If you are watching the headlines and wondering whether your savings are built to handle a rough stretch, ask yourself this: Can my stocks still make money when the economy stops cooperating?
A defensive Canadian stock earns its keep when the world feels wobbly. It sells something people still need, has recurring revenue, and can keep paying interest (all while funding operations), and rewarding shareholders without relying on perfect economic conditions. The best defensive investments also have a simple story you can explain in one breath, because complexity tends to break at the worst possible time.
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NWH
NorthWest Healthcare Properties REIT (TSX:NWH.UN) is meant to be defensive as it owns healthcare real estate, like medical office buildings, clinics, and hospitals across multiple countries. People do not stop needing care in a slowdown, and long leases can make rent feel steadier than many other property types. Over the last year, the real estate investment trust (REIT) has leaned hard into “fix the balance sheet and simplify the story.” This included portfolio pruning and a sharper focus on capital recycling.
It has also tried to show investors that the cash flow can still support the monthly distribution, even while it cleans up. In its most recent results for Q4 2025, it reported adjusted funds from operations of $0.12 per unit, up from $0.10 a year earlier. Furthermore, it brought the adjusted funds from operations (FFO) payout ratio down to about 75% for the quarter. At writing, investors can grab it trading at 30 times earnings with a 6.1% yield.
WCN
Waste Connections (TSX:WCN) earns a spot on a “defend my portfolio” list for a simpler reason: garbage collection does not take a recession day off. It runs solid waste collection, transfer, recycling, and disposal assets, and it has the kind of local infrastructure footprint that creates pricing power over time. Over the last year, it kept doing what it does best, which is price-led growth, disciplined acquisitions, and margin expansion. Even while commodity-linked recycling revenue moved around.
For full-year 2025, it delivered revenue of $9.47 billion and net income of $1.08 billion. Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) hit $3.13 billion. That works out to a very strong 33% margin. For 2026, management guided to revenue of $9.9 to $9.95 billion and adjusted EBITDA of $3.30 to $3.325 billion. This suggests it still expects growth plus more margin improvement. All while offering a nice little 0.8% yield.
VBAL
Vanguard Balanced ETF Portfolio (TSX:VBAL) defends a portfolio in a different way. It’s not a single stock story at all. Instead, it’s a one-ticket balanced portfolio, built as a 60/40 mix of equities and bonds, spread across Canada, the U.S., and international markets. When equities get punched, bonds can sometimes cushion the fall, and when bonds struggle, equities can carry the load. That balance can help you stay invested when you would otherwise be tempted to meddle.
VBAL’s management expense ratio sits around 0.25%, which keeps the drag low for a hands-off investor. On the bond side, its portfolio characteristics recently showed an effective yield to maturity around 3.6% and a duration around 6.6 years. This gives you a sense of how it might behave if rates change. It also pays distributions, and the yield has recently sat around 2.2%.
Bottom line
These three stocks give you three different kinds of defence: a healthcare REIT rebuilding its balance sheet, a waste business that earns through any economy, and a one-ticket ETF that does the balancing for you. Put together, it’s a reminder that defence does not mean hiding. It means staying in the game with fewer restless nights.
If that’s the kind of investing that’ll help you sleep better, Stock Advisor Canada can help you stay calm without sitting on the sidelines.
