If you have $14,000 sitting in a Tax-Free Savings Account (TFSA), you can easily create a recurring passive-income stream in 2026.
One low-cost strategy that also provides exposure to the real estate sector is to own units of real estate investment trusts (REITs) that pay attractive dividends. Notably, every dollar of income you earn inside the TFSA is exempt from Canada Revenue Agency taxes.
One REIT that should be on the top of your TFSA watchlist is GO Residential REIT (TSX: GO.U), a landlord that owns luxury high-rise apartment towers in Manhattan.
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Is this dividend stock a good TFSA buy?
GO Residential is an internally managed REIT built around one simple idea: buy the best apartment towers in one of the tightest rental markets in North America, then run them better than anyone else can. The trust owns luxury suites in Manhattan, and its most recent quarter showed just how strong that market has become.
- Committed occupancy sat at 99% at the end of the first quarter (Q1), and average monthly rent per suite reached $6,876, according to the company’s earnings call.
- Median rents in Manhattan crossed $5,000 a month for the first time on record in February 2026, and vacancy across the borough stayed under 2% all quarter.
- This, combined with record pricing, shrinking supply, and rising demand, is what an income investor wants to see behind an attractive distribution.
GO Residential pays a monthly cash distribution of $0.05325 per unit, or $0.639 per unit a year, which translates to a yield of almost 7%.
In the first quarter of 2026, adjusted funds from operations, a cash flow measure that REITs use instead of net income, came in at $0.25 per unit, indicating a payout ratio of 62.8%.
Management targets roughly 65% as its long-term guideline, so the payout currently sits below target, leaving room for the distribution to continue growing.
Now for the math on the $14,000 TFSA contribution. Today, GO Residential REIT stock is priced at $9.40. Using this price, $14,000 allows you to purchase 1,489 units of the REIT.
Multiply that by the $0.05325 monthly distribution rate, and you get about $79 a month or close to $950 a year, paid directly into your TFSA and completely tax-free.
What’s next for the Canadian dividend stock
Income investors want to know if a distribution is safe today and has room to grow tomorrow. During the first quarter of 2026, GO Residential announced deals to buy Ivy Tower, the Hudson Yards portfolio, 7 Dey Street, and a stake in 409 Eastern Parkway, a group of acquisitions expected to roughly double its building count.
Two of those deals, 7 Dey Street and Ivy Tower, already closed by June 15, 2026, according to a company statement, pushing the portfolio to 2,545 suites from 2,015, a 26% jump in just a few months.
Management called each purchase accretive, meaning it should add more cash flow per unit than it costs to buy, while keeping leverage inside the trust’s target range.
Debt to gross book value stood at 50.3% at quarter end, and liquidity totalled $332.5 million, giving the trust plenty of room to keep growing without straining its balance sheet.
GO Residential REIT checks the boxes income investors care about most. A well-covered monthly distribution, exposure to one of the strongest rental markets on the continent, and a management team that keeps closing accretive deals without overloading the balance sheet.
For anyone building tax-free monthly income with $14,000, this Canadian dividend stock deserves a spot on your watch list and, in my view, is a REIT worth owning today.
