When it comes to investing, the most important thing is just getting started and giving yourself the longest timeline possible to let your TSX stocks grow and compound.
But if you can start with a significant sum of capital like $10,000, that puts you in a great position.
However, rather than putting the entire $10,000 into one stock, you’ll want to diversify that cash and spread it across five high-quality picks. That immediately gives you exposure to several industries and ensures the performance of your entire portfolio doesn’t depend on one company.
Therefore, if I had $10,000 to invest in September, I’d put roughly $2,000 into each of these five stocks to buy and hold for the long haul.
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Three dependable stocks to build the portfolio around
The first stock I’d buy is Alimentation Couche-Tard (TSX: ATD), one of the largest convenience-store operators in the world.
Couche-Tard has expanded for years by improving the stores it already owns and consistently making acquisitions.
Now, its proposed acquisition of a controlling stake in Zabka, Poland’s leading convenience retailer, would be the largest deal in Couche-Tard’s history and give it another major platform for growth in Europe.
It’s a sizable acquisition, so the integration will be important. However, given Couche-Tard’s impressive track record, the deal could significantly improve its long-term growth potential.
I’d also invest $2,000 in Royal Bank of Canada (TSX: RY), Canada’s largest bank and one of the most dependable long-term investments on the TSX.
RBC earns revenue from personal and commercial banking, wealth management, insurance and capital markets. That diversification, combined with its massive scale, helps it continue generating significant profit in all kinds of economic environments.
Its latest quarter was another reminder of that strength, with the bank once again beating analysts’ expectations as earnings from capital markets and wealth management helped drive growth. Plus, RBC currently offers a dividend yield of roughly 2.5%, making it an ideal core holding.
The third stock I’d buy is Canadian Pacific Kansas City (TSX: CP), the only railway with a single network connecting Canada, the United States, and Mexico.
Railways are essential to the North American economy, cost billions of dollars to recreate, and face almost no risk of new competitors entering the industry. Furthermore, CP still has years of potential to improve efficiency and grow traffic across its expanded network.
Revenue continues to increase, and management expects volume and earnings growth to accelerate in the second half of the year.
So, although CP can be affected by short-term economic weakness from time to time, it’s one of the best long-term growth stocks in Canada.
Two more top TSX stocks to round out the portfolio
In addition to those three core TSX stocks to buy and hold for the long haul, Suncor Energy (TSX: SU) is another stock I’d strongly consider in the current environment.
Suncor gives the portfolio exposure to energy, but it’s more than simply an oil producer. It also has refining operations and the Petro-Canada network, giving it several different ways to generate cash flow.
In fact, the company recently reported record refinery throughput and refined-product sales, while higher oil prices helped it generate significant excess cash.
Furthermore, management is now targeting $4.7 billion in share repurchases in 2026 as it continues to use excess free cash flow to reward shareholders through both buybacks and dividends. At its current price, the stock offers a dividend yield of roughly 2.4%.
Finally, I’d also invest in a high-quality stock like Waste Connections (TSX: WCN), which is quietly one of the most reliable growth stocks on the TSX.
Waste collection is an essential service, and Waste Connections benefits from recurring demand, pricing power and a portfolio of landfills that would be extremely difficult to replace. It can also continue growing by acquiring smaller operators and improving their profitability.
It’s worth noting, though, that the stock typically trades at a premium because the market understands the advantages of its recurring revenue and the reliability of its business.
However, with a business that can grow in strong economies and remain resilient during downturns, Waste Connections is exactly the type of high-quality stock you’ll want to buy and hold for years.
