Canadian Dividend Reinvestment Plans (DRIPs)

I entitled this piece an introduction to Tom Connolly but for many of you he needs know introduction at all. Tom can easily be considered Canada's dividend prophet.

I first heard of Tom back in 2004 when I started to get serious about dividend stocks and DRIPs. I was intrigued by what he had to say about the investment style. I read through his entire website and gathered many ideas about the soundness of the strategy.

I love reading about Tom's insight into the current markets. He has published a newsletter about dividend investing called The Connolly Report since 1981. Although it has been closed to new subscribers for many years, non-subscribers can purchase copies from Tom when he has extras available. His new website - DividendGrowth.ca - is open only to subscribers but I highly recommend dividend investors still visit it on a regular basis. The plethora of free information is an excellent read as there are nuggets of information on dividend-paying companies and wisdom on dividend investing.

He has also made available two documents containing his thoughts on the current markets and dividend investing in general.

Tom is not a big fan of DRIPs though. You can read his thoughts on them here.

Finally, Tom has been generous enough to provide paper copies of his newsletters to select libraries across Canada. You can find the locations here. If you are close to one, I highly recommend that you make the effort to read them. Also on this page you can find out a little more about his background, as well as some inspirational stories about how holding dividend-paying stocks can really pay off over time.

Happing DRIPping,
Ken

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There have been many changes over the past year to TSX indexes that track Canadian dividend paying companies.

First, the people at Mergent's have decided to remove their list of dividend achievers from their public website. This was an invaluable list to people wishing to buy companies with an excellent track record of dividend payments. (Note: If I am wrong in saying Mergent's has removed their list, could readers please reply with the link to the new page. Thanks!)

Second, in December 2009 the other major dividend index - S&P/TSX Canadian Dividend Aristocrats - announced that it was removing 15 members (including most of the big banks) and that it was only gaining one new listing: Cogeco Inc. (CGO-T and CCA-T).

The corporations removed were: Astral Media Inc. (ACM.A-T), Bank of Montreal (BMO-T), Boardwalk REIT (BEI.UN-T), Calloway REIT (CWT.UN-T), CIBC (CM-T), First Capital Realty Inc. (FCR-T), Manulife Financial Corp. (MFC-T), National Bank of Canada (NA-T), Northern Property REIT (NPR.UN-T), Primaris Retail REIT (PMZ.UN-T), Reitman's Ltd. (RET.A-T), Royal Bank of Canada (RY-T), Sherritt International Corp. (S-T), Sun Life Financial (SLF-T) and Yellow Pages Income Fund (YLO.UN-T).

To stay on Standard & Poor's list, constituents must "have followed a managed-dividends policy of consistently increasing dividends every year for at least five years." The current list has 56 members including The Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS-T), Canadian National Railways (CNR-T), Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd (CP-T), Enbridge Inc (ENB-T), Power Financial Corp (PWF-T) and The Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD-T).

You can view the list of current members (after a free site registration) using the link above.

An extensive article entitled Banks are no longer pillars of this select dividend club was written about these changes by John Heinzl of The Globe and Mail on December 14, 2009. I did not include a link to the column on the Globe's site because it is no longer free. However, if you Google the article's title you should be able to find it on other websites.

Third, the Dow Jones Canada Titans 40 Index was changed to the Dow Jones Canada Titans 60 Index. Similar to the S&P's list, the index "measures 60 of the largest and most liquid equity securities trading in Canada. On a monthly basis, the top companies in the index universe by float-adjusted market list." (As above, the list is only available after you register on their site.)

Their index contains many of the same members as the S&P. However, they don't seem to have placed a five-year performance period on those listed as Tim Hortons Inc. (THI-T) is already listed. As well, many smaller resource companies like Silver Wheaton Corp. (SLW-T) and Eldorado Gold Corp. (ELD-T) are also here.

Finally, while most companies listed in these indexes have dividend reinvestment plans, not all do. This is why it is a good idea to compare the list of each index's constituents to the List of Canadian DRIPs and SPPs on this site to see which companies offer a DRIP.

