A dividend above 6% is an attractive payout, given that the TSX index offers you a yield of less than 3% in 2026. For income-focused Canadian investors, it is tempting to stop right there, add the stock to a watchlist, and move on.
But a yield only tells part of the story. The more useful question is whether the business behind that payout is sustainable. So, I went back to BCE’s (TSX: BCE) latest quarterly numbers to see if the blue-chip dividend stock is a top buy in 2026.
What I found is a company repositioning itself around three long-term growth engines, while focusing on lowering balance sheet debt.
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Is the TSX dividend stock a good buy?
BCE is Canada’s largest communications company, serving roughly 24 million consumer, business, and wholesale customers.
- In the second quarter, the TSX tech stock added more than 45,000 residential fibre internet subscribers in Canada. Including its U.S. subsidiary Ziply Fiber, total residential fibre net adds reached almost 55,000, pushing internet revenue up 14.2% year over year.
- Postpaid mobile churn, meaning the percentage of customers who cancel their service, fell to 1.02%, its lowest level in three years.
For an income investor, low churn and steady fibre demand matter because they point to reliable, repeatable revenue.
What stood out most to me was how much of BCE’s growth is now coming from areas outside traditional wireless and home internet plans.
Bell Business Markets, which includes cybersecurity unit Bell Cyber and tech services brand Ateko, grew combined revenue by 29% year over year.
Bell AI Fabric, the company’s AI data centre project, has around 335 megawatts of contracted capacity already under construction across Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and British Columbia. Management says it has visibility toward 800 megawatts of total capacity over time.
Bell Media also delivered a strong quarter. Streaming service Crave passed 5.1 million subscribers, up 23% year over year, helped in part by strong FIFA World Cup viewership across CTV, TSN, and Crave.
On the August earnings call, CEO Mirko Bibic summed up the approach this way: “This is exactly how we said we would run the company, disciplined execution in the core business, focused investment in higher growth opportunities and a clear path to sustainable free cash flow growth.”
The Canadian stock is lowering its debt profile
Heavy spending on fibre and AI infrastructure has weighed on BCE’s free cash flow in recent years, forcing the telecom giant to lower its dividend payout in 2025.
However, net debt leverage improved to approximately 3.7 times EBITDA in Q2, driven by debt refinancing and improving EBITDA margins. Management reaffirmed its target of reaching 3.5 times leverage by the end of 2027.
The Canadian dividend stock also ended the quarter with $4.6 billion in total available liquidity, giving it room to keep funding growth projects without straining the balance sheet. Meanwhile, BCE’s Canadian telecom capital spending, excluding the AI fabric buildout, declined year over year.
BCE is not a flashy growth stock, and nobody should buy it expecting rapid share price appreciation. But for investors building a portfolio of top Canadian dividend stocks around income and stability, BCE should be part of your watchlist.
The fibre network is expanding in Canada and the U.S. The AI data centre business is moving from announcements to construction with paying tenants. Bell Media is growing through streaming and sports content. And debt, the biggest risk to the dividend, is heading in the right direction.
This combination is why I view BCE as one of the more compelling TSX stocks for income-focused portfolios right now.
