Canadian Dividend Aristocrats – The Top Aristocrats in March 2024

Posted on March 13, 2024 by Dan Kent
Canadian Dividend Aristocrats List

Suppose you're looking for the best dividend stocks to add to your TFSA or RRSP today. In that case, you need to look at Canadian Dividend Aristocrats.

Canadian Dividend aristocrats are famous, especially to newcomers looking to learn how to buy stocks.

What is a Canadian Dividend Aristocrat?

For a Canadian company to become a Canadian Dividend Aristocrat, it needs to meet the following criteria:

  • A market cap of at least $300 million
  • The company has increased the dividend for five consecutive years
  • Must be listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange and a member of the S&P Canada BMI

A US-listed company must have raised dividends for 25 straight years to be considered a Dividend Aristocrat in the United States.

If we used this criterion to classify Canadian stocks as Dividend Aristocrats, the list below would be trimmed from 88 companies to 11.

And if we were to take it a step further to classify Dividend Kings, which are US-listed companies that have raised dividends for 50 consecutive years, there would only be one stock on the list, which is Canadian Utilities.

How many Dividend Kings are there?

There are 48 Dividend Kings in the United States, meaning 48 publicly listed companies have increased their dividends for 50 consecutive years or longer.

What are the highest-paying Dividend Kings?

At the time of writing, you will see Altria (MO), 3M Company (MMM), Canadian Utilities (CU), Leggett & Platt (LEG) and Universal Corporation (UVV) with the highest dividend yields. 

As stock prices change daily, checking which Dividend Kings have the highest payouts is essential when reading this article.

What are the Canadian Dividend Kings?

Canadian Utilities is the only, and first in Canada's history, Dividend King. This means Canadian Utilities has raised the dividend by 50 consecutive years or longer. However, we expect Fortis to hit that goal next year, as its streak currently sits at 49 years.

Who should invest in Canadian Dividend Aristocrats?

Because we're talking about consecutive years of dividend increases, dividend growth investors will naturally gravitate toward aristocrat stocks. Of note, they also love monthly dividend payers.

A stock with a long growth streak and low dividend payout ratios has typically provided compounding dividend growth to those who've invested in it. The longer the growth streak, the more likely the company will continue its growth.

These growth streaks and a low payout ratio to support even further dividend growth come into play heavily when making investment decisions, especially for those who want a consistent and growing dividend payment in retirement.

If you're looking at growth or value investing, you may not find much use for this list.

However, some strong dividend growth stocks have also provided exponential growth in stock appreciation and even a high yield to Canadian investors over the years; one, in particular, is Goeasy Limited (TSX:GSY).

Is there an ETF that tracks the Dividend Aristocrats?

Suppose you're not into picking individual stocks but want exposure to some of the best Canadian dividend stocks. In that case, you'll want to take a look at the iShares S&P TSX Canadian Aristocrats Index (TSX:CDZ). This aristocrat ETF has a total of 96 stock holdings.

Just understand that it will cost management fees of approximately $6.60 per $1000 invested annually to own it. Of note, these expenses are factored into the return chart below.

At the time, some of its top holdings contain small cap construction company Aecon (ARE), Fiera Capital (FSZ), Chartwell Retirement Residences (CSH.UN), Great-West Lifeco (GWO), and Power Corporation of Canada (TSE:POW).

Canadian Dividend Aristocrat performance vs the Index

Many investors want to know whether they will outperform the market if they purchase Aristocrats.

To compare whether or not dividend aristocrats here in Canada outperform the Toronto Stock Exchange, let's look at the past performance since the inception of this TSX Canadian Dividend Aristocrats ETF and compare them to the Index itself.

At the time of update, over the last five years it has clearly been more advantageous to pick individual Canadian Dividend Aristocrats over buying the Aristocrat ETF.

Canadian Dividend Aristocrats by sector

Industrial and financial stocks comprise the bulk of the TSX Index (over 43%.) As such, when looking at this dividend aristocrats list, you'll notice that most companies are in one of these sectors.

Oil and financial companies have struggled over the last year due to worries of a recession and economic downturn. As a result, prices are much lower than we witnessed in 2021.

As a result, Canadian Dividend Aristocrats could outperform moving forward in 2023, particularly those focused on the energy and financial sectors. These sectors tend to generate strong earnings, consistent cash flow, and high dividend yields.

But with all that being said, let's get to our complete list of Canadian Dividend Aristocrats.

