The market's pessimism has inflated the dividend yield
In a year when markets have rewarded anxiety more than conviction, three Canadian companies — a utility, a bank, and a pipeline giant — stand as quiet reminders that durability has its own kind of value. For investors with modest capital and long horizons, the volatility of 2023 has not only unsettled portfolios but also lowered the price of admission into businesses built to endure. The oldest wisdom in investing — that patience and predictability compound into wealth — finds fresh expression in Fortis, CIBC, and Enbridge, each offering steady dividends and structural resilience in sectors where demand does not easily disappear.
- Market swings in 2023 have punished even fundamentally sound companies, pushing prices below what their underlying businesses justify.
- CIBC carries the sharpest tension — down 20% over the past year due to mortgage exposure, yet now offering the highest dividend yield among Canada's major banks at 7.22%.
- Enbridge's pipeline dominance insulates it from commodity price crashes, since it earns on volume and contracts rather than on what oil or gas is worth on any given day.
- Fortis has raised its dividend every single year for half a century — a streak that transforms a utility's quiet business model into a compounding machine for patient shareholders.
- All three stocks are being positioned not as growth plays but as foundations — holdings designed to multiply slowly through reinvested dividends over decades, not quarters.
The volatility that has defined markets in 2023 has done something useful for patient investors: it has lowered the price of entry into companies whose underlying businesses remain intact. With a thousand dollars and a long time horizon, three Canadian stocks offer a compelling starting point.
Fortis, a regulated utility operating across ten regions in Canada, the United States, and the Caribbean, has raised its annual dividend for fifty consecutive years. Its business is protected by regulation, its revenue is predictable, and its 4.35% yield rewards shareholders who simply hold on. A thousand dollars buys roughly eighteen shares — a modest but durable foundation.
CIBC presents a different kind of opportunity. Canada's fifth-largest bank has fallen 20% over the past year, weighed down by its heavier exposure to domestic mortgages and the interest rate environment. That decline has pushed the stock to a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.8 and inflated its dividend yield to 7.22% — the highest among the major Canadian banks. The pessimism is specific and arguably overdone; the dividend alone, if reinvested, would purchase an additional share within a year.
Enbridge operates at a different scale entirely. Its pipeline network moves nearly a third of North American crude oil and a fifth of U.S. natural gas, charging fees based on volume rather than commodity prices. When oil crashes, Enbridge's revenue holds. The company has grown its dividend annually for thirty years, and the current yield reaches 8.04%.
What unites these three holdings is structural: durable demand, regulatory protection, and predictable cash generation. None will make anyone rich quickly. But bought and held for twenty years, with dividends quietly reinvested, they represent the kind of boring, compounding reliability that actually builds wealth.
The stock market in 2023 has been a study in swings—one day climbing, the next day falling away. That volatility, though unsettling for many investors, has created an opening: solid companies trading at prices that don't reflect their actual worth. If you have a thousand dollars and the patience to think in decades rather than quarters, there are three Canadian stocks worth building around.
Start with Fortis, a utility company that operates across ten regions spanning Canada, the United States, and the Caribbean. Utilities are the ballast of any portfolio. Their business model is straightforward and protected by regulation—they generate steady revenue, invest in infrastructure, and return cash to shareholders through dividends. Fortis has raised its annual dividend payout for fifty consecutive years without interruption, a track record that speaks to the reliability of its underlying business. At the time of writing, the dividend yield sits at 4.35 percent. A thousand-dollar investment buys roughly eighteen shares, a modest but legitimate foundation for a long-term holding.
Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce represents a different kind of opportunity. The big banks are often cited as core holdings for patient investors, and with reason—they generate stable earnings, offer genuine growth potential, and distribute quarterly dividends. CIBC, smaller than its peers, has taken a particular hit over the past year, down twenty percent in the trailing twelve months. The reason is specific: its larger domestic mortgage portfolio makes it more sensitive to interest rate movements and housing market shifts. That sensitivity has pushed the stock down to its fifty-two-week low, with a price-to-earnings ratio of just 9.8. The market's pessimism has inflated the dividend yield to 7.22 percent, the highest among Canada's major banks. A thousand-dollar investment purchases nearly twenty-one shares. More intriguingly, the dividend alone generates enough cash that reinvesting it would buy an additional share within a year—the portfolio growing from its own earnings.
Enbridge is the third piece, and it operates at a different scale entirely. The company controls the largest and most complex pipeline network on the planet, moving nearly one-third of all crude oil produced in North America and one-fifth of the natural gas consumed in the United States. It also owns the continent's largest natural gas utility and is building a growing renewable energy business. What makes Enbridge genuinely defensive is not just the size of its infrastructure but how it makes money. The company charges for the use of its pipelines based on volume and contracted rates, not on the price of oil or gas. When crude crashes, Enbridge's revenue doesn't follow it down. When energy demand surges, the company benefits without bearing commodity price risk. The dividend yield reaches 8.04 percent, and the company has increased its payout annually for thirty years. For an investor with a thousand dollars, Enbridge offers the kind of cash flow that compounds quietly over time.
These three stocks share a common thread: they operate in sectors where demand is durable, regulation provides protection, and cash generation is predictable. None of them will double in a year. None of them will make you rich quickly. But they are the kind of holdings that, if you buy them and forget about them for twenty years, will have quietly multiplied your initial stake through reinvested dividends and modest capital appreciation. In a market defined by volatility, that kind of boring reliability is precisely what builds wealth.
Citas Notables
Enbridge charges for pipeline use based on volume and contracted rates, not commodity prices, providing protection against oil price volatility— Investment analysis
La Conversación del Hearth Otra perspectiva de la historia
Why focus on these three specifically? There are hundreds of Canadian stocks.
Because they solve a particular problem: they generate cash reliably, regardless of what the market does. When you have limited capital, you need businesses that work in your absence.
The dividend yields seem high—7 to 8 percent. Isn't that a warning sign?
Not in these cases. The yields are elevated because the stock prices have fallen, not because the companies are in trouble. CIBC trades at its lowest point in a year. The market is pricing in fear. But the underlying business—lending money, taking deposits—hasn't broken.
What happens if interest rates keep rising?
That's the real risk for CIBC. Higher rates help banks' lending margins, but they also slow mortgage demand and can trigger defaults. Fortis and Enbridge are less exposed to that particular squeeze because their revenues are regulated or contracted.
So these aren't growth stocks.
No. They're income stocks. You're not buying them to sell at triple the price. You're buying them to collect the dividend, reinvest it, and let compounding do the work over decades.
A thousand dollars doesn't seem like much.
It's not. But it's enough to own eighteen shares of Fortis, twenty-one of CIBC, and a handful of Enbridge. More importantly, it's enough to start the habit of investing. The first thousand is harder than the second.
What's the biggest risk?
That you need the money before the compounding has time to work. These stocks are built for people who can ignore them for years.