While there are various dividend investing strategies, investors tend to choose between dividend growth investing, dividend income investing or a mix of both. At first, dividend growth should be prioritized to build the largest portfolio to retire from.

One key quality of the selected dividend stocks below is the blend of dividend yield and dividend growth. The blend is important, if not critical, as high-yield dividend stocks can be dangerous and detrimental to your portfolio down the road. Don’t make the mistake of focusing solely on the yield.

You will find some of the best Canadian stocks below. Based on market conditions, stocks will be prioritized monthly as the best buy opportunity. Keep that in mind, not seeing your favourite stock doesn’t mean it’s no longer good, it just means other options may be better valued.

Tips To Find The Best Dividend Stocks

The monthly top 10 rarely have the same ten stocks. The page is updated monthly. Be sure to return.

An important note is that the best Canadian dividend stocks are not meant to be the highest dividend yield stocks. Here is how I categorize yields.

Over 6% is a risky yield (unless there is a market crash) or it comes from advanced investing instruments (think covered calls)
Between 4% and 6% is high yield (company has consistent excess cash)
Between 2% and 4% is normal yield
Under 2% is low yield with higher stock growth

The list is not about finding a stock that pays income in retirement. It’s about building wealth with dividend growth during the accumulation years. Investing for retirement income is a little more complicated when withdrawal and taxes come into play.

As a note, REITs rarely make the top 10 as they have abysmal distribution growth. Rogers Sugar will also not make it to the top either, it behaves too much like a bond.

Note that you need access to specialized dividend data to screen dividend stocks. The number of consecutive years a dividend is increased isn’t a free data point, unlike the stock price or the dividend payout ratio. You should consider a screener such as Dividend Snapshot Screeners.

Dividend Earner’s Favorite Dividend Stocks

While the stock market changes daily, some stocks are core holdings from my perspective. These stocks tend to operate in an oligopoly business, with strong and stable revenue growth that provides consistent dividend growth.

Can you stomach holding all your money in these top Canadian dividend stocks?

TickerKey	Ticker	Company	Sector	Industry	Score	Quote	Market Cap	P/E	FPE	EPS	Yield	PayoutRatio	Payments	Dividend	Chowder	Growth Rating	Income Rating	Tollbooth	Ambassador	Achiever	Aristocrat	King	Country	Graph	SectorID	IndustryID	Grade	MarketCapGroup
TSE:ATD	ATD	Alimentation Couche-Tard	Consumer Defensive	Grocery Stores	76.16	69.13	65.54	18.32	18.32	3.77	1.1300	19.6400	4	0.78	24.6900	9	3	Consumable - Necessities	YES	YES	YES	NO	Canada	1	4	47	A	Large Cap
TSE:WCN	WCN	Waste Connections	Industrials	Waste Management	66.43	244.68	63.22	72.76	72.76	3.36	0.7000	49.5000	4	1.26	12.8500	8	3	Tollbooth - Unregulated	YES	YES	YES	NO	Canada	1	9	110	A	Large Cap
TSE:SLF	SLF	Sun Life Financial	Financial Services	Insurance - Diversified	59.32	88.18	49.70	16.06	16.06	5.49	3.9900	60.4100	4	3.52	12.4400	6	6	Tollbooth - Unregulated	NO	YES	YES	NO	Canada	1	7	54	B	Large Cap
TSE:DOL	DOL	Dollarama Inc	Consumer Defensive	Discount Stores	55.99	190.96	52.91	43.70	43.70	4.37	0.2200	8.4000	4	0.42	13.1000	8	2	Consumable - Discretionary	YES	YES	YES	NO	Canada	1	4	34	B	Large Cap
TSE:TD	TD	TD Bank	Financial Services	Banks - Diversified	55.41	101.69	175.16	10.55	10.55	9.64	4.1300	42.4100	4	4.20	11.2700	5	6	Tollbooth - Unregulated	NO	YES	YES	NO	Canada	1	7	21	B	Large Cap
TSE:NA	NA	National Bank	Financial Services	Banks - Diversified	52.20	141.41	55.34	13.48	13.48	10.49	3.3400	45.5800	4	4.72	11.9800	5	5	Tollbooth - Unregulated	NO	YES	YES	NO	Canada	1	7	21	B	Large Cap
TSE:RY	RY	Royal Bank	Financial Services	Banks - Diversified	50.15	179.55	253.22	14.30	14.30	12.56	3.4300	46.3600	4	6.16	10.0200	5	5	Tollbooth - Unregulated	NO	YES	YES	NO	Canada	1	7	21	B	Mega Cap
TSE:IFC	IFC	Intact Financial	Financial Services	Insurance - Property & Casualty	45.91	311.91	55.63	25.22	25.22	12.37	1.7100	42.3500	4	5.32	11.3900	5	3	Tollbooth - Unregulated	NO	YES	YES	NO	Canada	1	7	56	C	Large Cap
TSE:CP	CP	Canadian Pacific Railway	Industrials	Railroads	42.34	109.95	102.30	26.69	26.69	4.12	0.8300	18.4000	4	0.91	3.0300	3	3	Tollbooth - Unregulated	NO	NO	NO	NO	Canada	1	9	78	C	Large Cap

If you can find my favourite stocks in the top 10 below, the timing to buy them is perfect.

