1 Canadian Stock to Buy Today and Hold Forever

Trash never takes a day off. Here’s why Waste Connections’ essential, low‑drama business can power a TFSA for decades despite a small dividend today.

Amy Legate-Wolfe

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. Before joining Motley Fool Canada, she 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. 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 December 26, 2025 7:00 pm EST

| More on: WCN

Key Points

Waste Connections runs essential trash services with repeat customers
Q3 2025 revenue rose to US$2.46B and EPS to US$1.44
Shares are pricey with a small yield, but management raised the dividend 11%

If you want a Canadian stock you can buy today and hold forever, stop chasing the loudest chart and start chasing the steadiest business. Markets can feel jumpy when rates shift and headlines whip investors around, but a true hold-forever pick keeps earning through it all.

Look for a Canadian stock that sells something people cannot skip, runs with repeat customers, and grows cash flow without constant reinvention. The best ones also raise dividends from real profits, keep debt sensible, and protect a moat you can explain at the kitchen table. That’s why today we’re looking at one particular market: trash.

WCN

Waste Connections (TSX:WCN) fits that essential and repeatable test because it runs an integrated solid waste business. It collects, transfers, and disposes of non-hazardous waste, and it also earns revenue from recycling and renewable fuels generation. It even has a smaller slice of non-hazardous oilfield waste services and intermodal moves for cargo and waste containers. The work sounds unglamorous, but it sits at the heart of modern life, which makes demand remarkably sticky.

In the last year, the Canadian stock has looked calm rather than dramatic. As of writing, shares have fallen 4% in the last year, and risen 2% in the last month. That pace will not beat every sector when investors chase momentum, but it can help you stick with a plan when markets get choppy. For passive-income investors, temperament matters, because panic-selling can erase years of careful compounding faster than any mediocre quarter ever could.

Into earnings

That steadiness also reflects how the Canadian stock competes. Waste Connections focuses on many exclusive and secondary markets across 46 U.S. states and six Canadian provinces, and that footprint gives it local scale where it operates. It wins with logistics, contracts, and consistency, not flashy product cycles. Plenty of dividend stocks promise safety, yet their underlying business still swings with commodity prices, regulation, or consumer taste. Trash does not care about fashion trends, and that simple fact supports repeat revenue.

The latest earnings report shows why investors keep circling back to it. In the third quarter of 2025, Waste Connections grew revenue to US$2.5 billion and lifted adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) to US$830.3 million. It also grew adjusted profit per share to US$1.44 from US$1.35 a year earlier. Pricing did the heavy lifting, with core price growth at 6.3% in the quarter even as volumes softened. In short, it protected profitability without needing perfect economic weather.

Looking ahead

Now for the trade-off. Waste Connections trades at 70 times earnings at writing, 22 times forward earnings, and 5.6 times book value. You pay up for the consistency, and that premium can sting if you want quick wins. The dividend yield also looks small, roughly around 0.5%, so it will not fund a retirement cheque on day one. This Canadian stock aims to grow income over time, not to deliver a big headline yield today.

So why call it a buy-and-hold forever name for passive income? Because it combines durability with dividend growth and disciplined reinvestment. Management raised the quarterly dividend 11.1% in October 2025, taking it to US$0.35 per share. That raise matters more than the current yield because it signals that cash flow supports higher payouts while the Canadian stock keeps upgrading routes and assets. Add gradual pricing power and bolt-on acquisitions, and you get a business that can compound steadily through good markets and bad ones.

Bottom line

You should still challenge the thesis before you commit, because forever does not mean risk-free. A premium valuation can limit short-term upside, volumes can dip in a slowdown, and acquisition-heavy growth demands good judgement and good integration. If you need the highest yield right now, you will find flashier dividend names. But if you want a Canadian stock that can quietly earn, raise its payout, and keep doing it while you focus on life, Waste Connections can earn a spot in a long-term TFSA.