2 Canadian Stocks to Buy Before the Crowd Piles In

The Smartest Canadian investors usually get there before the excitement does. Before the crowd piles in, I’d look for stocks with a clear catalyst, reasonable valuation, and a business that already shows some resilience. That can mean a steady consumer name that keeps compounding, an energy giant with a fresh growth trigger, or a smaller company where the market has not fully priced in the next step. Right now, these stocks offer it all.

LNF

Leon’s Furniture (TSX: LNF) sells furniture, appliances, mattresses, and electronics through Leon’s and The Brick, and it keeps proving that a boring business can still produce strong results. Over the last year, it benefited from improving furniture demand, better assortment, and lower financing costs as rates eased. In 2025, revenue rose 3.0% to $2.57 billion, same-store sales climbed 3.0%, and diluted earnings per share (EPS) reached $2.29. It also declared a special dividend of $0.50 per share on top of its regular payout.

That’s why it fits before the crowd piles in. Leon’s trades at only about 11 times trailing earnings, which still looks modest for a profitable retailer with strong liquidity of $603 million and improving margins. Management said it plans to keep investing in e-commerce and its store base to grow market share. The risk is simple enough. If consumer spending weakens, furniture sales can cool fast. But if the economy stays steady, this one looks like a quiet compounder that still hasn’t attracted enough attention.

CVE

Cenovus Energy (TSX: CVE) looks more obvious, but it still has room to surprise. The Canadian integrated energy giant spent the last year getting bigger and stronger, highlighted by its acquisition of MEG Energy, which closed in November 2025. That deal added roughly 110,000 barrels per day of low-cost oil sands production, while the Canadian stock also kept moving its West White Rose project towards first oil in the second quarter of 2026. These are not tiny moves. They give Cenovus more scale and more growth at a time when energy investors still care about cash flow and operational efficiency.

The numbers already look solid. In the fourth quarter of 2025, upstream production jumped to 917,900 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boe/d), helped by MEG, while the Canadian stock returned $1.1 billion to shareholders in the quarter through buybacks and dividends. Management’s 2026 outlook calls for production of 945,000 to 985,000 boe/day, and its presentation points to a path to nearly 1.1 million boe/d by the end of 2028. The Canadian stock still trades at a fairly undemanding earnings multiple for a major producer. The risk, of course, is oil prices. If crude drops hard, sentiment can turn quickly. Even so, Cenovus looks built for a bigger move if energy stays supportive.

Bottom line

If I had to pick one steady value idea, I’d lean towards Leon’s. For a bigger catalyst, Cenovus looks hard to ignore. Both offer income that also can’t be ignored from a $7,000 investment.

The crowd usually arrives after the easy part. These two look more interesting before that happens.