Blue chips on the Toronto Stock Exchange tend to share a few traits. They dominate essential services, throw off steady cash flows, and have long records of paying and growing dividends. They are not risk free. They are built to compound through cycles rather than sprint through every quarter.
This guide highlights ten TSX names that fit a long-term, core allocation. The list balances banks, railroads, energy infrastructure, utilities, commodities, telecom, and alternative assets. It is designed for readers who value resilience first and upside second.
Use it as a starting map. Your job is to match business models with your time horizon and risk tolerance. Treat yields and market caps as approximate and anchored to the date above.
Methodology
We focused on large and mega caps with deep liquidity, durable competitive positions, and a record of shareholder distributions. Sector balance matters, so the list avoids overloading any single theme. We excluded companies with clear near-term distress signals or very thin liquidity.
Figures are approximate and directional rather than precise prints. When a number is material and requires line-by-line verification, prefer official filings or company disclosures. This article is informational and not investment advice.
More Read
Top 10 Canadian Blue-Chip Stocks You Can Invest In 2025
Royal Bank of Canada (RY, TSX)
Quick Facts
- Sector: Banking
- Market cap: about C$283 billion
- Dividend yield: roughly mid single digits
- Five-year trend: steady earnings power across retail and capital markets
- Credit or balance sheet: high investment grade profile
RBC is Canada’s scale retail bank with meaningful capital markets and wealth operations. Its size delivers a low cost of funding and room to invest in technology and compliance. Growth comes from fee businesses and disciplined lending rather than stretch decisions at the top of the cycle.
Watch for credit quality, capital requirements, and the mix between interest income and fee income. Over a long horizon, the draw is a reliable dividend, measured buybacks, and exposure to a diversified economy.
Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD, TSX)
Quick Facts
- Sector: Banking
- Market cap: about C$177 billion
- Dividend yield: roughly mid single digits
- Five-year trend: resilient franchise with large U.S. footprint
- Credit or balance sheet: high investment grade profile
TD brings a strong Canadian core and a sizable U.S. retail banking platform. That cross-border reach helps diversify earnings across interest rate regimes and regional cycles. The investment case rests on conservative underwriting and scale in day-to-day banking.
Key variables are net interest margins, credit costs, and U.S. growth. Over time, the bank’s dividend record and balance sheet strength define its appeal for core portfolios.
Canadian National Railway (CNR, TSX)
Quick Facts
- Sector: Rail and logistics
- Market cap: about C$83 billion
- Dividend yield: low to mid single digits
- Five-year trend: operating discipline and steady network investment
- Credit or balance sheet: solid investment grade
CN runs an end-to-end network that touches ports on three coasts. Pricing power, service reliability, and a lean operating model underpin cash generation. The business benefits from North American trade flows, agriculture, energy, intermodal, and industrial shipments.
Investors should track car velocity, service metrics, and pricing versus inflation. Over a cycle, CN’s mix of efficiency and growth projects supports buybacks and a growing dividend.
Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CP, TSX)
Quick Facts
- Sector: Rail and logistics
- Market cap: about C$97 billion
- Dividend yield: modest
- Five-year trend: growth through network expansion and integration
- Credit or balance sheet: investment grade with integration spend
CPKC operates the first single-line railroad linking Canada, the United States, and Mexico. The merger created new service lanes for autos, grain, intermodal, and energy. The thesis is about synergy capture, cross-border demand, and service innovation.
Monitor integration progress, service reliability, and capital outlays. The dividend is modest, but reinvestment and operating leverage can drive longer-run value.
Enbridge (ENB, TSX)
Quick Facts
- Sector: Energy infrastructure
- Market cap: about C$145 billion
- Dividend yield: typically high for a pipeline utility
- Five-year trend: stable, contract-backed cash flows
- Credit or balance sheet: investment grade, leverage monitored closely
Enbridge owns liquids and gas pipelines, storage, and a growing gas utility footprint. Much of its cash flow is supported by long-term contracts and regulated frameworks. The company targets steady dividend growth with a focus on de-risked projects.
Investors should follow project execution, regulatory outcomes, and balance sheet leverage. The appeal is income plus incremental growth from secured capital projects.
Fortis (FTS, TSX)
Quick Facts
- Sector: Regulated utilities
- Market cap: about C$34 billion
- Dividend yield: roughly mid single digits
- Five-year trend: consistent rate-base growth
- Credit or balance sheet: investment grade, prudent financing
Fortis operates regulated electric and gas utilities across Canada, the United States, and the Caribbean. Regulated returns and a multi-year capital plan support predictable earnings and a long dividend growth record.
