The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) updated your Tax-Free Savings Account (TFSA) contribution room with a $7,000 contribution limit for 2026 on January 1. This year is the year of energy stocks as Venezuela’s oil crisis and the Iran war have changed the energy supply dynamic from a supply glut to a supply crisis. Oil prices have once again touched US$90–US$100 a barrel.
According to a Reuters report, the UAE has exited the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), a group created to limit oil output to stabilize oil prices. While it is not new for OPEC to see member countries exit, the timing is crucial. With the UAE free to produce more, it could increase competition for North America, which has no production limits.
The changing energy landscape has made Canadian energy stocks an attractive investment option.
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Canadian energy stocks to consider for a TFSA
Canada has the fourth-largest proven oil sands reserves in the world. It mainly exports oil and natural gas to the United States. However, this landscape is changing. It is now diversifying and looking to export to China, India, and Europe. Canada is building an LNG export facility to strengthen its North Pacific route to supply liquified natural gas (LNG) to Asian trade partners.
The natural gas energy stock
Holding Canada’s largest oil sands reserves, Canadian Natural Resources (TSX:CNQ) will benefit from expanding export markets. It can produce more and sell more. The company has been aggressively buying more reserves, which increased its net debt to $18 billion in 2024. It accelerated its debt repayment, reducing its net debt to $16 billion in 2025. The target net debt is $13 billion, which it could achieve in 2026. CNQ stock can keep growing its dividends as it reduces debt and increases free cash flow.
Canadian Natural Resources has increased its production at the right time and could benefit from expanding export markets. Its stock has surged as much as 50% year-to-date on the back of higher oil and gas prices. The stock price could dip from $63 to $53 or below as oil prices cool. That is the opportunity to buy and enjoy a higher dividend yield of 5%.
The energy infrastructure stock
Enbridge (TSX:ENB) is an evergreen stock to buy and hold. The company is accelerating the expansion of its gas pipeline and transmission business, and the timing could not be more perfect. It now owns three gas utilities in the United States, where data centres are using natural gas-fired power plants to meet their power needs. Enbridge is exploring a $10 billion opportunity to provide direct natural gas connections to artificial intelligence (AI) data centres.
Enbridge is also building gas pipelines to tap into the North American liquefied natural gas (LNG) export opportunity. Its strong project execution, regular cash flows from aging pipelines, and financial discipline make it a resilient dividend stock. The company uses the cash flow to repay debt, fund new projects, and maintain old pipelines. Once new projects start giving regular cash, some of it is initially used to bring debt to comfortable levels.
Enbridge is on track to grow dividends by 5% from next year.
The power plant stock
The next link in the energy supply chain is power plants, and Capital Power (TSX:CPX) has been efficiently operating in this segment. It builds, acquires, and operates power plants. Capital Power increased its natural gas-fired power capacity by 2.2 gigawatts (GW) in 2025, which it plans to deploy to AI data centres.
It has 25 GW of projects in the pipeline, of which 16GW is from mergers and acquisitions. Building a natural gas-fired power plant from scratch takes five to seven years and costs US$2,500/kilowatt. Meanwhile, uprating an existing plant takes two years at most and costs US$1,000/kilowatt. Capital Power stock has jumped 15% in 2026 but is still 8% below its October 2025 high. The company has been regularly growing dividends for the last 12 years.
The above three energy stocks are buy-and-hold investments in a TFSA for their dividend growth from exports and AI data centre opportunities.