Happing DRIPping,
Ken


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There has been one change since my most recent list update.

I have added the following new plan:
Zargon Energy Trust (ZAR.UN-T)
Zargon Energy Trust Announces Adoption of a Distribution Reinvestment Plan

As always, if you see any discrepancies please post a comment.

Happing DRIPping,
Ken



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Since I created this site in 2005, it has grown steadily in popularity. So, I thought I would create a post listing the locations where this blog has been mentioned in the news.

It was a great day when I got my first notice in Canadian MoneySaver magazine from Robert Gibb. I was then mentioned in Derek Foster's second book entitled The Lazy Investor: Start with $50...and no Investment Knowledge that was published in 2007. From there, my blog has been referenced in newspaper articles and magazines. You can find many listed below.

Happing DRIPping,
Ken


Toronto Star
Ellen Roseman, September 19, 2007 - Retiree, 37, did it the easy way

Ellen Roseman, June 22, 2008 - DRIPs a cheap way to invest for long term


Globe & Mail
John Heinzl, July 15, 2009 - DRIPs drop discounted shares in your lap

John Heinzl, February 12, 2010 - Why you should be a DRIP fan


MoneySense Magazine
Rob Gerlsbeck, May 2009 - Breeding wealth: A new combo can help your money multiply faster




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The Globe & Mail's Globe Investor website has gotten on the dividend bandwagon in a big way. They have been writing a lot more columns and articles on the value of dividend investing. As such, they have created a web page called All about dividend stocks that aggregates all of their stories about dividend stocks. This website is an excellent tool in keeping up to date on dividend stock trends.

Finally, this site has also been added to my list of finance links at the bottom of this page. I have also verified that each URL is correct. Check them out, there many excellent blogs and websites that deal with dividends and dividend investing.

Happing DRIPping,
Ken

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Thanks for your patience during the past few months as I have been trying to get this site updated. Thirteen months is way too long to go between updates and as you can see below, there have been many changes regarding Canadian DRIPs!

The list format has also been changed. I have made each stock ticker symbol a hyperlink so that you can get the latest stock information. Each link will use the new Globe Investor website. As well, all stock ticker symbols on this blog will now follow the Globe Investor’s stock symbol format.

Finally, I have verified each company’s link to their dividend reinvestment plan details and updated many of them.

As always, if you see any discrepancies please post a comment.

Happing DRIPping,
Ken


I have added the following plans:
Bank of Montreal Exchange-Traded Funds
Brookfield Properties Corp. (BPO-T)
Canadian Western Bank (CWB-T)
Capital Power Income L.P. (CPA.UN-T) [Was formerly EPCOR Power L.P.]
Citadel Income Fund (CTF.UN-T) [Drip available early 2010]
Crescent Point Energy Corp. (CPG-T)
European Premium Dividend Fund (EPD.UN-T)
Exchange Income Corporation (EIF-T)
Fort Chicago Energy Partners L.P. (FCE.UN-T)
Loblaw Companies Limited (L-T)
Olympia Financial Group Inc. (OLY-X)
Paramount Energy Trust (PMT.UN-T)
Phoenix Technology Income Fund (PHX.UN-T)
Premium Brands Holdings Corporation (PBH-T)
Progress Energy Resources Corp. (PRQ-T)
Student Transportation of America Ltd. (STB-T)
Tim Hortons (THI-T)
Vermilion Energy Trust (VET.UN-T)
Western Financial Group (WES-T)


