Investors looking ahead to 2026 should focus on dividend stocks that do more than just wave around a big yield. The better picks have reliable tenants or customers, steady cash flow, room to raise payouts, and a balance sheet that can handle a tougher economy. In other words, you want income that looks durable, not dramatic.
That’s why Choice Properties REIT (TSX:CHP.UN) stands out right now. Its yield sits around 4.8%, which is not the flashiest on the TSX, but it comes with a lot more stability than many higher-paying rivals.
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CHP
Choice Properties is Canada’s largest real estate investment trust (REIT), and that scale matters. It owns a huge portfolio of retail, industrial, mixed-use, and residential properties, with a major anchor in necessity-based retail through Loblaw. That gives it a defensive feel in a market that still looks a little jumpy. Over the last year, it kept leaning into that strength while also pushing its industrial and mixed-use pipeline, which helps diversify the story beyond grocery-anchored plazas.
The dividend stock also stayed active on the capital-allocation front. In November 2025, it announced a normal course issuer bid, which signalled management saw value in the units at those levels. Then, in February and March 2026, it followed up with distribution announcements that lifted the annualized payout from $0.77 to $0.78 per unit. That may not sound huge, but for income investors, small steady bumps are usually better than big promises.
Into earnings
On earnings, the latest annual results were solid. Choice reported fourth-quarter 2025 diluted funds from operations (FFO) per unit of $0.262, up 0.8% year over year, while same-asset net operating income (NOI) on a cash basis rose 2.4%. Portfolio occupancy improved to 98.2% in the fourth quarter, helped by new industrial leasing. For the full year, management pointed to the continued strength of its necessity-based retail portfolio and well-located industrial assets, which is exactly what income investors want to hear.
The valuation still looks reasonable, too. Choice is targeting 2025 annual FFO per unit in a range of $1.08 to $1.10, and with the units recently trading around $15.93 to $16.02, that works out to roughly 14.5 to 14.8 times FFO. For a large, high-occupancy REIT with a monthly distribution and a defensive tenant base, that’s not demanding. The annualized yield around 4.8% adds a nice layer of income while you wait. In fact, even $7,000 can bring in quite a lot.
| COMPANY | RECENT PRICE | NUMBER OF SHARES | ANNUAL DIVIDEND | ANNUAL TOTAL PAYOUT | FREQUENCY | TOTAL INVESTMENT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CHP.UN | $15.88 | 440 | $0.78 | $343.20 | Monthly | $6,987.20 |
Future focus
Looking ahead, the future case gets more interesting. Choice has been clear that it wants to scale its industrial platform, and its investor materials describe a development pipeline that could make it Canada’s largest public industrial portfolio over time. That’s a useful angle for 2026 because industrial real estate still offers better long-term growth potential than old-school retail alone. Choice is not abandoning its roots. It’s quietly upgrading them.
There’s also the simple fact that the base business looks built for a slower-growth world. Loblaw remains the largest tenant, accounting for about 57.8% of rental revenue as of the third quarter of 2025, and the trust renewed 39 of 41 leases expiring in 2026 during that period. That kind of visibility gives the payout real support. The main risk is concentration. If you don’t like having one giant tenant in the mix, this will not be your favourite dividend stock. But for investors who value dependable rent cheques, that concentration also helps explain why the trust keeps delivering.
Bottom line
Choice Properties may not be the loudest dividend stock on the TSX, but it’s starting to look like one of the smarter picks for 2026. You get a near-5% yield, a monthly payout, strong occupancy, sensible valuation, and a portfolio that mixes defence with some growth. That’s a pretty attractive combination at a time when investors still want income but don’t want to lose sleep chasing it.
