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There are two practical solutions to the stressful problem of not having enough money saved for retirement—and neither involves banking on a big stock windfall.

These days, more investors suffer from what you might call “pre-retirement financial stress syndrome.” That’s the malady that strikes when it dawns on you that you don’t have enough money saved to be able to earn the retirement income stream you were banking on.

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Though it has slowed with the economy, we still rate CP Rail as a true blue chip stock. We like its ability to unlock hidden value.

Investing in profitable blue chip stocks will become second-nature to you after learning these tips!

Because its software is vital to the auto industry’s shift from mechanical to electronic systems, Mentor Graphics is a rising growth stock

Knowing how dividends are taxed in Canada can save you money

< p> METRO INC. $37 (www.metro.ca) spent $355.2 million on share buybacks in the 12 months ended September 9, 2015. That’s equal to 4% of its $8.9-billion market cap. Under its new authorization, the supermarket operator can repurchase up to 7.4% of its outstanding shares by September 9, 2016....

RESTAURANT BRANDS INTERNATIONAL INC. $47 (www.rbi.com) plans to open over 150 Tim Hortons coffee-anddonut stores in Cincinnati, Ohio, over the next 10 years. The company currently has 4,776 Tim Hortons outlets in Canada, the U.S....

POTASH CORP. OF SASKATCHEWAN $29 (www.potash corp.com) has dropped its $8.8-billion U.S. offer to buy German fertilizer producer K+S AG. That price is equal to 48% of Potash Corp.’s $23.8 billion (Canadian) market cap....

AGRIUM INC. $126 (Toronto symbol AGU; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 142.8 million; Market cap: $18.0 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.1; Dividend yield: 3.6%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.agrium.com) has shifted its focus in the past few years from making fertilizers to selling them, along with seeds and other products, to farmers. That has cut its exposure to volatile bulk-fertilizer prices.

< p>Agrium now gets 75% of its sales and 60% of its earnings from its retail stores, which consist of 1,500 locations in North America, South America and Australia. < p>The remaining 25% of sales and 40% of earnings comes from making nitrogen-based fertilizers from natural gas. Agrium also operates potash and phosphate fertilizer mines....

BOMBARDIER INC. (Toronto symbols BBD.A $1.75 and BBD.B $1.70; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 1.7 billion; Market cap: $2.9 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.2; Dividend suspended in February 2015; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk; www.bombardier.com) recently ended talks with European aircraft maker Airbus that would have given that company a controlling stake in Bombardier’s new CSeries passenger jet. In exchange, Airbus would have helped Bombardier pay for the new plane’s development costs.

< p>The company still plans to begin delivering the CSeries in 2016: it has firm orders for 243 planes worth roughly $16 billion U.S. However, ongoing delays have halted new orders. < p>Bombardier is still a hold....

< p>CAE INC. $15 (Toronto symbol CAE; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 268.6 million; Market cap: $4.0 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.7; Dividend yield: 2.0%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.cae.com) has won several contracts for flight simulators and related equipment from the U.S. Air Force, the U.S. Navy and the German Air Force. < p>In all, these deals are worth $100 million, or 5% of CAE’s $2.2 billion of annual revenue. The company’s military businesses supply 35% of its sales, which cuts its reliance on cyclical airlines. CAE is our #1 buy for 2015. < p> CENOVUS ENERGY INC. $21 (Toronto symbol CVE; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 833.2 million; Market cap: $17.5 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.1; Dividend yield: 3.0%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.cenovus.com) is working on new phases at its Alberta oil sands projects that will boost its overall output by 25%. As a result, the company now plans to open a new marketing office in Houston, Texas, that will help it sell this additional crude to refineries on the U.S. Gulf Coast....

