TSX Dual Listed Stocks: The Complete List

Dividend Earner

Dividend Earner

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4 min read • Affiliate Disclosure

As a Canadian, to build up US funds, I have held dual-listed stocks on the US stock exchange to earn dividends in US dollars. When the currency exchange is not on par, that’s one way to generate cash in US dollars. Most so when the dividend paid is already declared in US dollars.

The process of transferring a share across both stock exchanges is called ‘journaling’. It is a term used by discount brokers for moving dual-listed stocks between exchanges.

The result is that you can hold Canadian blue chip companies in US currencies generating US dividends. I had many readers asking me the question of how to do this as it is a way to get around currency fees to some extent.

Before you look into the process, make sure your discount broker supports it and that you have a proper US cash account. Many discount brokers already support it such as RBC Direct Investing or TD Direct Investing.

What Are Dual-Listed Stocks?

First, you need a company that trades on both exchanges. Most of the Canadian Blue Chip stocks are present on both the TSX and the NYSE. When you think about it, a share of Royal Bank on the TSX is the same as a share on the NYSE from the perspective of owning a piece of the company.

Keep in mind that income taxes have different rules based on the country of residence and the provenance of the dividends (not the currency of the dividends).

Benefits of Dual-Listed Stocks

One main benefit is that you can choose to earn the dividends in either currency. As it stands, my RRSP account for my dividend portfolio is mostly in US currency. The main reason is that there is no dividend withholding tax for foreign dividends (excluding MLPs) in an RRSP.

A note on investing in US Companies:

  • The US is a large market with many large conglomerates providing international exposure.
  • Exposure to new sectors with little representation in Canada.

A secondary benefit is that you incur no currency exchange fees in the process for companies that pay in USD, such as Brookfield Asset Management or Thompson Reuters. Below is a comprehensive list of stocks you can use. To execute a straight currency exchange, I simply use DLR and DLR.U as it has very little fee.

The process of buying on the TSX and having your share transferred over to the NYSE (and vice versa) is called ‘journalling’ your shares to the other exchange.

Once your transaction has settled, which takes two days, you can ask your favourite discount broker to do the journalling of your Canadian dual-listed stock.

With RBC Direct Investing, it is free, and they adjust the book value for accounting. There may be a fee with other discount brokers, and you should inquire.

Corporation Dividend Currency

Many Canadian companies operate in USD and pay dividends in USD. If you hold them in a CAD account, the dividend is automatically converted by the company at payout. You cannot hold in one currency account and be paid in the other currency account (that would be nice).

If you don’t want your dividends to go through an exchange rate, hold it in the currency account of the dividend currency by switching it to the other account.

It’s also another way to build up USD in your portfolio by buying the stocks in CAD dollars but then switching it over to the USD portion of your account.

Discount Broker Requirements

As a note of caution, to manage US stocks in your portfolio effectively, you need dual currency accounts.

Ensure your discount broker provides those (with no fees, if possible). Otherwise, you lose a lot of the benefits that come with holding the US investments.

Canadian Dual Listed Stocks

Below is a list of all the stocks on the Dividend Snapshot Screener that also trade on the NYSE, sorted by market capitalization. A large part of my portfolio is invested in US companies and is therefore in US dollars for the simple reason that the US is a much bigger economy than Canada.

The previous table above represents the subset of dual-listed stocks paying in USD, whereas the following table represents the stocks that trade on both exchanges.