolio
and they re all dripping. These guys are for the long haul!
Maybe I’m just Bias haha
Ace
Having this list almost makes it seem so simple although I’m sure there is more to it than that. Thanks for the awesome list Mark. Mr.CBB
There is much more than that for sure, but I think buying and holding many of these companies, are likely candidates for many dividend investors.
Great list. We currently own quite a number of them (13) on the list. 🙂
I hold a few as well 🙂
i have 7 from your excellent list mark. would you happen to have a similar list from the usa?
I could likely dig for that Gary, it will take time because I needed to email a number of Investor Relations reps. to confirm the content before I posted it.
Did you see this post?
https://www.myownadvisor.ca/reader-question-what-stocks-have-paid-dividends-for-generations/
thanks mark. that link works.
Most welcome Gary.
Interesting, thank you for the list. I haven’t gotten into buying individual stocks yet, but I do have a few ETFs that have many of these companies in them. I’ve been toying with doing some more research and eventually investing in stocks outside of ETFs.
No need to buy individual stocks, just that, if you are considering owning them, I think this list might be a start for your research; especially when it comes to owning companies that have proven historically they reward shareholders. I’m actually going to index invest more going-forward 🙂
Hi Mark,
This is a great summary. I need to buy more safe dividend paying stocks and this is a list to research.
I am also benefiting from Intact Financial (IFC.TO) in terms of capital gains and dividend. IFC is a long-term hold for me and I’m hoping they’ll soon increase dividend rates.
Well, “safe” is relative I suppose, but like I wrote back to Daisy, I think if you’re a fan of steady dividends and some increases every year or at least every other year, this list is a good start. In the end though, it’s total return that matters.
IFC is a long-term hold for many investors. Pretty nice recent history Suzie:
http://www.intactfc.com/English/Investor-Relations/Dividends/default.aspx
Mark
Great list, Mark. I would love to own some of them…I currently own 4 from that list – BNS, BCE, IPL and REI.UN.
I’m biased I know, but I think any company that has paid dividends for 40+ years (the top part of the list) will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. The bottom part, less history, but still solid companies that drive our economy. Thanks for sharing the article.
Six from the list.
For the record, BCE skip their quarterly dividend twice in 2008… But with 5% dividend! still a good stock.
Hemgi, good to know about BCE, they have paid dividends for a very long time, but have skipped the dividend before. There might be a few others in my list that have done the same, I would need to do further research on that. Still a very good stock.
I know this is old, but I believe the dividend was skipped not because of a poor year, but because of talks of being bought by Ontario Teacher’s Pension.
No problem Jackie. You are likely correct with the skipped payment. Most blue-chip stocks are pretty religious when it comes to dividend payments – shareholders come to expect it.
Mark,
Nice list. You guys have some pretty rich dividend histories up there!
I own TD and BNS, and I’m a happy shareholder thus far. BNS just delivered another dividend increase today. Hard to be unhappy.
Best regards.
Thanks Mantra. I was thinking investors like yourself would love this list!
Not bad as I own 13 on that list. Canadas banks dominate here
Absolutely. Amazing dividend histories really.