Both of these companies are members of the Power Corp. family and have streamlined their businesses in the past few years. Those efforts have helped drive profits and dividends. Each is a solid addition to the Finance portion of your portfolio.


GREAT-WEST LIFECO INC. $63 is a buy. The insurance company (Toronto symbol GWO; Conservative Growth and Income Portfolios, Finance sector; shares outstanding: 906.3 million; Market cap: $57.1 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.5; Dividend yield: 4.3%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.greatwestlifeco.com) is Canada’s second-largest life insurer, after Manulife Financial. It also offers pension and wealth management services. Power Corp. (Toronto symbol POW) owns 68.8% of the firm.

CAE has launched a restructuring plan aimed at streamlining its operations. These changes should help lift profits in the coming years, especially as the global airline industry continues to add pilots and support staff to keep pace with rising demand for air travel. At the same time, increasing defence spending by NATO countries should boost demand for the company’s military training services.


CAE INC. $39 is a buy. The company (Toronto symbol CAE; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 321.8 million; Market cap: $12.6 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.5; Dividend suspended in March 2020; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.cae.com) is a leading maker of flight simulators for commercial and military aircraft. It also operates pilot-training schools in over 40 countries.

SUNCOR ENERGY INC. $79 is a buy. Canada’s largest integrated oil producer (Toronto symbol SU; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 1.2 billion; Market cap: $94.8 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.8; Dividend yield: 3.0%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.suncor.com) focuses on major projects in the Alberta oil sands. It also operates four refineries (three in Canada and one in Colorado), along with over 1,800 Petro-Canada gas stations.


The stock is up 7% in the past month as crude oil prices spiked with the war in the Middle East and the disruption of shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.

THOMSON REUTERS CORP. $140 is a buy for long-term gains. The company (Toronto symbol TRI; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 450.5 million; Market cap: $63.1 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 6.2; Dividend yield: 2.5%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.thomsonreuters.com) sells specialized information (mainly through electronic channels) to professionals in the legal, and tax and accounting fields. It also owns the Reuters news service.


The stock continues to rebound from its recent low of $109 as the company reminds investors that new AI-powered chatbots cannot access its proprietary databases. The company is also rewarding investors with a $605 million U.S. return of capital plan and a new $600 million U.S. share buyback plan.

ROYAL BANK OF CANADA $224 is a buy. Canada’s largest bank (Toronto symbol RY; Conservative Growth and Income Portfolios, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 1.4 billion; Market cap: $313.6 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 4.7; Dividend yield: 2.9%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.rbc.com) acquired the Canadian operations of U.K.-based HSBC Holdings plc (New York symbol HSBC) in March 2024 for $15.5 billion.


The purchase helped lift Royal’s revenue in its fiscal 2026 first quarter, ended January 31, 2026, by 7.3%, to $17.96 billion from $16.74 billion a year earlier.

SOUTH BOW CORP. $45 is a hold. The company (Toronto symbol SOBO; Conservative Growth and Income Portfolios, Utilities sector; Shares o/s: 208.3 million; Market cap: $9.4 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 3.2; Dividend yield: 6.0%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.southbow.com) took its current form on October 1, 2024, when TC Energy Corp. (Toronto symbol TRP) spun it off. Investors received 0.2 of a South Bow share for every TC share they held. This new company operates a 4,900-kilometre pipeline network that pumps crude oil from Alberta to refineries in Illinois, Oklahoma and the U.S. Gulf Coast.


Higher volumes on its main Keystone pipeline helped lift South Bow’s revenue in the quarter ended December 31, 2025, by 9.1%, to $503 million from $461 million a year earlier (all amounts except share price and market cap in U.S. dollars). Earnings before unusual items also gained 29.8%, to $0.61 a share from $0.47.

Bank of Nova Scotia continues to benefit from its move in late 2023 to reduce its exposure to underperforming South American markets while expanding its presence in North America. At the same time, the bank focused on cutting costs and improving its efficiency.
Thanks to this new approach, the stock has jumped over 40% in the past year and more gains seem likely as the plan is still in its early stages. The bank’s improving profitability will also give it more room for dividend increases.

You Can See Our Exchange-Traded Funds Portfolio For April 2026 Here.

ETFs in brief

Exchange-traded funds are set up to mirror the performance of a stock-market index or sub-index. They hold a more or less fixed selection of securities that represent the holdings of that index or sub-index and will allow the fund to “track” its performance.

Companies involved in the production of energy have performed well in recent years, beating the global equity market index, although that performance came with a higher level of volatility (see table below).

The characteristics of the oil and gas producers are well known. Periods of high commodity prices historically lead to large-scale production expansion and invariably to oversupply, lower prices, and poor profitability. This, combined with variations in macro-economic conditions, geopolitical turmoil and other unexpected events, exacerbates price fluctuations. This is evident in the higher volatility of the prices of the listed energy companies and occasional significant price declines or drawdowns.

The medium to long-term prospects for the energy industry were detailed in an in-depth report from the International Energy Agency (“IEA”) published in late 2025. In summary, energy demand will likely continue to grow for the next few decades, but most of the growth will be satisfied by renewable energy, nuclear energy and natural gas.

Consumer defensive companies such as Walmart, Mondelez, Procter & Gamble, and Nestle provide basic goods that consumers need—even during a recession. It is therefore not surprising that these companies have relatively stable revenue and profit profiles and are able to maintain their dividends during tough economic times.

In addition, the consumer defensive group also consistently performs relatively well during bear markets—a feat that is only matched by a few other segments such as healthcare and utilities.