Canadian banks are amazing. TD Canada Trust has an unbroken record of dividend payments going all the way back to 1857. That's right it has not missed a dividend, or cut the payment, in 163 years. And TD Canada Trust is not the only Canadian bank with bragging rights in the dividend area.
Canada's oldest bank, the Bank of Montreal, hasn't missed a dividend since 1829. That's 191 years! The Bank of Nova Scotia has a record going back almost as far: 1832. The Royal Bank, Canada's biggest bank, can only brag about not missing a dividend payment since 1870 or a mere 150 years.
And Canada's banks are not the only one's with bragging rights when it comes to paying dividends. BCE, also known as Bell Canada, hasn't missed a dividend payment since 1881, which is just a few years after Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone. (An invention that Canadians lay claim to.) The Bell Telephone Company of Canada was incorporated in 1880 and started paying investors a year later.
Will covid-19 put an end to these companies' unbroken run? Not if they can help it. The banks have already stated that if they must they will issue new equity to cover expenses. All banks are stating publicly hat their dividends are safe. And Bell, well it is not known as the stock for widows and orphans for no reason. It's dividend may well be safe, too.
One last note on TD Canada Trust. The TD stands for Toronto-Dominion. That was the name of the bank when I was a boy. The Canada Trust tacked onto the TD came about when TD merged with a London, Ontario, based competitor. Trust companies are not banks but a very smart Londoners figured out that this should not stop trust companies from competing with banks. Canada Trust did was such a great competitor that TD merged with the trust company a few decades ago.
When covid-19 was still off-shore but threatening to invade, I got out of the market. After the virus struck and the stock market crashed, I bought back in but this time I filled my portfolio with dividend paying, oh-so-trustworthy Canadian companies. Banks, utilities, communication businesses and pipelines make up a big part of my investments. I may lose money but my income should be relatively safe.
If these Canadian companies cut, or worse miss, a dividend then we have more to worry about than the stock market.
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