For retirees, generating dependable income while preserving capital is often a top investment priority. With a shorter investment horizon, retirees have less time to recover from significant market downturns, making them risk-averse investors.
Against this backdrop, the following three dividend stocks could suit retirees, offering resilient cash flows, consistent dividend payouts, and attractive long-term growth prospects. Let’s take a closer look at these three stocks.
Source: Getty Images
Fortis
Fortis (TSX: FTS) is an attractive dividend stock for retirees, supported by its essential services, highly regulated asset base, and predictable cash flows. The company serves approximately 3.5 million customers across Canada, the United States, and the Caribbean, providing essential electricity and natural gas services. Its regulated business model limits exposure to commodity price volatility and broader economic fluctuations, helping Fortis deliver resilient financial performance and increase its dividend for 52 consecutive years. The utility currently pays a quarterly dividend of $0.64 per share, yielding approximately 3.4%.
Looking ahead, Fortis could benefit from rising electricity and natural gas demand, driven by population growth, economic expansion, transportation electrification, and the growing power needs of AI-ready data centres. The company is advancing a $28.8 billion five-year capital investment program, expected to expand its rate base at an annualized rate of about 7% to $57.9 billion by the end of fiscal 2030. These investments should support earnings and cash-flow growth, while management expects to increase dividends by 4% to 6% annually through 2030. With its defensive business model, dependable income, and steady dividend growth, Fortis could be a compelling long-term holding for retirees.
Canadian Natural Resources
Another stock that suits retirees is Canadian Natural Resources (TSX: CNQ), which has increased its dividend for 26 consecutive years at an annualized rate of more than 20%. The oil and natural gas producer benefits from a portfolio of large, long-life, high-quality reserves that require relatively modest capital reinvestment. Its diversified asset base, low-cost operations, and disciplined capital allocation have also helped lower its breakeven point, enabling the company to generate resilient cash flows across commodity price cycles and consistently reward shareholders. CNQ currently pays a quarterly dividend of $0.63 per share, translating into an attractive yield of 3.6%.
Meanwhile, geopolitical tensions in the Middle East have supported oil and natural gas prices, creating a favourable backdrop for producers such as CNQ. The company continues to invest in strengthening its production capabilities, deploying $4.4 billion in capital during the first two quarters and remaining on track to invest approximately $7.6 billion this year. Furthermore, its roughly five billion barrels of oil equivalent in reserves and proven reserve life of approximately 30 years provide considerable visibility into future production and cash-flow generation.
With its low-cost operations, resilient cash flows, extensive reserve base, and proven dividend-growth track record, CNQ is well positioned to support continued shareholder returns, making it an appealing choice for retirees seeking dependable passive income and long-term stability.
TC Energy
My final pick is TC Energy (TSX: TRP), which operates an extensive natural gas pipeline network alongside a portfolio of power-generation assets with approximately 4.7 gigawatts of capacity. Its highly contracted business model provides strong earnings visibility, with roughly 98% of earnings coming from regulated assets or long-term take-or-pay contracts. This structure helps insulate the company from commodity price volatility and broader economic fluctuations, supporting resilient cash flows. TC Energy has leveraged this stability to increase its dividend for 26 consecutive years and currently offers a forward yield of 4.1%.
Looking ahead, TC Energy is expanding its infrastructure to capitalize on rising demand for natural gas transportation and energy services as production and consumption increase across North America. The company placed approximately $2 billion of projects into service during the first two quarters of the year and remains on track to bring $3.5 billion of projects online this year. With roughly $20 billion of projects in its development pipeline, TC Energy has a substantial runway for future growth.
These investments are expected to strengthen the company’s earnings and cash-flow profile, with management targeting adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) of $12.6 billion to $13.1 billion by 2028. At the midpoint, this represents annualized growth of approximately 5.4%. With predictable cash flows, a long dividend-growth record, and a sizeable growth pipeline, TC Energy could be an attractive choice for retirees seeking dependable income and long-term stability.
