The Best $10,000 TFSA Approach for Canadian Investors

Learn the best strategies for your TFSA as markets shift. Discover stocks with strong fundamentals for investing success.

Puja Tayal

Author Bio

Puja Tayal grew up in a small-business family where dinner conversations often centred on working capital and savings. Her early experiences with investing, particularly during the 2008 financial crisis, shaped her approach to understanding markets and evaluating investment opportunities. She began her career at a mutual fund company before moving into investor education and financial writing for asset and wealth management firms. Before joining The Motley Fool, Puja wrote for Market Realist, where she extensively covered the semiconductor industry. Her published work has also appeared in The Indian Express. Puja believes every stock has a story that can help investors understand its potential returns. She combines business analysis with different investing approaches to help investors make informed decisions and align their portfolios with their long-term financial goals. Outside of finance, Puja enjoys long drives, catching up with friends, watching superhero and science-fiction movies, and managing her family portfolio. She also has a keen interest in artificial intelligence and its potential to reshape the world.

Education

Bachelor's degree in Accounting and Finance, University of Mumbai (2007)
CFA Level I

Areas of Expertise

Qualitative company analysis, management strategy, risk assessment, long-term investing, portfolio diversification and rebalancing, dividend reinvestment, cyclical growth opportunities, compounding strategies, growth stocks, and dividend stocks.

Social Media Profiles

Favorite Investment Quote

"Risk comes from not knowing what you're doing." — Warren Buffett

Published March 18, 3:30 pm EDT

The current geopolitical climate is impacting global markets, with funds predominantly flowing into energy stocks while other fundamentally strong stocks are experiencing declines. For Canadian investors, this presents a unique opportunity to adopt a non-energy approach to their Tax-Free Savings Account (TFSA) investments, focusing on stocks poised for long-term growth.

senior couple looks at investing statements — Source: Getty Images

The optimal TFSA strategy for Canadian investors

You can either chase the market or go contrarian and stick to the fundamentals of low debt, steady revenue growth, and high profits. Every company is affected by the trade wars and rising energy prices, but only those with strong margins can deliver growth even in tense markets. You can invest $2,500 in each of the four stocks below to grow your money in the short and medium term.

Long-term growth strategy for your TFSA

Bombardier

Bombardier (TSX: BBD.B) stock saw a sharp correction of 12% in March, even after reporting better-than-expected 2025 earnings in February 2026. Behind the dip was the uncertainty around the renewal of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) on July 1. If agreed, the accord will remain in force for 16 years or else face annual reviews till 2036 expiration.

US President Donald Trump is already pressuring Canada on a few areas, like approving certain Gulfstream jets, or the US will levy a 50% tariff on aircraft. Considering the unpredictability of his decisions, companies that benefited from USMCA remain cautious. That explains Bombardier’s dip.

The business jet maker is ready to withstand the crisis with a strong balance sheet. It has reduced its net debt to 1.9 times its adjusted Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization (EBITDA). And it is reducing its net debt further by repaying debt due in 2028. Bombardier is seeing a strong order flow from defence and other segments. It expects its revenue and adjusted EBITDA to grow by 4–5% in 2026 after growing 10 and 15% in 2025.

Now is the time to buy this stock as the management has several ways to boost earnings, increase maintenance agreements, look for more defence orders, and reduce debt. So far, it has not announced share buybacks or dividends, but it has not ruled them out either. Its long-term secular growth trend remains strong, and its supply chain is undisturbed.

Celestica stock

Celestica (TSX: CLS) stock has dipped 20% since its January peak as the Venezuela oil crisis and Iran war affect natural gas prices. Natural gas-fired power plants power most artificial intelligence (AI) data centres. While geopolitical tensions pulled down stock prices, the AI secular trend remains strong. Celestica’s stock rose on the back of strong demand for the Hardware Platform Solutions (HPS) division that manufactures high-speed data interconnects, storage, compute, and networking products for AI and hyperscale data centre infrastructure.

Celestica is investing US$1 billion to expand and build new capacity in Texas, Mexico, Japan, and Taiwan to find a way around tariffs. The company has been reporting better-than-expected earnings despite revising guidance upwards. It has revised its 2026 revenue guidance to US$17 billion from the previous US$16 billion. It has reduced its leverage ratio to 0.7 times from 1 times in 2024.

Although the valuations are high, the high revenue growth is supporting the rally, making it a stock to buy at the dip.

Short-term growth approach for your TFSA

Shopify (TSX: SHOP) and Lundin Gold (TSX: LUG) are opportunistic buys as their share prices have dipped from their highs. Shopify’s stock is down due to seasonality, while Lundin Gold’s share price corrected due to a dip in gold prices.

The rise in crude oil prices pulled down the gold price. However, gold will remain a good investment amidst growing trade uncertainty. Central banks worldwide might buy more gold to fund their supply chain shifts. Gold prices could make new highs in the next two to three years. You could consider buying Lundin Gold at the dip and selling the stock whenever it makes a new high. As for Shopify, the stock is a buy in March and sell in the holiday season rally.