10 Best Canadian Dividend Stocks For August 2023

While there are various dividend investing strategies, investors tend to choose between dividend growth investing, dividend income investing or a mix of both.

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.

You should consider these dividend stocks for a core dividend income portfolio to generate retirement income or as a foundation for your dividend growth portfolio. You can find many present in my portfolio.

Tips To Find The Best Dividend Stocks

The monthly top 10 rarely have the same 10 stocks. The page is updated monthly. Be sure to come back, or better yet, follow the top 10 with the Canadian Dividend Screener.

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.

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. You should consider a screener such as Dividend Snaspshot Screeners.

Dividend Earner’s Favorite Dividend Stocks

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

Can you stomach to hold all your money in those companies?

If you can find my favorite 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. Yield is not the priority,

Below are more details on each of the stocks.

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Canadian Natural Resources

Canadian Natural Resources is a diversified and independent energy producer in the world. It is the largest independent natural gas and heavy crude oil producer in Canada.  It operates a balanced mix of natural gas, light crude oil, heavy crude oil, and oil sands. The company holds some of the best oil sand assets in North America, particularly thermal in situ properties, having tremendous growth potential.

The company’s business can be broadly classified into Exploration and Production (North America, North Sea, offshore Africa), Oil Sands Mining and Upgrading, and Midstream and Refining segments. The Exploration and Production segment is Canadian Natural’s core business, while the other two businesses provide a nice diversification.

Canadian Natural Resources has a balanced mix of natural gas, light crude oil, heavy crude oil, bitumen, and SCO. The company also owns midstream assets consisting of two crude oil pipeline systems and cogeneration plants, which enables the transportation of heavy crude oil in international markets.

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Agnico Eagle Mines

Agnico Eagle is a leading gold miner having an extensive experience of more than 60 years. The company has mines in Canada, Finland, and Mexico. Agnico’s exploration activities are conducted across these countries as well as in the US and Sweden. The company focuses on low cost high potential regions to drive future growth.

Agnico has a sound track record of exceeding its production targets. It produced 1.63 million ounces of gold and outperformed its cost guidance by approximately 2% in the last year. As an operator of high-quality gold mining business, Agnico has superior quality gold reserves and its gold grade is more than double that of its peers in North America.

The company is expecting to drive a new growth phase, over the next five years, on the back of its current project pipeline. It provides its shareholders with full exposure to gold prices.

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First National Financial

First National Financial Corp is Canada’s largest non-bank mortgage lender. In the last thirty years of its business, the company has built a leading reputation in real estate financing with over $106 billion in Mortgages Under Administration and is the largest commercial mortgage lender in the country today.

More than 80% of the MUA is insured mortgages, followed by conventional style family residential mortgages (13%) and multi-unit residential and commercial mortgages (6%). It maintains diverse and flexible funding sources and is known for its prudent and conservative underwriting practices.

Size, large national presence and focus on mortgage financing are key differentiators for the company. The Canadian mortgage market is valued at over $1.1 trillion and given its leading reputation, First National is in a good position to benefit from this opportunity.

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Cogeco

Cogeco Inc. is a leading telecommunication and media company based in North America. The company provides cable TV, telephone, and Internet to customers in Ontario, Quebec, and some parts of the US.

The company operates through two subsidiaries - Cogeco Communications (cable, broadband services) and Cogeco Media (radio) and  reports its results through two operating segments: Communications (95% of 2017 revenues) and Other (5%). By geography, Canada accounts for 76% of the company’s revenues while the US constitutes the balance 24%.

Cogeco owns an extensive and advanced network of communication infrastructure consisting of long distance fibre optic systems, advanced hybrid fibre-coaxial broadband distribution networks, point-to-point fibre networks and fibre-to-the-home network technologies. It also owns and operates 13 radio stations across Quebec.

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Power Corporation

Power Corporation is a diversified international management company engaging in financial services, asset management, and renewable energy businesses.

The company has a presence in North America, Europe, and Asia and caters to more than 30 million customers worldwide. Power Corporation has a diversified business model and operates through its subsidiaries like Power Financial, Power Energy, Sagard Funds, China Asset Management, and Square Victoria Communications Group.

Its principal asset is its controlling interest in Power Financial. Power Corporation manages businesses and investments capable of generating sustainable and stable earnings growth. Founded in 1925, today Power Corporation owns some of the strongest financial service brands in North America and Europe.

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CCL Industries

CCL Industries is a leading specialty label, security, and packaging solutions company. The company engages in manufacturing labels, consumer printable media products, and specialty films.

CCL business which is the largest of all, supplies innovative labels to Home & Personal Care customers, Food & Beverage companies, Healthcare & Specialty business. CCL Secure supplies polymer banknote substrate, pressure sensitive stamps, passport components, and other security products to government institutions as well. The company has 165 production facilities in 40 countries across six continents.

By geography, North America is its largest market accounting for over 40% of total sales, followed by Europe (35%) and emerging markets (25%). The company operates through CCL (63% of revenues), Avery (14%), Checkpoint (14%), and Innovia (9%) segments.

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goeasy

goeasy Ltd. is a leading leasing and lending company in Canada. The company offers both non-prime leasing and lending services through its easyhome and easyfinancial segments.

easyhome (~21% of revenues) is Canada’s largest lease-to-own company. easyfinancial (~89%) is goeasy’s financial services arm that provides installment loans to non-prime customers having limited access to traditional bank financing products.

As a leading full-service provider of goods and alternative financial services, goeasy operates through online and mobile channels, as well as over 400 leasing and lending locations across Canada from coast-to-coast. The company has served over 1 million Canadians and originated over $4.4 billion in loans.

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Enghouse Systems

Enghouse Systems is a software and services company engaging in developing and selling enterprise oriented applications software. Enghouse is headquartered in Canada and has offices in over 20 countries.

The company operates through three divisions, interactive, networks and transportation to address the different vertical markets. It has two business segments, Interactive management group which provides customer interaction software (55% of 2018 revenues) and Asset management group that offers operations support systems, mobile value-added services systems and data conversion systems (45%).

Enghouse’s solutions cater to enhance customer service, increase efficiency and improve communications for banks, insurance, utility, technology, hospitality companies, etc. By geography, the U.S. accounted for 30% of total revenues in 2018, followed by 19% from the U.K., Europe (18%), Scandinavia (24%), Asia-Pacific (6%), and Canada (3%).

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Scotia Bank

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Cogeco Cable

Cogeco Communications is a leading North American communications company. It engages in providing internet, video and telephony services to residential and business customers. Cogeco Communications is a subsidiary of Cogeco Inc. The company operates as Cogeco Connexion in Canada, and Atlantic Broadband in 11 US states. Cogeco Communications Inc. provides a suite of information technology services to its business customers.

It is also the eighth largest cable operator in North America and operates 13 radio stations across Quebec through its subsidiary Cogeco Media. Cogeco Communications has three business segments: Canadian broadband services (60% of earnings), American broadband services (33%) and Business information and communications technology services (7%).

It has a strong presence in North America. Cogeco Communications owns extensive two-way broadband fiber networks, 16 data centers, and spectrum licenses of significant capacity. The company is known for providing superior internet speeds and video services and has developed sticky customer relationships in the last six decades of existence.

Key Investment Data