3 Canadian Stocks That Keep Raising Their Dividends

There’s no shortage of great Canadian stocks for investors to add to their portfolios. Many of those are dividend stocks that offer a recurring income stream that continues to grow with each year.

For investors with longer-term timelines, years of dividend growth can be huge. The issue, however, is finding those great Canadian stocks today to begin that decade-long compounding.

Here are three that I have in my portfolio for that very reason, and you should consider too.

Option #1: Sleep easy with predictable dividend growth

Some of the best Canadian stocks are those that we passively interact with on a daily basis, and that’s why Fortis (TSX: FTS) is such an interesting option to consider.

Fortis is one of the largest utility stocks in North America. The company provides electricity and natural gas services across multiple regulated utilities that serve parts of Canada, the U.S., and the Caribbean.

The appeal of a regulated utility is huge. Demand for electricity and natural gas is stable, creating a wide defensive moat for Fortis. Unlike discretionary spending, consumers can’t simply eliminate their electric and gas bills.

This means that Fortis can generate a recurring and stable revenue stream that allows it to invest in growth and pay a quarterly dividend. As of the time of writing that dividend carries a yield of 3.26%.

That’s not the highest yield, but it’s stable and growing. In fact, Fortis has the second-longest dividend increase streak in Canada at 52 years. The company is also targeting additional increases of 4% to 6% through 2030.

Option #2: All aboard the dividend-growth train

The second of three Canadian stocks to consider owning now is Canadian National Railway (TSX: CNR). Canadian National operates one of the largest rail networks in North America.

That network connects three coastlines to ports, cities and industrial centres across North America. Canadian National hauls highly diversified freight ranging from automotive components and chemicals to crude oil, finished products and wheat.

In total, the railway hauls over $250 billion of those goods across its massive network each year.  This gives Canadian National one of the largest and most impressive defensive moats on the market.

For a competitor to emerge to challenge Canadian National would require massive amounts of capital, a decade or more in construction and regulatory approvals.

Turning to dividends, as of the time of writing, Canadian National offers investors a 2.09% dividend. That might seem like a lower yield from one of the Canadian stocks geared to income investors. That’s because the real strength in Canadian National’s dividend comes from its growth.

The railway has provided annual dividend increases for 30 consecutive years. For long-term investors, that history of increases and the defensive appeal stemming from an irreplaceable network make Canadian National one of the Canadian stocks to own in any portfolio.

Option #3:  Start investing with a higher yield

No list of great Canadian stocks to own would be complete without one of Canada’s big bank stocks. That bank to consider is Bank of Nova Scotia (TSX: BNS). Scotiabank is the most international of the big banks.

Scotiabank’s international footprint is unique among Canadian banks. The segment provides access to higher-growth markets that are less saturated than Canada, where the big banks already dominate the market.

In the case of Scotiabank, that international growth is now focused on the U.S. and Mexico. That’s a shift from the higher-growth but more volatile Latin American markets it prioritized over the last decade.

A recent example is Scotiabank’s agreement to acquire U.S.-based MapleMark Bank, which is still subject to regulatory approval. Once complete, the deal will deepen Scotiabank’s presence in Dallas and support the bank’s growth strategy.

The real reason investors turn to Scotiabank is for its quarterly dividend. As of the time of writing, Scotiabank offers a 3.64% yield. The bank has been paying dividends for nearly two centuries without fail, and raised its quarterly payout again in 2026, from $1.10 to $1.14 per share.

Three Canadian stocks that keep raising their dividends

No stock, even the most defensive, is without risk. Fortunately, the three Canadian stocks mentioned above offer investors a mix of growth, defensive appeal and growing dividends.

In my opinion, one or all of the above should be core holdings in any larger, well-diversified portfolio.