The Bank of Canada held rates steady at 2.25% today — its third consecutive hold — and with oil pushing past US$100 and inflation expected to rebound toward 3%, stock analysts now expect interest rates to stay put through 2026. For dividend investors, that changes the question from “what should I buy before cuts arrive” to “what pays me well while I wait for a rate environment that actually cooperates?”
That said, you still need to watch payout safety, balance sheets, and how much the business depends on cheap borrowing. A high yield can lure you in, but the best “paid while you wait” stocks usually pair a reasonable payout with a clear path to growing cash flow over time. So let’s look at three built for exactly this environment.
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EQB
EQB (TSX: EQB) looks timely because it sits in the sweet spot between a bank and a growth story, and steady rates at 2.25% can actually stabilize the funding cost pressure it has navigated over the last year. It runs EQ Bank and a broader set of lending and deposit-gathering businesses, and investors have watched it manage through intense deposit competition and shifting funding costs.
In Q1 fiscal 2026, EQB reported adjusted diluted EPS of $2.26 and adjusted net income of $85.2 million, with adjusted ROE at 11.1%. Those figures came in below the year-ago quarter on a per-share basis, but management also raised the dividend, which signals confidence in the longer-term earnings engine. It trades at 17.4 times earnings with a yield just under 2%.
EQB is the growth-and-income pick for a steady-rate environment — a rate hold at 2.25% removes the funding cost uncertainty that has weighed on sentiment, and a dividend raise from management signals confidence that the earnings engine keeps improving from here.
CAPREIT
Canadian Apartment Properties REIT (TSX: CAR.UN) fits this theme as stable rates at 2.25% reduce the refinancing pressure that has weighed on REIT valuations, while apartments keep collecting rent through most economic backdrops. It owns a large portfolio of rental housing across Canada and Europe, and the big narrative over the last year has been steady operating performance paired with active capital recycling and a heavy emphasis on buybacks when units traded below asset value.
In its year-end 2025 results, CAPREIT reported portfolio occupancy of 97.3% and average rent up about 3.8%. It also posted a 2025 same-property NOI margin of 64.7%. Diluted FFO per unit rose to $2.541 for 2025, and Q4 diluted FFO per unit increased 1.6% to $0.632. The buyback program also did useful work, with $294 million repurchased at an average price around $41 versus an implied NAV around $56 — a gap that lifts FFO per unit over time if it persists. It trades at 30.6 times earnings with a 4.12% yield.
CAPREIT is the REIT pick for a rate-on-hold world — 97% occupancy, growing rents, and a buyback program buying units at a steep NAV discount. You do not need rate cuts to make this work; you just need rates to stop rising, which today’s hold confirms.
GSY
Goeasy (TSX: GSY) stands out if you want a bigger yield and can handle more economic sensitivity. It provides non-prime consumer lending through a national platform, and the last year has revolved around two competing truths: demand for credit stays strong, but a strained consumer can lift delinquencies. With rates on hold and oil pushing inflation higher, household cash flow remains under pressure — which means goeasy’s underwriting discipline and loss provisioning matter more, not less.
Its Q3 2025 numbers showed growth with guardrails. Revenue came in at $440 million, up 15% year over year, operating income reached $166 million, and adjusted diluted EPS was $4.12. The loan portfolio hit $5.44 billion, up 24%, while the allowance for future credit losses sat at 8.13% and the net charge-off rate at 8.9%. It trades at 7.8 times earnings with a 5.3% yield.
Goeasy is the highest-yield, highest-risk pick of the three — 7.8 times earnings and 5.3% yield look compelling, but a rate hold combined with oil-driven inflation means the consumer pressure that drives delinquency risk is not going away soon. It earns a spot in this portfolio, but sized accordingly.
Bottom line
With rates on hold at 2.25% and cuts almost certainly pushed off through 2026, these three investments play different roles in a dividend portfolio built for patience: EQB for stable-rate earnings growth, CAPREIT for NAV-discount compounding, and goeasy for high yield with credit cycle awareness.
And all three can provide substantial income with $7,000 in each.
| COMPANY | RECENT PRICE | NUMBER OF SHARES YOU COULD BUY WITH $7,000 | ANNUAL DIVIDEND | TOTAL ANNUAL PAYOUT | PAYOUT FREQUENCY |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EQB | $115.77 | 60 | $2.24 | $134.40 | Quarterly |
| GSY | $106.72 | 65 | $5.84 | $379.60 | Quarterly |
| CAR.UN | $37.53 | 186 | $1.55 | $288.30 | Monthly |
Owned together, they can pay you today while you wait — not for rate cuts that may not come in 2026, but for the kind of steady execution that compounds regardless of what the Bank of Canada does next. That’s the kind of approach they preach over at Stock Advisor Canada: investing built for the environment you’re actually in, not the one you are just wishing for.