I have deleted the following plans:
Canadian Oil Sands Trust (COS.UN-T) – DRIP suspended
Citadel Premium Income Fund (CPF.UN-T) – Merged into Citadel Income Fund (CTF.UN-T)
Citadel S-1 Income Trust Fund (SDL.UN-T) – Merged into Citadel Income Fund (CTF.UN-T)
Citadel Stable S-1 Income Fund (CSR.UN-T) – Merged into Citadel Income Fund (CTF.UN-T)
Contrans Income Fund (CSS.UN-T) – DRIP terminated
Deepwell Energy Services Trust (DWL.UN-T) – DRIP terminated
diversiTrust Income Fund (DTF.UN-T) – Merged into Dynamic Strategic Yield Fund
diversiTrust Stable Income Fund (DTS.UN -T) – Merged into Dynamic Strategic Yield Fund
Enerflex Systems Income Fund (EFX.UN-T) – Acquired by Toromont Industries Ltd.
Equal Sector Income Fund (ESF.UN-T) – Merged into INDEXPLUS Income Fund (IDX.UN-T)
Equal Weight Plus Fund (EQW.UN-T) – Merged into Citadel Income Fund (CTF.UN-T)
Income & Equity Index Participation Fund (IEP.UN-T) – Fund terminated
Eveready Income Fund (EIS.UN-T) – Acquired by Clean Harbors Environmental Services, Inc.
First Capital Realty Inc. (FCR-T) – DRIP suspended
First National Financial LP (FN.UN-T) – DRIP terminated
First Premium Income Trust (FPI.UN-T) – Fund terminated
Harvest Energy Trust (HTE.UN-T) – DRIP terminated
Huntingdon REIT (HNT.UN-T) – Dividends suspended
InStorage REIT (IS.UN-T) – Acquired by Storage Mart
Lawrence Income & Growth Fund (LIGF-T) – Acquired by Navina Capital Corp.
Magna International Inc. (MG.A-T) – Dividends suspended
Norbord Inc. (NBD-T) – Dividends suspended
Pembina Pipeline Income Fund (PIF.UN) – DRIP suspended
Pulse Data Inc. (PSD-T) – DRIP suspended
Realex Properties Corp. (RLX-X) – DRIP suspended
Retrocom Mid-Market REIT (RMM.UN-T) – DRIP terminated
Royal Host REIT (RYL.UN-T) – DRIP terminated
Sentry Select China Fund (CHZ.UN-T) – Converted to mutual fund of the same name
Sentry Select Diversified Income Trust (SDT.UN-T) – Converted to mutual fund of the same name
Trilogy Energy Corp. (TET-T) – DRIP terminated
Uranium Focused Energy Fund (UF.UN-T) – Dividends suspended
Series S-1 Income Fund (SRC.UN-T) – Merged into Blue Ribbon Income Fund (RBN.UN-T)


I have updated the following plans:
Brompton Oil & Gas Income Fund (OGF.UN-T) – Formerly Brompton Equal Weight Oil & Gas Income Fund
CIBC (CM-T) – Added 3% discount
Claymore Exchange-Traded Funds – All ETFs now offer a DRIP; The link now points to their general site
ClubLink Enterprises Limited (CLK-T) – Formerly Tri-White Corporation (TWH-T)
Emera Incorporated (EMA-T) – Added 5% discount
Firm Capital Mortgage Investment Trust (FC.UN) – Minimum changed to $250/month from $1,000/month
Intact Financial Corporation (IFC-T) – Formerly ING Canada (IIC-T)
Just Energy Income Fund (JE.UN-T) – Formerly Energy Savings Income Fund (SIF.UN-T); Added 2% discount
HOMEQ Corporation (HEQ-T) – Formerly Home Equity Income Trust (HEQ.UN-T)
Inter Pipeline Fund (IPL.UN-T) – Removed the SPP portion of the plan
Keyera Facilities Income Fund (KEY.UN-T) – Removed the SPP portion of the plan
Manulife Financial Corporation (MFC-T) – Added 3% discount; Manulife also removed all fees associated with its DRIP
Mulvihill Premier Canadian Income Fund (GIP.UN-T) – Formerly Global Plus Income Trust
Mulvihill Top 10 Canadian Financial Trust (TCT.UN-T) – Formerly Top 10 Canadian Financial Trust
NAL Oil & Gas Trust (NAE.UN-T) – Added 5% discount
Royal Bank of Canada (RY-T) – Removed 3% discount
Sun Life Financial (SLF-T) – Added 2% discount
Telus Corporation (T-T) – Added 3% discount




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