Retire Richer: 2 Dividend Knights I’ll Never Sell

Two under-the-radar TSX Dividend Knights could quietly help you retire richer without chasing high yields.

Amy Legate-Wolfe

Author Bio Amy became interested in investing in 2018 after having her first daughter. After receiving a masters degree in journalism from Western University, she became frustrated that the finance industry remained a confusing place for Canadians like her: new parents, millennials, and other young people who needed to understand their finances. Now, Amy focuses on tech companies and renewable energy for growth opportunities, coupling that with long-term investing strategies and equities. She also provides investors with a daily newsletter, Canada Stock Digest, for daily market updates. Her work can also be found at Canada's National Observer, where she writes on the business side of climate action. Before joining Motley Fool Canada, Amy wrote for major news organizations including HuffPost, CTVNews.ca, and CBC. When she’s not researching investing strategies, Amy’s time is pretty much monopolized by her two wild daughters, but in what little spare time she has she loves to do yoga, go on walks with her dog, and travel with her husband. Social Media Follow Amy on LinkedIn and Canada Stock Digest. Favorite Investment Quote “October: This is one of the particularly dangerous months to speculate in stocks. The others are July, January, September, April, November, May, March, June, December, August and February.” – Mark Twain

Published September 19, 2025 9:00 pm EDT

Key Points

CCL posts record earnings, low leverage, and strong cash, using buybacks and a safe 1.6% dividend to drive steady long-term growth.
Waste Connections grows revenue and margins, adds acquisitions annually, and funds a rising dividend and buybacks with strong free cash flow.
Both are defensive, essential businesses with modest yields but reliable growth, better for long-term compounding than chasing risky high-yield stocks.

Canadian investors thinking about long-term opportunities likely turn to dividend stocks providing long-term income. And that’s certainly a smart move. Strong blue-chip companies tend to pay out dividends and buy back shares, allowing for higher returns as well as passive income. However, some investors might get hung up on the dividend yield when it comes to retiring richer and instead miss out on the growth opportunities some stocks offer.

That’s why today we’re going to look at CCL Industries (TSX: CCL.B) and Waste Connections (TSX: WCN), two Dividend Knights offering it all. These are essential companies that belong in any “never sell” portfolio. So let’s get into it.

A close up color image of a small green plant sprouting out of a pile of Canadian dollar coins "loonies." — Source: Getty Images

CCL.B

To really understand why this is a dividend stock to never sell, let’s get into earnings. CCL stock reported its second quarter of 2025, delivering record adjusted earnings per share (EPS), margin expansion, and organic growth, as well as merger and acquisition growth. Furthermore, its leverage sits at just 1 times earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) with $1 billion in cash. Therefore, CCL can keep compounding through expansions and acquisitions, while keeping its dividend and bottom line safe.

Furthermore, its business model isn’t just stable, but essential. CCL.B provides labels, security, packaging and more tied to everyday products like healthcare, food, and consumer goods. Tariffs and start-up losses at its new German plant were near-term headwinds, but due for a recovery. Overall, the dividend stock has high barriers to entry that allow it to maintain steady income.

Then there’s the income. CCL pays a modest dividend yield at just 1.6% as of writing, but with a 27% payout ratio, it has plenty of room to reinvest and buy back shares. In fact, it recently returned $312 million in the first half of 2025 through buybacks. Therefore, long-term investors can see plenty of steady growth.

WCN

Then there’s another essential area: waste. WCN is a top dividend stock because of growth in this area and continues to expand from its stable market position. In fact, during its second quarter, it reported that both revenue and EBITDA grew, reaffirming full-year guidance and expanding margins. After all, garbage collection and disposal aren’t going anywhere.

As to growth, WCN is a merging and acquiring machine. The dividend stock adds about $200 million in acquired revenue each year, maintaining an active pipeline in the process. Currently, it has $2.3 billion in operating cash flow with $1.3 billion in free cash flow (FCF) for 2025. Therefore, WCN can fund dividends and capital expenditure, and make deals without stretching its bottom line.

So, yes, the dividend stock has a small 0.7% yield. However, management consistently raises it while also buying back shares. Therefore, investors can look forward to reliability rather than fluctuating growth.

Bottom line

Together, these two Dividend Knights are strong opportunities for investors. Each holds a blend of growth and defensiveness, with balance sheets to match. These are the prime type of dividend stocks to help you retire richer, especially from holdings that last decades, not just a couple of years. So if you want dividend stocks to buy now and hold forever, these are the two to watch on the TSX today.