The Top 10 Canadian Dividend Stocks To Buy Now

Technically, you can consider the below as the best Canadian dividend stocks to buy NOW. The list represents potential opportunities to consider adding to your portfolio provided the companies match your investing criteria.

The table is updated monthly, and the Dividend Snapshot Screeners are used to build the table, and that’s what I used to build my portfolio! Some picks might fit the dividend income strategy, while others might fit the dividend growth strategy.

A high dividend yield is not the priority in those rankings.
Share price within its range plays a factor as an opportunity.
Market capitalization plays a role in stability.
Historical dividend growth highlights a strong track record.
Other factors come into play for the score.

TickerKey	Ticker	Company	Sector	Industry	Score	Quote	Market Cap	P/E	FPE	EPS	Yield	PayoutRatio	Payments	Dividend	Chowder	Growth Rating	Income Rating	Tollbooth	Ambassador	Achiever	Aristocrat	King	Country	Graph	SectorID	IndustryID	Grade	MarketCapGroup
TSE:CNQ	CNQ	Canadian Natural Resources	Energy	Oil & Gas E&P	88.14	43.77	91.62	12.26	12.26	3.57	5.3700	59.8800	4	2.35	22.2300	9	8	Intermediate	YES	YES	YES	NO	Canada	1	5	69	A+	Large Cap
TSE:CPX	CPX	Capital Power Corporation	Utilities	Utilities - Independent Power Producers	78.97	54.45	8.42	11.76	11.76	4.63	4.7900	46.0500	4	2.61	10.9100	7	7	Tollbooth - Unregulated	NO	YES	YES	NO	Canada	1	12	105	A	Mid Cap
TSE:ATD	ATD	Alimentation Couche-Tard	Consumer Defensive	Grocery Stores	76.16	69.13	65.54	18.32	18.32	3.77	1.1300	19.6400	4	0.78	24.6900	9	3	Consumable - Necessities	YES	YES	YES	NO	Canada	1	4	47	A	Large Cap
TSE:GWO	GWO	Great West Life	Financial Services	Insurance - Life	75.08	50.21	46.73	12.22	12.22	4.11	4.8600	56.6500	4	2.44	10.9400	7	7	Tollbooth - Unregulated	NO	YES	YES	NO	Canada	1	7	55	A	Large Cap
TSE:IMO	IMO	Imperial Oil	Energy	Oil & Gas Integrated	73.74	110.50	56.25	11.84	11.84	9.33	2.6100	25.9500	4	2.88	19.1300	8	5	Consumable - Necessities	YES	YES	YES	NO	Canada	1	5	70	A	Large Cap
TSE:CCA	CCA	Cogeco Cable	Communication Services	Telecommunication Services	72.91	72.84	3.07	9.40	9.40	7.75	5.0600	45.4500	4	3.69	14.9600	8	8	Tollbooth - Regulated	YES	YES	YES	NO	Canada	1	2	99	A	Mid Cap
TSE:CNR	CNR	Canadian National Railway	Industrials	Railroads	70.57	144.12	90.44	20.18	20.18	7.14	2.4600	47.8300	4	3.55	11.9300	6	5	Tollbooth - Unregulated	YES	YES	YES	NO	Canada	1	9	78	A	Large Cap
TSE:OTEX	OTEX	Open Text Corporation	Technology	Software - Application	70.55	40.79	10.57	12.02	12.02	3.39	3.5000	42.5100	4	1.05	17.6500	7	5	Subscription	NO	NO	YES	NO	Canada	1	11	90	A	Large Cap
TSE:FTS	FTS	Fortis	Utilities	Utilities - Regulated Electric	69.38	64.30	32.25	19.43	19.43	3.31	3.8300	48.4000	4	2.46	9.0000	6	6	Tollbooth - Regulated	NO	YES	YES	NO	Canada	1	12	106	A	Large Cap
TSE:TOU	TOU	Tourmaline Oil	Energy	Oil & Gas E&P	69.15	63.35	23.73	18.74	18.74	3.38	2.2100	99.2700	4	1.40	25.6800	8	3	Intermediate	NO	NO	YES	NO	Canada	1	5	69	A	Large Cap