The trouble with ETFs, though, is abundance.
As of March 31, 2024, there were 1,129 ETFs from 40 fund sponsors trading on Canadian exchanges, according to the Canadian ETF Association. Together they held around $423 billion in assets under management.
Our objective all along with this annual “Best ETFs” report—now in its 12th edition—has been to narrow down the list of options for do-it-yourself investors to construct a well-diversified, low-fee portfolio that will likely perform as well or better than most professionally managed ones. This year we enlisted 11 professional advisors, financial planners, investment analysts and bloggers from across Canada to nominate and judge what they consider the best ETFs in seven categories. They looked for attributes including appropriate exposure to the asset class or category, low management fees, high liquidity (low bid/ask spreads) and close tracking to the indices they cover.
Readers familiar with our past “Best ETFs” reports will notice something new this year. Recognizing the newfound popularity of high-interest savings and money market ETFs since interest rates started climbing two years ago, we added a category for cash-alternative funds. These ETFs are great for stashing money that you might need in the near future in a tax-free savings account (TFSA), first home savings account (FHSA) or any other account. You won’t have to worry about volatility, and you’ll still earn a return that will keep you one step ahead of inflation.
In the table below, you’ll find the best ETFs in Canada, as judged by our panel. Slide the columns right or left using your fingers or mouse to reveal more data. You can download the data to your device in Excel, CSV and PDF formats.
The best ETFs in Canada—the 2024 edition
Our methodology for the best ETFs for Canadian investors
With the addition of the cash ETFs category this year, we’ve divided our selections into seven categories that we think are all you really need to manage your own investment portfolio. On the equity side, we have separate categories for Canadian, U.S. and international stocks. Another category covers the best fixed-income funds, which hold bonds and sometimes preferred shares. There is the aforementioned cash category. And, for investors who’d rather not get into the weeds of portfolio construction and rebalancing of multiple funds, we have a category of one-decision ETFs (known in the industry as asset allocation or all-in-one ETFs) that cover all the bases.
We asked our panel to nominate their go-to ETFs in each category, from which we compiled a long list of candidates. We then had them vote yes or no to all of the funds on the lists. The top three vote-getters in each category (more in the case of a tie) made up our final “Best ETFs” selection presented here.
Finally, we challenged each of our judges to name one desert-island pick: an ETF that typically wouldn’t make it through our conventional filters but that they think are still worth a look. These are listed in a bonus seventh category.
There are, of course, many more ETFs out there (not to mention individual stocks) that you may choose to complement these core components in your brokerage account. But with these “Best ETFs” as your foundation, you won’t go too far wrong.
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