The TSX is sitting near its record highs, even as trade disputes and geopolitical tensions risk disrupting financial markets and the global economy.
With these threats in mind, it makes sense for self-directed Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP) investors to consider stocks that can ride out turbulence while still delivering steady dividend growth.
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Canadian National Railway
Investors have a rare opportunity to buy Canadian National Railway (TSX:CNR) on an extended pullback. The stock trades near $140 per share at the time of writing, compared to as high as $180 last year. It is off the 2025 low of close to $132 but still looks cheap.
Canadian National Railway operates 20,000 route miles of track that is crucial to the smooth operation of the Canadian and U.S. economies. The network connects ports on the Atlantic and Pacific coasts in Canada to the Gulf Coast in the United States. Roughly 300 million tons of cargo move along the rail system each year, including cars, coal, crude oil, forestry products, finished goods, grain, and fertilizer.
Labour strikes at both CN and ports impacted operations in 2024. Wildfires in Alberta last summer also disrupted shipments. The result was higher expenses and reduced efficiency across the operations. CN still managed to deliver a slight rise in revenue last year, but profits came in below 2023 results.
Management is more optimistic about 2025, even with all the uncertainties surrounding tariffs and trade disputes. CN is targeting 10% to 15% growth in adjusted diluted earnings per share compared to last year. The board raised the dividend by 5% for 2025, marking the 29th consecutive annual dividend increase. CN is also taking advantage of the low stock price to buy back up to 20 million shares under the current repurchase plan.
A quick look at CN’s chart shows that buying this stock on material weakness has historically proven to be a savvy move for patient RRSP investors.
Enbridge
Enbridge (TSX:ENB) trades near $61.50 at the time of writing. The stock is up a solid 28% in the past 12 months, but is down from the 2025 high of around $65.
Looking back over the past three years, the share price has been through quite a ride. It traded around $59 in June 2022 before going into an extended slump caused by soaring interest rates in Canada and the United States. Pipeline and utility companies use a lot of debt to fund capital projects that can cost billions of dollars and sometimes take years to complete. The jump in payments on variable-rate debt reduced profits and cuts into cash that can be used to lower debt or pay dividends. Bond yields moved higher as well, making it more expensive to access new debt.
In the fall of 2023, the central banks decided they had done enough to get inflation under control and signalled they were finished raising interest rates. At that point, investor sentiment shifted to expectations for rate cuts in 2024. Bargain hunters started to move back into the utility and energy infrastructure stocks. As soon as the rate cuts materialized, Enbridge picked up a new tailwind, bringing it back to the 2022 high by November last year and then pushing beyond that level into early January.
Since then, the market has been waiting to see if more rate cuts are coming, or if tariffs will cause a spike in inflation that would force the central banks to keep rates at current levels, or potentially hike them again in the worst-case scenario.
Caution is warranted, but investors should look past the near-term volatility. Enbridge’s $28 billion capital program will drive growth in adjusted earnings in the next few years to support ongoing dividend growth. The board raised the dividend in each of the past 30 years. Investors who buy ENB stock at the current level can get a dividend yield of 6.1%.
The bottom line
CN and Enbridge are industry leaders with great track records of dividend growth. If you have some RRSP cash to put to work, these stocks deserve to be on your radar.
