Buy it in Canada: Canadian ETFs Edition

Trump has just slapped Canadians with broad 25% tariffs—bad news for your wallet, no matter how you slice it. While this site sticks to ETF investing, not politics, there’s still something we can do: support local businesses. One way to do that? Buy Canadian when it comes to ETFs.

Avoid converting CAD to USD (which, at today’s exchange rates, is a losing game) and stick to domestic fund managers. Despite having lower assets under management (AUM) than our southern neighbors, the Canadian ETF industry punches above its weight in innovation.

Canada launched the world’s first ETF back in 1990—what’s now the iShares S&P/TSX 60 Index ETF (XIU). We also led the charge with the first spot Bitcoin ETFs in 2021 thanks to Purpose Investments, and we beat the U.S. on high-interest savings and spot Ethereum ETFs.

So, in today’s article, we’re focusing on buying Canadian—not just any ETFs, but those from homegrown issuers (not the Canadian subsidiaries of U.S. giants like BlackRock or Vanguard) and with a particular spotlight on domestic equities.

Hamilton ETFs

Hamilton ETFs is a proudly homegrown firm best known for its lineup of lightly leveraged (1.25x) and covered call ETFs. But when it comes to Canadian equities, they’ve launched what I believe to be one of the best ETFs out there: the HAMILTON CHAMPIONS Canadian Dividend Index ETF (CMVP).

CMVP tracks an equal-weighted index of Canadian companies with 6+ consecutive years of dividend growth and an average annual dividend growth rate of 10%.

I prefer this ETF over traditional TSX index funds because it screens out much of the "junk"—such as miners and oil & gas stocks that slash dividends during downturns—and avoids clearly overvalued non-dividend payers like Shopify.

The benchmark for CMVP, the Solactive Canada Dividend Elite Champions Index, has some impressive metrics. Historically, it’s delivered higher returns with lower volatility and drawdowns than the S&P/TSX 60, all while offering a higher yield and trading at lower valuations.

I also expect CMVP to closely track its index, thanks in part to Hamilton waiving management fees for the ETF's first year. That’s right—0% management fees until January 31, 2026.

If CMVP isn’t aggressive enough for you, Hamilton offers the HAMILTON CHAMPIONS Enhanced Canadian Dividend ETF (CWIN).

This is essentially the same ETF but with 1.25x leverage, providing amplified exposure to those high-quality Canadian dividend growers.

BMO Global Asset Management

One of Canada’s biggest banks, BMO also operates a robust asset management arm that offers one of the most capitalized and diverse ETF lineups in the country—49 of which are designed for Canada-specific exposure.

For Canadian equity exposure, BMO has plenty of options. The most popular is the BMO S&P/TSX Capped Composite Index ETF (ZCN), which tracks Canada’s broad benchmark stock market index. With an ultra-low 0.06% expense ratio, ZCN is a solid core holding for most investors looking to capture the overall Canadian market.

However, my personal favorite is the BMO Low Volatility Canadian Equity ETF (ZLB). Unlike ZCN, ZLB screens for low-beta stocks, tilting its portfolio toward defensive sectors like consumer staples and utilities—a refreshing change from the Canadian market’s usual overexposure to energy and financials.

At 0.39%, ZLB has a higher MER, but don’t let that fool you. Historically, it has outperformed ZCN despite its "low volatility" mandate. Sometimes, you really can have that free lunch and eat it too.

Evolve ETFs

Like Hamilton, Evolve is another boutique, independant Canadian ETF firm that isn’t an offshoot of one of the big banks.

The firm is best known for its thematic ETFs focusing on areas like cloud computing and cybersecurity, but in recent years, it has expanded its lineup to include active income strategies—most notably with covered call ETFs.

Their flagship Canadian-focused fund is the Evolve Canadian Banks and Lifecos Enhanced Yield Index Fund (BANK). This ETF holds a concentrated portfolio of Canada’s Big Six banks and the country’s largest life insurance companies.

To boost yield, BANK employs a combination of an active covered call selling strategy and 1.25x leverage. While this approach adds risk and caps upside potential, it delivers a substantial 15.52% 12-month trailing yield.