Key items are allowed returns, capital program execution, and regulatory settlements. For defensive income inside a core Canadian sleeve, Fortis is a straightforward building block.
Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ, TSX)
Quick Facts
- Sector: Energy exploration and production
- Market cap: about C$89 billion
- Dividend yield: generally mid single digits, variable top-ups possible
- Five-year trend: rising free cash flow with disciplined capital returns
- Credit or balance sheet: investment grade with clear debt targets
CNQ’s scale in oil sands and conventional assets translates into low sustaining capital needs and strong free cash flow at mid-cycle prices. Management emphasizes returns to shareholders through dividends and buybacks after funding the base business.
Watch commodity prices, maintenance turnarounds, and capital allocation. CNQ is cyclical, yet its cost structure and capital return focus have appealed to long-term holders.
Nutrien (NTR, TSX)
Quick Facts
- Sector: Fertilizers and agriculture retail
- Market cap: about C$39 billion
- Dividend yield: typically mid single digits
- Five-year trend: cyclical earnings with global potash leadership
- Credit or balance sheet: investment grade
Nutrien combines potash, nitrogen, and a large farm-retail network. That blend provides leverage to crop cycles and input prices while keeping an on-the-ground channel to customers. Over time, balanced capital returns and disciplined growth define the story.
Track potash supply dynamics, planting seasons, and input costs. Expect earnings variability, but the long-term demand for crop productivity remains a supportive backdrop.
Brookfield Corporation (BN, TSX)
Quick Facts
- Sector: Alternative assets and holding company
- Market cap: about C$137 billion
- Dividend yield: modest
- Five-year trend: growth in fee-bearing capital and operating platforms
- Credit or balance sheet: access to non-recourse and permanent capital
Brookfield oversees platforms in infrastructure, renewables, private equity, and real assets. The corporation benefits from performance fees, carried interest, and ownership stakes in operating businesses. It is a diversified way to access private market themes from a public listing.
Risks include interest rate sensitivity and deal activity cycles. The draw is long-duration assets, operating expertise, and multiple ways to create value.
BCE Inc. (BCE, TSX)
Quick Facts
- Sector: Telecom
- Market cap: about C$34 billion
- Dividend yield: typically high for the sector
- Five-year trend: heavy fiber and wireless investment to defend cash flows
- Credit or balance sheet: investment grade, leverage tied to network builds
BCE is a national telecom with wireline, wireless, and media operations. Fiber to the home and 5G capacity require large capital programs, yet they anchor future service quality and retention. The company balances investment needs with a sizable dividend.
Monitor subscriber trends, pricing, spectrum costs, and regulatory decisions. For income-oriented investors, BCE provides exposure to a critical utility-like service with known capital demands.
How to Build a Position
Start with position sizes that keep any single name from dominating your outcome. Many investors ladder entries over time rather than buying all at once. Rebalance annually so winners do not crowd out diversification. Consider tax wrappers and the treatment of dividends where you live. Keep cash for opportunities that appear during volatility.
Risks and What Could Change the List
Rate paths, regulation, and commodity prices matter to this group. Banks react to credit costs and capital rules. Rails move with industrial demand and service metrics.
Energy and fertilizer names swing with global prices and policy shifts. Telecoms and utilities depend on regulatory outcomes and capital intensity. A company can drop off this list if balance sheet risk rises, the dividend policy becomes unstable, or a core competitive edge erodes.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Do not chase yield without reading how it is funded. A payout that looks high can be a warning if it is not supported by cash generation through a range of scenarios. Balance sheet health matters more than a single year’s distribution.
Avoid overconcentration in a single theme. Two rails can coexist with a bank and a pipeline, but that still leaves you exposed to the same macro winds if the rest of the portfolio rhymes with those exposures. Sector balance is a simple way to reduce surprises.
Do not ignore currency. A stronger or weaker Canadian dollar can amplify or mute returns for investors who live outside Canada. Frame your expectations in your home currency and look at history through that lens.
Canadian blue chips earn their label by surviving and compounding through different cycles. This basket gives you essential services, infrastructure, global trade, and cash distribution in one country sleeve.
Build gradually, watch the few things that truly move each business, and let time do more of the heavy lifting than timing does.
