High oil prices and trade uncertainty could be headwinds for the TSX rally that investors have enjoyed for the better part of the past three years.
With this in mind, retirees and other income investors with cash to put to work inside a self-directed Tax-Free Savings Account (TFSA) should consider holding top TSX dividend stocks that have good track records of raising distributions through the full economic cycle.
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Enbridge
Enbridge (TSX: ENB) raised its dividend in each of the past 31 years. The stock has pulled back from the 2026 high of $80 to the current price near $68 per share. Investors can take advantage of the dip to pick up a 5.7% dividend yield.
The energy infrastructure giant has grown considerably over the past few decades, through a combination of strategic acquisitions and development projects. That trend continues as demand for North American energy rises, both in the domestic market and overseas.
Enbridge announced a string of new deals in recent weeks. The company is buying oil infrastructure in the U.S. Rockies region for US$2.55 billion and additional assets in the Permian Basin in New Mexico and Texas for US$600 million. The deals further expand Enbridge’s portfolio in the American market where the company has focused most of its growth investments in the past few years. Enbridge spent US$3 billion in 2021 to buy an oil export terminal in Texas. In 2024, Enbridge paid US$14 billion to acquire three natural gas utilities. That deal made Enbridge the largest natural gas utilities operator in North America, just as natural gas demand is ramping up due to the surge in construction of gas-fired power generation facilities needed to provide electricity to AI data centres.
Enbridge’s export assets are set to benefit from rising international demand for Canadian and American energy products. In addition to the oil export terminal in Texas, Enbridge is building infrastructure to connect LNG export sites on the U.S. Gulf Coast. At home, Enbridge is a partner on the Woodfibre LNG export facility that is nearing completion on the coast of British Columbia.
In total, Enbridge is working on a $41 billion development plan that will help drive distributable cash flow higher by about 5% per year over the medium term. The company is targeting about $10 billion in capital investments per year. As new assets are completed and go into service, the increase in cash flow should support ongoing dividend growth.
Fortis
Fortis (TSX: FTS) is one of those stocks investors can simply buy for the dividend growth and sit on for decades. The company raised the dividend in each of the past 52 years and plans to continue raising the payout by 4% to 6% annually through at least 2030.
Fortis has a capital program of about $29 billion underway that will expand the rate base from roughly $42 billion to nearly $58 billion over five years. The company has other projects under consideration that could get added to the development portfolio. Fortis owns power generation sites, electric and natural gas distribution utilities, and electricity grid assets in Canada, the United States, and the Caribbean.
The bottom line
Enbridge and Fortis are not immune to market turbulence and no dividend is 100% safe, but these stocks should be solid buy-and-hold picks for investors who want to build a dividend portfolio that can ride out difficult economic times.
