For investors and retirees, Canadian telco stocks delivered the wrong numbers for a few years. While the Canadian stock market offered double digit returns, the telcos moved into a new area code called ‘the land of no returns’. Let’s ring up a few more telco puns, shall we? It was quite the disconnect. Telcos are supposed to be boring and stable with solid returns. But regulators hung up on them and the rising rate environment signaled much higher borrowing costs. It was double trouble. Personally I had heard enough. I hung up on Bell, and me and Telus are barely on talking terms. That said, in May of 2025 I may have called the bottom for Canadian telco. Opportunity, or prank call?
Canadian telcos were going nowhere, offering negative returns. It’s kinda like getting a busy signal. For the telco ‘sector’ I’ve offered Rogers, BCE, Telus and Quebecor in equal-weight fashion.
Here here’s the longer term picture. The full term is 10 years.
Reminder: Don’t forget to take capital losses (if you have them) on your Canadian telco stocks.
But things began picking up in 2025. The telcos are up almost 20% in 2025 to the end of September. But we can see it has been some pretty slim pickings especially over the last 3 and 5 years.
Bell cut their dividend
Bell made the mistake of paying massive dividends that they were not covering with free cash flow. In early May Bell finally cut its dividend. In that post I asked …
The markets gave the move an initial cheer sending the stock up almost 8% from the time of announcement. Did we just ring the bell for the bottom for Canadian Telco stocks? It might be ‘good news’ that Bell finally cuts its dividend.
Cut The Crap Investing
From May of 2025 the sector has delivered 17.5%.
I had hung up on Bell in early 2024. To increase U.S. exposure and address the U.S. market valuation issue I re-routed Bell and Telus funds to iShares Quality Dividend XDU-T. And to keep and add to utilities exposure I began building up Hamilton’s Enhanced Utilities HUTS-T. The ETF invests in the broader utilities sector including pipelines, traditional utilities and the telcos. It applies 25% leverage.
It has been a good portfolio switch compared to the telcos. HUTS pairs with Enbridge and TC Energy as long term holdings in the portfolio.
Calling on Quebecor in my wife’s RRSP
In this blog I offered how I had sold the outperforming Vanguard VDY to create a blue chip Canadian Wide Moat stock portfolio in my wife’s RRSP. I liked the idea of the owing the Freedom Mobile discount brand (Quebecor) that was and is eating away at big Telco. The RRSP account holds Quebecor and Telus. They have both been very solid performers in 2025.
In fact, Quebecor is one of the top performers in my wife’s Canadian stock portfolio, in 2025. Those two telcos have been the right call.
Should you invest in the Canadian telcos?
Keep in mind, this is not advice. I’m sharing my personal experience and personal take. A self-directed investor will gather information and make their own decisions.
Check out the latest GIC rates at EQ Bank.
For a few years I’ve shared that the Canadian telco sector is broken. The worst may be in (who knows?) but it still appears to be a slow-growth to no-growth sector. It may be appropriate for a slice of a retirement portfolio. An accumulator who creates their own Canadian stock portfolio might block these telco ticker symbols. Seek growth while investing within your risk tolerance level. Remember in accumulation the idea is to make the most money possible. More money will create more retirement income.
More money = more better
U.S. government down, bitcoin up!
Bitcoin tops $125,000 U.S. for the first time. Early Sunday morning bitcoin set a new high. Readers will know that I think investing in bitcoin is a no-brainer.
It’s nice to see modern gold acting like modern gold. I was the first MoneySense contributor to suggest bitcoin as a serious investment option for the balanced portfolio.
U.S. government shut down – bitcoin up!
Of course, I have long reminded investors that gold makes the balanced portfolio better. I like bitcoin and gold, but I’ve favoured bitcoin for a few years. This is never advice of course. Read and decide for yourself. I keep bitcoin near a 3% weighting in my RRSP account while it’s in the 20% range in my TFSA. Be ready for extreme volatility.
Cashing in at Tangerine
And the cash-back cash is in. Find free money. Accept all free money.
