With so many economic headwinds impacting Canadian stocks and the constant threat of tariffs on various Canadian industries and goods, it’s difficult to feel confident about anything in this environment. However, with that said, one of the few Canadian stocks that you can rely on in 2025 is Brookfield Infrastructure Partners (TSX:BIP.UN).
Typically, the best bet for long-term investors is to focus on the operations of the companies you own and ignore short-term noise. However, with so much consequential information changing daily, although it’s still essential to focus on the core operations of the companies you’re buying, you can’t ignore the macroeconomic factors that are being impacted as well.
That’s why, in this current environment, the best stocks you can own are reliable businesses that provide essential operations and are well-diversified. And that’s precisely what Brookfield offers.
So, let’s look at how Brookfield is positioned today and how it could perform throughout the rest of 2025.
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Brookfield Infrastructure stock is an ideal investment in 2025
If you’re looking for a reliable business that you can own confidently in this environment, Brookfield Infrastructure is one of the best stocks to consider.
Not only does it own high-quality and essential infrastructure assets, like ports, railroads, regulated utilities, pipelines and much more, but its assets are also diversified all across the world, which is crucial for mitigating risk in this environment.
Furthermore, on top of the fact that Brookfield owns high-quality infrastructure assets, which can generate significant cash flow in any economic environment due to their essential nature, much of its revenue is also indexed to inflation.
For example, roughly 70% of its revenue is indexed directly to inflation. Therefore, as inflation increases, so does the majority of Brookfield Infrastructure stock’s revenue. In addition, though another 15% of its revenue is inflation-protected, which means the revenue won’t necessarily increase automatically with inflation, however, the higher costs Brookfield faces can be passed along to its customers.
This is crucial because the pace of inflation remains up in the air. Just today, the U.S. saw a higher-than-expected inflation report, which is sending stocks lower. Furthermore, many analysts warn that a prolonged trade war could push inflation higher by disrupting supply chains and driving up tariffs on imported goods.
Another benefit of Brookfield Infrastructure stock is that it also has limited exposure to currency swings or commodity prices. Roughly 75% of its cash flows are either generated in or hedged to U.S. dollars.
Therefore, Brookfield’s combination of essential infrastructure assets, contractual revenue, inflation resilience, and currency protection gives it a tonne of predictability that can give you confidence in owning the stock in this uncertain market.
How can the defensive stock perform in 2025?
The fact that Brookfield Infrastructure stock owns essential assets and has so much predictability is what makes it one of the best defensive stocks to buy and hold for the long haul.
However, another key factor that makes Brookfield one of the best stocks to buy now is that it also offers plenty of long-term growth potential.
Unlike other defensive stocks like pure-play utilities, which offer reliability but slower growth potential, Brookfield is constantly recycling capital to invest in new opportunities and expand its operations.
The stock has done this for years. It sells off assets that are more mature and uses the cash flow to invest in new opportunities that it deems undervalued or believes can significantly improve efficiency and drive higher cash flow.
For example, Brookfield has already sold more than $700 million of assets in 2025. Going forward, the majority of its focus is on acquiring businesses with significant growth potential, such as digital infrastructure assets like data centres.
Therefore, not only has the stock demonstrated reliability for years, but it’s also consistently adapted to changing times and found new ways to expand its operations and increase shareholder value.
In fact, on top of the roughly 5.7% dividend yield the stock offers today, Brookfield also aims to increase that distribution by 5-9% every single year, in addition to the capital gains it provides investors.
So, if you’re looking for a reliable stock to buy in this uncertain environment, there’s no question that Brookfield Infrastructure is one of the best to consider.
