Are you looking for some of the best Canadian stocks to buy and hold forever? Fortunately, there’s no shortage of options for investors to consider right now.
Here’s a look at five picks to buy and hold forever in your Tax-Free Savings Account (TFSA) today.
This stock offers growth and income for the long term
Enbridge (TSX:ENB) is one of the Canadian stocks to buy and hold forever. In short, the energy infrastructure behemoth offers long-term growth, an insane yield, and three decades of annual increases to its dividend.
If that’s not enough, prospective investors can take solace in Enbridge’s well-diversified operations, which spans across multiple areas of the market. That includes a vast pipeline network, a growing renewable energy business and a natural gas utility.
Apart from its diversified, defensive appeal, investors will want Enbridge as one of the Canadian stocks to buy and hold forever for its dividend. Enbridge offers a tasty quarterly dividend that pays out an insane 7.56%.
You can’t get more defensive than this
As defensive as Enbridge is, there is another company to consider: Fortis (TSX:FTS). Fortis is one of the largest utilities in North America. But what makes utilities like Fortis one of the Canadian stocks to buy and hold forever?
It comes down to the lucrative business model it follows. In short, utilities like Fortis agree to provide a service and earn compensation for it. The specifics of that agreement are drawn into regulated contracts with durations that typically span decades.
In other words, as long as Fortis continues to provide utility services, it’ll generate a recurring and stable revenue stream. And that revenue allows Fortis to invest in growth and pay a handsome dividend.
As of the time of writing, that dividend works out to a yield of 4.42%. Prospective investors should note that Fortis has provided annual upticks to that dividend for 50 consecutive years.
That fact alone qualifies Fortis as one of the Canadian stocks to buy and hold forever.
Canada’s big banks are great options
It would be near impossible to mention the Canadian stocks to buy and hold forever without noting at least one of Canada’s big banks. The bank to buy now and hold for the long term is Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (TSX:CM).
Like its big bank peers, CIBC offers a stable domestic arm and an international presence that provides some growth. CIBC’s smaller international footprint made it more volatile than its peers when interest rates were rising.
Now that much of that volatility has passed, a still-discounted CIBC (down 8% over the trailing two years) remains a must-have stock.
Investors who consider CIBC as one of the Canadian stocks to buy and hold forever will also benefit from a very appetizing 5.33% yield. And like the other big banks, CIBC has an established precedent of providing annual upticks to that dividend.
Canada’s retailer is worth a look
Another fine option to consider in any portfolio of Canadian stocks to buy and hold forever is Canadian Tire (TSX:CTC.A).
Besides its namesake retail store, Canadian Tire operates both online and brick-and-mortar stores under a growing number of banners. That list includes well-known names like Marks, Party City, and PartSource.
That broad portfolio and online presence puts Canadian Tire in a unique, if not defensive position over other retail stocks.
Canadian Tire also offers a very juicy 5.23% yield that is both sustainable and growing.
Don’t forget the telecom business
Canada’s telecoms reflect another source of stellar Canadian stocks to buy and hold forever. And from that list of telecoms Telus (TSX:T) is a great example to consider buying now.
Telus is more of a pure-play telecom than its big telecom peers who have sprawling media segments. And while the telecom segment has pulled back considerably in recent months, the long-term potential is still there.
Specifically, telecoms still offer a defensive, and increasingly necessary service to subscribers. The fact that Telus now trades at a huge discount of 20% in the past year, should be seen as an opportunity for investors.
That discount has also swelled Telus’ dividend to 6.96%, making it, like the other stocks mentioned above, one of the great Canadian stocks to buy and hold forever.