More Sunday Reads
On MoneySense Jonathan Chevreau offered more on the over-valuation concerns for U.S. markets.
Why retirement planners are getting defensive.
At Retirement Manifesto, Dana Anspatch reviews the new book from 4% Rule creator William Bengen … What’s more important than a safe withdrawal rate? He has given the ultra-safe spend rate a boost. Bengen’s book is entitled A Richer Retirement: Supercharging the 4% Rule to Spend More and Enjoy More.
His latest model includes small-cap, micro-cap, international, and Treasury bills. With 55% stocks, 40% bonds, and 5% cash, his updated SAFEMAX rises to 4.7%.
But here’s the catch: that’s the worst-case retiree, the unlucky one who retired into the toughest market sequence.
His historical testing encompasses 349 retirees, each retiring one calendar quarter apart. And thus, the 4.7% rate applies to only one of the 349 – the one who experienced the worst timing of market conditions.
He emphasizes, if all retirees indiscriminately use the 4.7% SAFEMAX for their withdrawal plan, they would significantly underspend.
Related read: How to boost your spend in retirement.
In fact, the average portfolio balance for all retirees (in his research) was more than five times its initial value, meaning that for most, the universally safe rate was too safe.
Here’s the ultimate post on safe spend rates (for the last 3 decades) for a Canadian Dollar global portfolio …
Creating retirement income from your portfolio.
More on moats
At Stocktrades Dan offers his take on investing in economic moats …
At Findependence Hub, a guide to buying big ticket items in retirement.
Dividend Hawk looks at his portfolio for the week, news and dividends.
The Loonie Doctor writes up Dividend Investing Part 5: Implementation.
Isabelnet shows that U.S. stock returns have been driven by earnings in 2025 …
Recent Sunday (must) Reads:
The TSX tops 30,000 for the first time.
Core Canadian equity ETFs for your ETF portfolio.
Can your retire on one million dollars in Canada?
The RRSP meltdown. A Canadian retiree’s greatest hack?
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Consider Justwealth for RESP accounts. That is THE option in Canada with target date funds that adjust the risk level as the student approaches the College or University start date.
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Make your cash work a lot harder at EQ Bank. RRSP and TFSA account rates are at 1.75%, other savings rates up to 3.0%. You’ll find some higher rates on GICs up to 3.60%. They also offer U.S. dollar accounts at 3.0%. We use EQ Bank, they have been awesome.
OUR CASHBACK CREDIT CARD
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The Tangerine Cash Back Credit Card
For September we received $53.28 in cash from everyday spending. You can select 3 categories for 2.0% cash back. Remaining categories pay up at 0.50%.
That cash went into my TFSA account to help buy some CBIL-T, CHPS-T and HURA-T.
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Really enjoyed this breakdown, Dale. I did exit out of Bell before it’s collapse, but stuck around with Telus in my portfolio. I recently shared my own technical take on Telus in my September wrap-up over at my Substack (https://divistockchronicles.substack.com/p/september-charts-wrap-up), and I’m seeing signs of a quiet recovery forming. The rising wedge pattern I highlighted suggests potential upside toward the $26–$27 range if resistance breaks. While fundamentals have been sluggish, Telus still offers value as a low-volatility anchor—especially in this phase of the inflation cycle. Appreciate the candid insights!
I don’t have to think about whether I should own the Canadian communications sector, I already own shares in BCE, CGO, QBR.a and T. I’ve already gone through the recent downdraft. Not a big deal for me. Near 11% allocation to this sector in the taxable portfolio.
Once I’d gone through the Black Monday crash of 1987, I can get through just about anything thrown at me from the TSE since.
I think like an entrepreneur building up a conglomerate. The Canadian stock market is just there just to provide common shares that I can buy and mostly just hold on to through any kind of economic weather.
Wishing a great Thanksgiving to you and your family.
Thanks so much, happy Thanksgiving to you and yours as well. Yes, buy and hold (and add for accumulators) is almost always the best strategy. Though when an investment thesis changes, I will consider changing the investment.
Dale