We all worry about it. Finding the right dividend stock that can be resilient even during a recession. One that can sit in a Tax-Free Savings Account (TFSA) for decades and not worry about a thing. There are a few items to consider when seeking out this type of dividend stock of course. For instance, look for essential Canadian companies, strong balance sheets, steady cash flow, and a proven dividend record. All for a great price. That’s why today, we’re going to look at one dividend stock checking most, if not all, these boxes.
GFL
GFL Environmental (TSX:GFL) looks about as close to “recession‑resilient” as it gets. The dividend stock sells an essential service that households, municipalities, and businesses can’t easily cut: garbage, recycling, organics, and related environmental services.
The bulk of its revenue comes from long‑term municipal and commercial contracts with consumer price index (CPI) and fuel‑surcharge pass‑throughs. This helps protect pricing and margins even when the economy slows or inflation swings. Once GFL wins a route or secures disposal capacity, customers tend to stick, as switching costs, service reliability, and regulatory permits create high barriers to entry, especially for scarce landfill capacity.
That combination of recurring revenue, pricing power, and high route density gives GFL durable cash flows across cycles. All while the vertical integration of collection, transfer and landfill captures more value and cushions profitability when volumes wobble.
More to come
Yet what really makes this dividend stock interesting is it’s never stagnant. Scale, diversification, and a proven playbook further support resilience. GFL is one of North America’s largest waste players, spread across many regions and customer types, so weakness in construction or industrial activity in one area is often offset elsewhere.
The dividend stock has a long history of tuck‑in acquisitions that fold into existing routes, boosting density and margins. Plus, because much of the book is contractual, realized synergies tend to show up predictably. Importantly, many contracts include annual escalators tied to CPI and fuel. This has delivered steady and diverse returns even in choppy macro periods. Over time, that steady earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA), paired with normalized capital intensity, tends to translate into growing free cash flow. And cash flow is a key ingredient for reliable, rising dividends.
Speaking of dividends
For TFSA investors specifically, the setup is attractive from a tax and compounding standpoint. GFL is Canadian‑domiciled, so dividends land in your TFSA without foreign withholding tax, and you can enable a DRIP to reinvest automatically. While GFL’s current yield is modest compared with traditional “income” utilities or pipelines, the dividend stock’s model is geared to compound. It offers recurring cash flows, embedded price escalators, and density‑driven efficiencies that can support dividend growth and buybacks over a long horizon.
In other words, it’s a total‑return compounder first, with room for the income stream to grow as the balance sheet strengthens and free cash flow expands. And even with that smaller dividend yield, here is what just $7,000 can bring in from GFL on the TSX today.
| COMPANY | RECENT PRICE | NUMBER OF SHARES | DIVIDEND | TOTAL ANNUAL PAYOUT | FREQUENCY | TOTAL INVESTMENT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GFL | $63.89 | 109 | $0.09 | $9.81 | Quarterly | $6,964.01 |
Bottom line
That said, no stock is truly recession‑proof, and it’s worth knowing the trade‑offs. The long‑term thesis rests on essential service demand, contract structures, and scale advantages outweighing those cyclical pockets. If you’re comfortable with that profile, and you value steady, inflation‑protected cash flows that can fund a growing dividend over decades, GFL can be a compelling, TFSA‑friendly cornerstone for recession‑resilient income and compounding.