Canadian Dividend Aristocrats List

As always, if we've missed any companies on this Canadian Dividend Aristocrats list or you feel there is an issue in the data, please e-mail us.

wdt_ID Symbol Market Cap Payout Ratio DGR Streak 5 Year Div Growth Yield Sector
1 CU.TO 7,755.00 83.56% 51 4.44% 6.25% Utilities
2 FTS.TO 25,093.00 50.67% 49 5.96% 4.57% Utilities
3 TIH.TO 9,091.00 25.43% 33 15.47% 1.55% Industrials
4 CWB.TO 2,712.00 41.60% 31 5.58% 4.69% Financial Services
5 ACO.X.TO 3,900.00 53.52% 29 7.11% 5.53% Utilities
6 TRI.TO 78,257.00 76.67% 29 3.24% 1.60% Industrials
7 EMP.A.TO 9,239.00 22.77% 28 9.46% 1.98% Consumer Defensive
8 IMO.TO 48,870.00 16.92% 28 18.30% 2.39% Energy
9 MRU.TO 16,205.00 28.19% 28 11.37% 1.72% Consumer Defensive
10 CNR.TO 96,432.00 38.73% 27 12.17% 2.15% Industrials
11 ENB.TO 95,757.00 179.47% 27 7.35% 7.88% Energy
12 SAP.TO 12,003.00 31.73% 25 2.71% 2.61% Consumer Defensive
13 CNQ.TO 95,948.00 69.68% 22 23.03% 4.10% Energy
14 TRP.TO 46,710.00 265.97% 22 7.57% 7.96% Energy
15 CCL.B.TO 10,129.00 28.33% 21 22.71% 1.86% Consumer Cyclical
16 FTT.TO 5,848.00 25.57% 21 4.60% 2.50% Industrials
17 RBA.TO 15,489.00 186.33% 20 8.90% 1.72% Industrials
18 CCA.TO 2,797.00 33.08% 19 10.39% 4.94% Communication Services
19 T.TO 32,094.00 105.43% 19 6.60% 6.56% Communication Services
20 CGO.TO 769.00 56.08% 18 12.95% 6.30% Communication Services
21 IFC.TO 35,311.00 57.12% 18 9.34% 2.22% Financial Services
22 SJ.TO 3,790.00 19.54% 18 12.70% 1.41% Basic Materials
23 BYD.TO 5,186.00 12.70% 16 1.99% 0.24% Consumer Cyclical
24 EMA.TO 12,946.00 41.32% 16 4.66% 5.82% Utilities
25 ENGH.TO 1,657.00 50.94% 16 18.13% 2.94% Technology
26 BIP.UN.TO 18,286.00 332.45% 15 4.45% 5.19% Utilities
27 FNV.TO 34,825.00 31.98% 15 7.10% 1.01% Basic Materials
28 TCS.TO 411.00 131.21% 15 8.83% 1.07% Technology
29 BCE.TO 47,302.00 144.38% 14 5.10% 7.46% Communication Services
30 ATD.TO 66,641.00 15.66% 13 22.42% 0.81% Consumer Cyclical
31 BEP.UN.TO 8,524.00 -753.56% 13 0.56% 6.18% Utilities
32 LGT.B.TO 776.00 14.82% 13 6.52% 0.86% Industrials
33 MG.TO 20,830.00 54.93% 13 10.39% 3.42% Consumer Cyclical
34 NA.TO 30,517.00 44.15% 13 9.44% 4.52% Financial Services
35 WCN.TO 46,984.00 30.38% 13 13.61% 0.76% Industrials
36 AQN.TO 5,538.00 -149.76% 12 8.91% 7.29% Utilities
37 BNS.TO 73,381.00 66.18% 12 5.89% 6.96% Financial Services
38 CM.TO 48,447.00 51.89% 12 5.18% 6.64% Financial Services
39 CTC.A.TO 8,167.00 44.00% 12 17.61% 4.72% Consumer Cyclical
40 DOL.TO 26,452.00 7.64% 12 8.57% 0.29% Consumer Defensive
41 EQB.TO 2,845.00 16.43% 12 20.56% 2.02% Financial Services
42 GCG.A.TO 1,101.00 5.18% 12 24.57% 3.16% Financial Services
43 RY.TO 165,618.00 42.24% 12 7.34% 4.55% Financial Services
44 TD.TO 148,866.00 42.48% 12 8.66% 4.69% Financial Services
45 TFII.TO 14,967.00 17.12% 12 13.80% 1.08% Industrials
46 BMO.TO 82,116.00 37.03% 11 8.85% 5.13% Financial Services
47 FN.TO 2,138.00 70.26% 11 5.26% 6.73% Financial Services
48 L.TO 36,509.00 26.54% 11 8.11% 1.55% Consumer Defensive
