ROYAL BANK OF CANADA, $122.85, Toronto symbol RY, is a buy.

Canada’s largest bank by market capitalization raised your quarterly dividend by 2.3% with the August 2023 payment. Investors now receive $1.35 a share instead of $1.32. The new annual rate of $5.40 yields a solid 4.4%.

The bank continues to benefit from higher interest income on its loans due to higher interest rates....

BANK OF MONTREAL, $117.10, Toronto symbol BMO, remains a buy.

On February 1, 2023, the bank completed its acquisition of Bank of the West from France’s BNP Paribas.

Bank of the West provides a variety of retail and commercial banking services to over 1.8 million customers in 24 U.S....

3M COMPANY, $106.96, New York symbol MMM, remains a buy for long-term gains.

The company makes over 60,000 consumer and industrial goods, including air purifiers, adhesives, bandages and components for medical devices. Its main brands include Post-it notes, Scotch tape, Scotch-Brite cleaning products, Scotchguard protection and Thinsulate insulation.

This week, 3M agreed to settle claims regarding defects in earplugs it manufactured for the U.S....

The federal government’s tax on income-trust distributions took effect on January 1, 2011....

ALGONQUIN POWER & UTILITIES, $10.26, is a buy. The utility (Toronto symbol AQN; Shares outstanding: 688.8 million; Market cap: $7.1 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk; Dividend yield: 5.7%; www.algonquinpower.com) has two main businesses: the Regulated Services Group provides regulated electricity, gas, water distribution and wastewater collection services in Canada, the U.S., Chile and Bermuda; and the Renewable Power Group produces electricity from about 47 clean-energy plants in North America.


Algonquin is now conducting a strategic review of its renewable power operations....

TC ENERGY INC., $49.10, is a buy. The company (Toronto symbol TRP; Shares outstanding: 1.0 billion; Market cap: $48.9 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Dividend yield: 7.6%; www.tcenergy.com.) has proposed building a new pumped storage hydro power project near Meaford, Ontario....

ISHARES S&P/TSX REIT INDEX ETF, $16.23, is a hold. The ETF (Toronto symbol XRE; buy or sell through brokers; ca.ishares.com) lets investors tap all 16 Canadian real estate investment trusts in the S&P/TSX REIT Index....

With their clean, renewable power, these two companies have strong conceptual appeal for investors. But just as important is their mix of hydroelectric, wind and solar power. That diversity, along with their long-term contracts, provide stable cash flows. That lets these utility firms continue to build up their operations and add to your distributions.


INNERGEX RENEWABLE ENERGY, $12.88, is a buy. The power generator (Toronto symbol INE; Shares outstanding: 204.3 million; Market cap: $2.7 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk; Dividend yield: 5.6%; www.innergex.com) operates 40 hydroelectric plants, 35 wind farms and nine solar power fields....

OVINTIV INC., $64.14, is a buy. The energy producer (Toronto symbol OVV; Shares outstanding: 273.9 million; Market cap: $17.6 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Average; Dividend yield: 2.5%) recently paid private equity firm EnCap Investments L.P....

BCE and Metro are leading competitors in their respective markets; look for that to cut your ongoing risk. We see both as buys.


BCE INC., $57.66, is a buy. The company (Toronto symbol BCE; Shares o/s: 912.3 million; Market cap: $52.7 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Yield: 6.7%) is Canada’s largest traditional telephone service provider....