< p>TELUS CORP. $42 (Toronto symbol T; Conservative Growth and Income Portfolios, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 602.4 million; Market cap: $25.3 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.1; Dividend yield: 3.7%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.telus.com) plans to speed up its fibre optic network in Vancouver. < p>Initially, clients will be able to connect at 150 megabits a second, or 50% faster than the network’s current top speed. Eventually, Telus plans to boost that to one gigabit (or 1,000 megabits) per second. < p>The company will spend $1 billion on this project over the next five years. Faster speeds should spur demand for Telus’s other services, like digital TV....

FORTIS INC. $38 (Toronto symbol FTS; Conservative Growth and Income Portfolios, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 279.9 million; Market cap: $10.6 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.7; Dividend yield 3.9%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.fortisinc.com) owns electrical utilities across Canada and in the U.S. and Caribbean. It also distributes natural gas in British Columbia.

< p>The company recently raised its quarterly dividend by 10.3%, to $0.375 a share from $0.34. The new annual rate of $1.50 yields 3.9%. Fortis has raised its payout every year for the past 43 years. The company also plans to increase the payout by around 6% each year through 2020. < p>Fortis is a buy....

ATCO LTD. (Toronto symbols ACO.X [class I non-voting] $40 and ACO.Y [class II voting] $40; Income Portfolio, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 115.1 million; Market cap: $4.6 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.1; Dividend yield: 2.5%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.atco.com) holds 53.2% of Canadian Utilities and 75.5% of ATCO Structures & Logistics, which makes temporary buildings for construction, mining and energy-exploration firms. Canadian Utilities owns the other 24.5%.

< p>In the three months ended June 30, 2015, ATCO earned $8 million, or $0.06 a share, down 87.9% from $66 million, or $0.57. Revenue declined 15.0%, to $947 million from $1.1 billion. < p>Excluding unusual items, earnings were flat at $57 million. Based on current prices, you can buy an ATCO share for $40 and get roughly $45 worth of Canadian Utilities. You might say this means you get the structures business, which provides around 20% of ATCO’s earnings, for free....

CANADIAN UTILITIES LTD. (Toronto symbols CU [class A non-voting] $37 and CU.X [class B voting] $37; Income Portfolio, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 265.2 million; Market cap: $9.8 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.9; Dividend yield: 3.2%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.canadian utilities.com) distributes electricity and natural gas in Alberta and Australia. It also operates 18 power plants in Canada, Australia and the U.K. ATCO Ltd. owns 53.2% of the company.Between 2015 and 2017, Canadian Utilities plans to spend $5.8 billion on its utility operations, including building a 485- kilometre power line in eastern Alberta. This $1.8-billion project should start up by the end of 2015.

< p>Other projects include a new gas pipeline and power plant in Mexico and four underground gas-storage facilities in Alberta. Meanwhile, lower gas prices and demand cut Canadian Utilities’ revenue by 8.9% in the three months ended June 30, 2015, to $780 million from $856 million a year earlier. < p>Overall earnings dropped 62.6%, to $43 million from $115 million, while per-share profits declined 69.2%, to $0.12 from $0.39, on more shares outstanding....

TORSTAR CORP. $4.12 (Toronto symbol TS.B; Conservative Growth and Income Portfolios, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 80.3 million; Market cap: $330.8 million; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.4; Dividend yield: 12.7%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.torstar.com) has purchased 56% of VerticalScope, a private firm that operates over 600 online forums and a variety of websites, including AutoGuide.com, Motorcycle.com, ATV.com and PetGuide.com. This purchase should help Torstar offset slowing advertising revenue at its newspapers as advertisers shift their spending to the Internet.

< p>The company paid $200 million, but VerticalScope plans to pay a distribution to its shareholders later this year. That would cut Torstar’s purchase price to $178 million. Meantime, Torstar recently launched a digital version of The Toronto Star, its flagship newspaper, for tablet computers. In addition to newspaper content, this free app, called Star Touch, gives users quick access to related information like photos, maps and videos.

