Last updated by BM on March 10, 2026
Summary
This is not a stock-picking newsletter.
It’s a behind-the-scenes look at how a dividend growth portfolio is built, maintained, and improved over time.
Welcome to this week’s MP Market Review. Each week, we track the Canadian dividend growth companies on The List, our curated watchlist of businesses designed to produce rising income. While we also publish a U.S. edition monthly, Canada remains our training ground.
Our objective is simple: grow dividend income by 7–10%+ annually while delivering capital appreciation that matches or exceeds the TSX Composite in Canada and the S&P 500 for our U.S. investors over a full market cycle.
What you’re about to read isn’t theory. It’s the real-time application of a dividend growth strategy using real money, with a clear objective: growing income first and letting capital growth follow.
Markets generate a lot of noise. We ignore most of it.
Instead, we track a small set of metrics that tell us whether our dividend growth strategy is working in real time. No forecasts. No opinions. Just results.
Here they are:
- Dividend income from The List: +6.0% year-to-date
- Capital value: +3.8% year-to-date
- Dividend announcements last week: One
- Earnings reports last week: One
- Earnings reports this week: One
DGI Clipboard
“Our increasing income comes from our companies directly, not the market.”
-Tom Connolly
While Markets Bounce Around, Our Paychecks Keep Rising
Remember the message from last week’s newsletter and the charts that support the thesis:
Income is built first. Capital appreciation follows.
This is the foundation of dividend growth investing.
We are not trying to predict short-term market moves.
We are not chasing the hottest stocks.
Instead, we focus on something much more durable.
We build income.
And we do it the same way every time.
By purchasing high quality dividend growth companies at sensible prices and holding them as their dividends grow over time.
The Quiet Superpower of Dividend Growth Investing
One of the most powerful aspects of this strategy is also one of the least talked about.
Growing income.
Markets will always move up and down. That is simply the nature of markets.
But the businesses we own continue to operate.
They continue to generate profits.
And they continue to send a growing stream of cash back to shareholders.
Every dividend increase is essentially a small raise.
Stack enough of those raises together and something remarkable begins to happen.
The math of compounding quietly starts working in your favor.
Not loudly.
Not dramatically.
But relentlessly.
Dividend Increases Announced So Far in 2026
Here are the dividend raises announced so far this year from companies we follow and own.
TD Bank (TD-T) 1.05 to 1.08 up 2.9% payable January 31, 2026
Royal Bank of Canada (RY-T) 1.54 to 1.64 up 6.5% payable February 24, 2026
Canadian Tire (CTC-A-T) 1.775 to 1.80 up 1.4% payable March 1, 2026
Enbridge Inc. (ENB-T) .9425 to .97 up 2.9% payable March 1, 2026
Metro Inc. (MRU-T) .37 to .4075 up 10.1% payable March 10. 2026
Franco Nevada (FNV-N) .38 to .44 up 15.8% payable March 26, 2026
Brookfield Infrastructure Partners (BIP-N) .43 to .455 up 5.8% payable March 31, 2026
Canadian National Railway (CNR-T) .8875 to .915 up 3.1% payable March 31, 2026
Thomson Reuters (TRI-Q) .595 to .655 up 10.0% payable March 10, 2026
Magna (MGA-N) .485 to .495 up 2.1% payable March 13, 2026
Manulife Financial (MFC-T) .44 to .485 up 10.2% payable March 19, 2026
CCL Industries Inc. (CCL-B-T) .32 to .36 up 12.5% payable March 31, 2026
Intact Financial (IFC-T) 1.35 to 1.47 up 10.5% payable March 31, 2026
Toromont Industries (TIH-T) .52 to .56 up 7.7% payable April 2, 2026
Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ-T) .5875 to .625 up 6.4% payable April 7, 2026
Stantec Inc. (STN-T) .225 to .245 up 8.9% payable April 15, 2026
Stella-Jones Inc. (SJ-T) .31 to .34 up 9.7% payable April 24, 2026
TC Energy (TRP-T) .85 to .8775 up 3.2% payable April 30, 2026
These are not random events.
They are the direct result of owning high quality businesses with growing earnings.
Growing earnings drive growing dividends.
And over time, growing dividends drive higher stock prices.
Takeaway
This income is yours.
You can reinvest it.
You can pay bills with it.
You can spend it on something fun.
The best part is this:
You did not have to sell a single share of your businesses to receive it.
That is the beauty of dividend growth investing.
While markets bounce around, our paychecks keep rising.
And the income snowball continues to build momentum.
One dividend raise at a time.
The Magic Pants model portfolios (Canadian and American) are real-money dividend growth portfolios funded with actual capital and executed in live accounts. Every position shown is owned, sized, and tracked in real time using our disciplined DGI process.
Become a paid subscriber, and I’ll show you exactly how I do it. In addition, gain full access to this post and exclusive, subscriber-only content. We do the work; you stay in control.
DGI Scorecard
The Magic Pants 2026 list (The List) includes 26 Canadian dividend growth stocks and our new American watchlist (The List-USA) contains 28 companies. Here are the criteria to be considered a candidate on our watchlists:
- Dividend growth streak: 10 years or more.
- Market cap: Minimum one billion dollars.
- Diversification: Limit of five companies per sector, preferably two per industry.
- Cyclicality: Exclude REITs and pure-play energy companies due to high cyclicality.
Based on these criteria, companies are added or removed from ‘The List’ annually on January 1. Prices and dividends are updated weekly.
‘The List’ is not a portfolio but a coaching tool that helps us think about ideas and risk manage our model portfolio. We own some but not all the companies on ‘The List’. In other words, we might want to buy these companies when valuation looks attractive.
Our newsletter provides readers with a comprehensive insight into the implementation and advantages of our Canadian dividend growth investing strategy. This evidence-based, unbiased approach empowers DIY investors to outperform both actively managed dividend funds and passively managed indexes and dividend ETFs over longer-term horizons.
Performance of ‘The List’
The dividend growth of The List was up last week, with an average YTD increase of 6.0% (income).
The price of The List went down last week and now stands at +3.8% YTD (capital).
Top Performers Last Week:
- Thomson Reuters (TRI-Q), up +15.61%.
- Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ-T), up +5.51%.
- Stella-Jones Inc. (SJ-T), up +2.87%.
Worst Performer Last Week:
- CCL Industries Inc. (CCL-B-T), down -8.49%.
Note: Stocks ending in “-N or -Q” declare earnings and dividends in US dollars. To achieve currency consistency between dividends and share price for these stocks, we have shown dividends in US dollars and share price in US dollars (these stocks are listed on a US exchange). The dividends for their Canadian counterparts (-T) would be converted into CDN dollars and would fluctuate with the exchange rate.
PAID subscribers enjoy full access to our enhanced weekly newsletter, premium content, and easy-to-follow trade alerts so they can build DGI portfolios alongside ours. This service provides the resources to develop your DGI business plan confidently. We do the work; you stay in control!
It truly is the subscription that pays dividends!
The greatest investment you can make is in yourself. Are you ready to take that step?
For more articles and the full newsletter, check us out on magicpants.substack.com.
