The capture of Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro by the U.S. and the Trump administration’s plan to increase oil production in that country initially hurt the stock prices of Canadian producers including Suncor and Cenovus. That’s mainly because higher production would weigh on crude prices and could displace Canadian oil at refineries on the U.S. Gulf Coast. However, it will take years to ramp up Venezuelan production. The situation could also spur the building of new pipelines to deliver Canadian crude to non-U.S. markets.

CGI INC. $131 is a buy for aggressive investors. The company (Toronto symbol GIB.A; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 217.2 million; Market cap: $28.5 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.9; Dividend yield: 0.5%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.cgi.com) is Canada’s largest provider of computer outsourcing services. It helps its clients automate certain routine functions like accounting and buying supplies. That makes companies more efficient and lets them focus on their main businesses.

Transcontinental entered the packaging business in 2014 with the purchase of Capri Packaging. Due to increasingly strong competition from larger firms, it has now decided to sell these operations. The company will distribute most of the proceeds to its shareholders. Following the sale, Transcontinental will focus on expanding its legacy of commercial printing and media operations.

LOBLAW COMPANIES LTD. $63 is a buy. The company (Toronto symbol L; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 1.2 billion; Market cap: $75.6 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.239; Dividend yield: 0.9%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.loblaw.ca) operates 1,160 supermarkets under several banners, including Loblaws, Zehrs, Provigo, Real Canadian Superstore and No Frills. It also owns the Shoppers Drug Mart chain, which has 1,363 drugstores across Canada.

In addition to Bank of Nova Scotia (see page 11), we continue to like the long-term prospects for Canada’s other four big banks. In fact, we continue to recommend that all investors own two or more of these top-quality stocks.


Despite U.S.-imposed, sector-specific tariffs, loan losses remain low, while new technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) will help the banks cut administrative costs. Better profitability will also give these banks more room to keep raising their dividends.

MAPLE LEAF FOODS INC. $26 is still a hold. The company (Toronto symbol MFI; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 124.9 million; Market cap: $3.2 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.6; Dividend yield: 3.2%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.mapleleaffoods.com) sells fresh and prepared meats under the Maple Leaf and Schneider labels. It also makes plant-based protein products under the Lightlife and Field Roast brands.

For your 2026 Stocks of the Year, we have once again selected one from each of our portfolios—Conservative, Aggressive and Income.


All three companies are in a strong position to keep expanding their earnings and market share this year. That should drive their stock prices higher, not only for 2026 but for many years to come.

You Can See Our Exchange-Traded Funds Portfolio For February 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.

The MER (Management Expense Ratio) is generally much lower on traditional ETFs than on conventional mutual funds. That’s because most traditional ETFs take a much simpler approach to investing. Instead of actively managing clients’ investments, ETF providers invest so as to mirror the holdings and performance of a particular stock-market index.

ETFs practice this “passive” fund management style, in contrast to the “active” management that conventional mutual funds traditionally provide at much higher costs.

Here’s a more in-depth look at the ETFs we looked at on pages 11 to 14 and their strategies.

A focus on dividends will pays off

Shares Core MSCI Canadian Quality Dividend ETF (Toronto symbol XDIV)

Stocks involved in artificial intelligence have dominated the investing landscape over the past two years, while dividend-paying companies have had less momentum. Nonetheless, it pays to not forget the attractions of high-quality dividend-paying stocks. Consider the following:

This month, we highlight two new funds from asset manager Global X. The first claims to be a world first—a covered call strategy on copper producers. The second is an ETF that holds Hong Kong-listed Chinese technology companies.

Global X Copper Producer Equity Covered Call ETF $24.26 (Toronto symbol CPCC) invests in an ETF that holds copper producers, as well investing in individual copper miners.

The ETF manager then sells call options against the portfolio holdings in order to generate additional income for the ETF.