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TRANSCONTINENTAL INC. $20 (Toronto symbol TCL.A; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 78.0 million; Market cap: $1.6 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.8; Dividend yield: 3.4%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.tctranscontinental.com) recently purchased Brooklyn, New York-based Ultra Flex Packaging, a privately held maker of flexible plastic packages for candy, coffee and other foods.Transcontinental paid $80 million U.S. for Ultra Flex, which will add $72 million U.S. to its annual revenue and $12 million to its gross profits. This purchase looks like a good fit with U.S.-based Capri Packaging, which makes plastic bags and pouches for cheese and other dairy products. Transcontinental paid $146.1 million for Capri in May 2014.

< p>Meanwhile, the company’s earnings rose 30.5% in its 2015 third quarter, which ended July 31, 2015, to $48.8 million, or $0.62 a share. A year earlier, Transcontinental earned $37.4 million, or $0.48 a share. < p>Revenue slipped 0.2%, to $481.9 million from $483.0 million. Contributions from acquisitions offset lower revenue from printing advertising flyers, particularly after Target closed its 133 Canadian stores. The lower Canadian dollar also boosted the value of its U.S. sales....

TRANSCANADA CORP. $45 (Toronto symbol TRP; Conservative Growth and Income Portfolios, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 709.0 million; Market cap: $31.9 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 3.0; Dividend yield: 4.6%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.transcanada.com) is buying the Ironwood gas-fired power plant in Lebanon, Pennsylvania. The facility is close to the Marcellus shale region, which gives it access to large supplies of cheap natural gas.

< p>The company will pay $654 million U.S. when it completes the purchase in early 2016. The plant will add $90 million U.S. to $110 million U.S. to TransCanada’s annual gross profits; in 2014, its gross profits totalled $5.5 billion (Canadian). < p>TransCanada is a buy....

PENGROWTH ENERGY CORP. $1.41 (Toronto symbol PGF; Aggressive Growth and Income Portfolios, Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 540.7 million; Market cap: $762.4 million; Priceto- sales ratio: 0.8; Dividend yield: 2.8%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.pengrowth.com) continues to sell less important properties and focus on more promising operations like its Lindbergh oil sands project in Alberta.

< p>The company has now agreed to sell its Bodo project in eastern Alberta for $95 million. Including this deal, it has now sold $260 million worth of properties in 2015 and expects to reach its full-year goal of $600 million in asset sales. < p>Pengrowth will use the proceeds to pay down its long-term debt, which stood at $1.9 billion on June 30, 2015. That’s a high 2.5 times its currently depressed market cap....

< p> MANITOBA TELECOM SERVICES INC. $29 (Toronto symbol MBT; Conservative Growth and Income Portfolios, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 78.9 million; Market cap: $2.3 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.4; Dividend yield: 4.5%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.mtsallstream.com) gets 60% of its revenue from its MTS division, which has 1.3 million telephone, wireless and TV customers in Manitoba. < p>The other 40% comes from Allstream, which sells phone and Internet services to businesses across Canada. < p>As part of a plan to make Allstream more profitable, Manitoba Telecom aims to cut 25% of the subsidiary’s workforce and reduce its capital spending by 20% to 30%. These moves should save $50 million annually by the end of 2016 and make it easier for Manitoba Telecom to sell this business....

ENBRIDGE INC. $56 (Toronto symbol ENB; Conservative Growth and Income Portfolios, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 860.1 million; Market cap: $48.2 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.4; Dividend yield: 3.3%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.enbridge.com) gets 85% of its revenue from pipelines that pump oil and natural gas from Western Canada to Eastern Canada and the U.S. The remaining 15% mainly comes from distributing gas to 2.1 million consumers in Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick and New York State.The company recently completed the major reorganization it announced in December 2014.