49 STN.TO 9,779.00 13.55% 11 7.57% 0.89% Industrials
50 WN.TO 20,772.00 24.04% 11 7.41% 1.82% Consumer Defensive
51 BAM.TO 17,727.00 - 10 - 3.82% Financial Services
52 BN.TO 69,576.00 275.18% 10 8.48% 0.89% Financial Services
53 FSV.TO 8,814.00 27.46% 10 10.61% 0.62% Real Estate
54 OTEX.TO 12,927.00 165.85% 10 13.31% 2.83% Technology
55 PBH.TO 4,244.00 112.52% 10 10.76% 3.24% Consumer Defensive
56 PKI.TO 6,985.00 52.33% 10 4.09% 3.42% Consumer Cyclical
57 SIS.TO 916.00 90.48% 10 9.98% 3.66% Industrials
58 CPX.TO 4,435.00 96.76% 9 6.90% 6.49% Utilities
59 IAG.TO 8,744.00 35.37% 9 12.70% 3.59% Financial Services
60 MFC.TO 45,389.00 49.87% 9 9.99% 5.88% Financial Services
61 GSY.TO 1,764.00 31.71% 8 38.28% 3.60% Financial Services
62 GWO.TO 36,190.00 68.51% 8 5.95% 5.35% Financial Services
63 MFI.TO 3,187.00 -26.30% 8 12.70% 3.18% Consumer Defensive
64 POW.TO 22,815.00 78.64% 8 7.02% 6.07% Financial Services
65 QBR.B.TO 6,723.00 45.14% 8 55.38% 4.12% Communication Services
66 QSR.TO 28,246.00 95.99% 8 22.63% 3.28% Consumer Cyclical
67 SLF.TO 38,889.00 55.63% 8 9.60% 4.53% Financial Services
68 AEM.TO 30,543.00 25.44% 7 31.34% 3.47% Basic Materials
69 BDGI.TO 1,196.00 48.98% 7 9.10% 1.99% Industrials
70 H.TO 20,716.00 65.89% 7 4.90% 3.43% Utilities
71 X.TO 8,134.00 51.26% 7 11.23% 2.47% Financial Services
72 JWEL.TO 1,024.00 58.95% 6 31.95% 3.12% Consumer Defensive
73 ABX.TO 34,635.00 -1189.77% 5 35.64% 3.08% Basic Materials
74 ALS.TO 1,043.00 57.04% 5 - 1.46% Basic Materials
75 AP.UN.TO 2,294.00 77.00% 11 3% 10.04% REIT - Office
76 CAR.UN.TO 7,546.00 62.50% 11 0% 3.22% REIT - Residential
77 CRT.UN.TO 3,219.00 66.67% 10 3% 6.56% REIT - Retail
78 GRT.UN.TO 4,595.00 65.00% 12 3% 4.44% REIT - Industrial
79 IIP.UN.TO 1,799.00 68.16% 11 5% 2.88% REIT - Residential
80 KMP.UN.TO 2,048.00 63.53% 6 0% 4.02% REIT - Residential
81 MI.UN.TO 544.00 62.60% 5 3% 3.59% REIT - Residential

 

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Dan Kent

About the author

An active dividend and growth investor, Dan has been involved with the website since its inception. He is primarily a researcher and writer here at Stocktrades.ca, and his pieces have numerous mentions on the Globe and Mail, Forbes, Winnipeg Free Press, and other high authority financial websites. He has become an authority figure in the Canadian finance niche, primarily due to his attention to detail and overall dedication to achieving the highest returns on his investments. Investing on his own since he was 19 years old, Dan has compiled the experience and knowledge needed to be successful in the world of self-directed investing, and is always happy to bring that knowledge to Stocktrades.ca readers and any other publications that give him the opportunity to write. He has completed the Canadian Securities Course, manages his TFSA, RRSPs and a LIRA at Qtrade, and has compiled a real estate portfolio of his primary residence and 2 rental properties, all before his 30th birthday.