Dividend stocks can build real Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP) wealth as the plan gives your money room to compound without annual tax drag. You can reinvest dividends to buy more shares, which can snowball quietly over time, especially when you add fresh contributions in January. The best RRSP dividend picks also tend to come from businesses with steady cash flow, a sensible payout, and enough growth to keep pace with inflation, so you don’t just collect income, you build future income. So, let’s look at two strong options.
PPL
Pembina Pipeline (TSX:PPL) works like the toll road of Western Canadian energy. It owns and operates pipelines, processing, and other midstream assets that move and handle hydrocarbons, and it earns money largely through long-term, fee-based contracts. That model can feel comforting for dividend investors because it doesn’t rely on guessing the exact price of oil tomorrow morning. It just needs producers to keep producing and shipping volumes through Pembina’s network.
The stock has behaved like a classic “steady but not sleepy” dividend name. Over the last year, shares have been down 3.5%, offering a good time to get in while it trades at 18 times earnings. It hasn’t been a straight line, but it also hasn’t been a heartbreaker. That matters for January RRSP buyers, because you want a stock you can keep adding to without feeling like you’re stepping into a trap every time markets wobble. Especially when it offers a 5.6% dividend yield.
Pembina’s latest quarter showed why the dividend case stays alive. In the third quarter (Q3) of 2025, it reported earnings of $286 million, adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) of $1.034 million, and adjusted cash flow from operating activities of $648 million, or $1.12 per share. It also updated its 2025 adjusted EBITDA guidance range to $4.25 billion to $4.35 billion, and it highlighted new long-term transportation agreements and over $1 billion of proposed pipeline expansions it continues to advance. The big risks come from project execution, regulatory changes, and any meaningful slowdown in Western Canadian volumes, but the contract-heavy model can soften the bumps.
SLF
Sun Life Financial (TSX:SLF) brings a different kind of stability. It runs insurance and wealth businesses across Canada, the U.S., and Asia, and it also operates large asset management platforms. That mix matters because it can earn through premiums and fees, not just spread lending. When markets behave, wealth and asset management can shine, and when markets get messy, insurance can keep the engine running, even if results wobble quarter to quarter.
The dividend stock has had a strong year, which tells you investors have been warming to the sector again. Shares have traded up about 3% in the last year, while trading at about 16.5 times earnings. It isn’t a “cheap-and-forgotten” name right now, but it still looks like the kind of dividend stock people keep holding because it feels dependable and widely diversified — all while offering a 4.2% dividend yield.
The most recent quarter backed that up with solid numbers. In Q3 2025, Sun Life reported underlying net income of $1.047 billion and underlying earnings per share (EPS) of $1.86, and it reported assets under management of $1,623 billion. It also raised its common share dividend from $0.88 to $0.92 per share. The key risks come from market swings that affect fees, currency moves, and any unfavourable claims experience, but the diversification across regions and business lines helps.
Bottom line
Put PPL and SLF together, and you get a practical RRSP duo for January. Pembina can deliver higher income tied to long-term infrastructure demand, while Sun Life adds a steadier financial ballast with dividend growth and global earnings drivers. Right now, here’s what $7,000 could earn investors from an investment in both dividend stocks.
| COMPANY | RECENT PRICE | NUMBER OF SHARES | DIVIDEND | ANNUAL TOTAL PAYOUT | FREQUENCY | TOTAL INVESTMENT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PPL | $50.86 | 137 | $2.84 | $389.08 | Quarterly | $6,967.82 |
| SLF | $86.85 | 80 | $3.68 | $294.40 | Quarterly | $6,948.00 |
In an RRSP, reinvested dividends can quietly accelerate compounding over years, and these two give you different cash-flow engines so you don’t have to bet everything on one sector mood.