< p>Under the plan, Enbridge transferred some of its assets to 19.9%-owned affiliate Enbridge Income Fund Holdings Inc. (Toronto symbol ENF). This company owns 42% of Enbridge Income Fund (Enbridge Inc. owns the remaining 58%), which holds oil and gas pipelines and solar and wind farms. The transfer included pipelines that pump oil sands crude to the U.S., along with wind farms in Alberta and Quebec. < p>Transactions like this, called drop-downs, free up cash the parent company can use for new projects. The affiliate also benefits, because the new assets’ cash flow helps it maintain or raise its distributions to investors. The reorganization freed up more cash for dividends: Enbridge raised its quarterly payout by 32.9% with the March 2015 payment, to $0.465 a share from $0.35; the new annual rate of $1.86 yields 3.3%. The company now aims to pay out 75% to 85% of its adjusted annual earnings as dividends, up from its old target of 60% to 70%....

SUNCOR ENERGY INC. $37 (Torontosymbol SU; Conservative Growth Portfolio,Resources sector; Shares outstanding:1.5 billion; Market cap: $55.5billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.5; Dividendyield: 3.1%; TSINetwork Rating:Average; www.suncor.com) is takingadvantage of low oil prices with its allstocktakeover offer for Canadian OilSands (Toronto symbol COS).

< p>Canadian Oil Sands’ main asset isits 36.74% stake in the massiveSyncrude oil sands development nearFort McMurray, Alberta. It alsooperates the project. Suncor alreadyowns 12.0% of Syncrude, so thispurchase would give it effectivecontrol, with a 48.74% stake. < p>Equipment failures and other problemshave hurt Syncrude’s productionin the past few years, and Suncorfeels its expertise running similarprojects will make Syncrude moreefficient and profitable. In the secondquarter of 2015, Suncor’s cash costsin the oil sands were $28.15 a barrel,compared to $54.45 at Syncrude....

CGI GROUP INC. $48 (Toronto symbol GIB.A; AggressiveGrowth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Sharesoutstanding: 313.4 million; Market cap: $15.0 billion; Priceto-sales ratio: 1.5; No dividends paid; TSINetwork Rating: ExtraRisk; www.cgi.com) is Canada’s largest computer-outsourcingprovider, helping its clients automate routine functions likeaccounting and buying supplies. That improves their efficiencyand lets them focus on their main businesses.

< p>Government agencies supply 33% of CGI’s revenue, followedby manufacturers and retailers (23%), banks and financial serviceproviders (20%), telecom firms and utilities (15%), and healthcare businesses (9%). < p>The U.S. federal government is the company’s largest singleclient, accounting for around 14% of its revenue.CGI follows what it calls its “Build and Buy”strategy....

CALIAN TECHNOLOGIES $15.94 (Toronto symbol CTY; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative) (613- 599-8600; www.calian.com; Shares outstanding: 7.4 million; Market cap: $116.6 million; Dividend yield: 7.0%) has two main divisions: Business and Technology Services (which supplies 70% of the company’s revenue) provides engineers, health care workers and other skilled professionals on a contract basis. Systems Engineering (30% of revenue) sells hardware and software for testing, operating and managing satellite and other communication systems.

In the three months ended June 30, 2015, the company’s revenue rose 19.4%, to $64.3 million from $53.8 million a year earlier. Calian earned $2.5 million, or $0.34 a share, down 8.0% from $2.7 million, or $0.37, a year earlier.

Across-the-board sales gains

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DREAM OFFICE REIT $21.36 (Toronto symbol D.UN; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (416-365-3535; www.dream.ca/office; Units outstanding: 107.8 million; Market cap: $2.4 billion; Dividend yield: 10.5%) owns and manages 176 properties comprising 24.1 million square feet of office space in major cities across Canada.

In Western Canada, the trust has 16% of its total square footage in Calgary and 20% elsewhere. In Eastern Canada, it holds 23% of its square footage in downtown Toronto, 17% in suburban Toronto and 24% elsewhere. Its occupancy rate is 92.8%.

In the three months ended June 30, 2015, Dream Office’s revenue slipped 1.4%, to $201.4 million from $204.4 million a year earlier. The trust sold four properties to Dream Industrial REIT (symbol DIR.UN on Toronto) for $33.0 million in September 2014. Dream Office owns 24.2% of Dream Industrial.

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