With 223 constituents, the S&P/TSX Composite is the benchmark index for the Canadian equity market, posting a notable rise of +17.93% since the start of the year. This performance places it in close competition with the MSCI World (+17.74%). Meanwhile, the TSX 60, although slightly down, also performed remarkably well, rising +16.87% since January 1.

Canada has skillfully navigated its way through the year, particularly with regard to its monetary policy. It was one of the very first G7 countries to lower rates last June, acting as a barometer for the Fed. Since then, the Canadian central bank has cut rates by 25 basis points on three occasions, before making a further half-point cut on Wednesday, October 23. Canada's small companies have particularly benefited from this trend, with the TSX SmallCap index up 20.61%. However, the TSX Venture index, which represents the market for emerging companies, saw more modest growth of 13.46%.

At the same time, the macroeconomic context favored the country's stocks. As a reminder, Canada's flagship index is made up mainly of financials, which account for 32.2% of its value, closely followed by energy players, with 16.7%, and finally by the industrial and materials sectors, which make up 13% and 12.5% of the index respectively.

The S&P/TSX Composite Energy Index, which tracks Canadian companies in the GICS Energy sector classification, has outperformed the TSX Composite by 25.09% since the start of the year. The index is driven by stocks such as Keyera (+37%), TC Energy (+26%), Enbridge (+20%) and ARC Resources (+18%).

In addition, Canadian mining companies, which are highly exposed to the price of precious metals, benefited from the uptrend. Similarly, Chinese stimulus measures and the upturn in copper demand supported diversified miners. Particularly noteworthy is the fact that all Canadian mining stocks valued in excess of USD 5 billion have posted a positive performance over the year, with a median return of +50% since January. Of particular note is the performance of Lundin Gold, whose shares have risen by +111.12% this year.

Lastly, it's worth noting that the country's major capitalizations have enjoyed differing fortunes. While the Royal Bank of Canada (+29%) and the National Bank of Canada (29%) posted handsome growth in capitalization, the Toronto-Dominion Bank suffered a 7.5% loss in value, following a $3 billion fine imposed for failings in its anti-money-laundering mechanisms. Investment company Brookfield Corporation and its Brookfield Asset Management arm saw their share prices rise by 41% and 31% respectively. Finally, the giant Shopify (+4.76%) has had an eventful year, with its share price fluctuating wildly, while Constellation Software (+33%) continues to climb.

Three ETFs tracking the Canadian market:

  • Vanguard FTSE Canada All Cap Index ETF: The ETF is designed to track the FTSE Canada All Cap Domestic Index, covering 98% of Canadian equities. Fees are very low at 0.05% for assets under management of CAD 7.74 billion.
  • iShares MSCI Canada ETF: This tracker is designed to track the MSCI Canada index, which covers the 85 largest Canadian capitalizations. Fees are 0.48% for assets under management of USD 2.66 billion.
  • iShares Core S&P/TSX Capped Composite Index ETF: This index fund replicates the S&P/TSX Composite by capping the weighting of stocks in the index at 10%. Fees are 0.06% for assets under management of CAD 13.8 billion.