Invest in Canada – And Get Income Too!

by | Jul 2, 2026

Canadians celebrated the 159th anniversary of our nation this past Canada Day.

All who call Canada home have plenty of which to be proud. For the first time in history, Canada is a host country for the men’s FIFA World Cup tournament, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) expects Canada to have the 2nd fastest growing economy in the G7, and Canada is also the only G7 country to have comprehensive free-trade agreements with all other G7 countries (at least, for now).

Canada continues to be an attractive investment option for investors. Canada is home to strong companies across defensive sectors, including banks, utilities, and telecom, and has a growing technology space. Tech in Canada is expected to grow, especially with the government’s recently announced AI policy.

It is important for investors to remember this, especially in the face of overwhelming news from south of our borders. This year will be the year of mega-IPOs, with SpaceX making many millionaires, and Anthropic and OpenAI expected to follow.

Of course, Canadians who want access to SpaceX but also crave monthly income can consider investing in the newly launched Harvest SpaceX Enhanced High Income Shares ETF (TSX: SPXE). The ETF invests all its assets in shares of SpaceX, which provides access to the growth of SpaceX, and also overlays an active covered call writing strategy on up to 50% of the portfolio, granting investors access to income.

Canada: Buying the Opportunity Outside of Tech

As the team at Harvest notes in the June commentary, “If we step back, we can see over a five-year horizon that there is an over 150% difference between the best and worst performing sectors. The reaction to major news feeds continues to have an outsized impact.” The Harvest team is watching for the flip side at this stage: Any signs of broader participation, saying, “The market may soon see money shift away from expensive, high-flying stocks into cheaper ones that have solid earnings but have not risen much in price yet. That shift would be a good, healthy sign. If this rotation occurs, the moves could be fast, given how wide the gap currently is between these two groups. The overall advice is to stay cautiously optimistic: Engaged and constructive, but not so relaxed you ignore the remaining risks.”

For investors who are more interested in Buying Canadian and Keeping it Local, they could consider the Harvest Canadian High Income Shares ETF (TSX: HHIC) which holds 10 Canadian single-stock High Income Shares ETFs.

The Canadian High-Income Share ETF is built to generate high levels of monthly cash distributions from an active covered call writing strategy and the use of modest leverage. The team at Harvest believes that long term, Canada remains an attractive investment destination built on a foundation of abundant natural resources and highly competitive industries. For investors who agree, they could consider HHIC.

HHIC: Access to Canadian Blue-Chips With Monthly Income

The Harvest Canadian High Income Shares ETF offers a multi-sector portfolio that captures a diverse selection of established and trending Canadian companies that are positioned for strong growth. The ETF is designed to deliver consistent, high monthly income alongside growth opportunities. This ETF is a fund-of-funds, it holds a portfolio of TSX-listed equities, combining the benefits of income generation with exposure to Canada’s strongest businesses across various sectors.

HHIC seeks to provide high monthly income and growth potential from a portfolio of TSX-listed equities that use a covered call strategy. The underlying ETFs in this ETF employ modest leverage to create overall leverage exposure of approximately 25%, and high monthly cash distributions for its unitholders.

Investors have two ways to access these blue chip Canadian companies:

Through the Harvest Canadian High Income Shares ETF (TSX: HHIC)

Through the individual Harvest High Income Shares ETFs:

  1. Agnico Eagle: Harvest Agnico Eagle Enhanced High Income Shares ETF (TSX:AEME)
  2. Bell: Harvest BCE Enhanced High Income Shares ETF (TSX: BCEE)
  3. Cameco: Harvest Cameco Enhanced High Income Shares ETF (TSX: CCOE)
  4. Canadian Natural Resources: Harvest CNQ Enhanced High Income Shares ETF (TSX: CNQE)
  5. Enbridge: Harvest Enbridge Enhanced High Income Shares ETF (TSX: ENBE)
  6. Royal Bank of Canada: Harvest Royal Bank Enhanced High Income Shares ETF (TSX: RYHE)
  7. Shopify: Harvest Shopify Enhanced High Income Shares ETF (TSX: SHPE)
  8. Suncor: Harvest Suncor Enhanced High Income Shares ETF (TSX: SUHE)
  9. TD Bank: Harvest TD Bank Enhanced High Income Shares ETF (TSX: TDHE)
  10. Telus: Harvest TELUS Enhanced High Income Shares ETF (TSX: TEHE)

Covered Call ETFs – Consistent Income, Alongside Some Growth

As we explained in a previous column, Covered Call Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) aim to generate income for investors through owning a portfolio of stocks and then selling call options on those stocks and collecting the option premiums which are paid out to investors as income. Investors should note that a covered-call strategy in a strong bull market may underperform on a total-return basis as the premium income comes at the cost of some upside. But for many income investors, there is value in consistent monthly cash flow generated through option premiums, while still maintaining participation in a portion of the market’s upside.

As Harvest ETFs’ President and Co-CIO Paul Macdonald explains, “Many systematic approaches lack the flexibility to adjust option coverage in response to market conditions. In contrast, more active strategies — such as ours — can write less when volatility and option premiums are high, helping to manage risk and sustain distributions. Ultimately, there is a trade-off inherent to covered calls: investors gain exposure to the underlying stocks but forgo some of the monthly upside in exchange for consistent income. Active management can help mitigate that foregone upside through selective writing and tactical flexibility.”

In HHIC, Harvest ETFs uses an active covered call strategy to generate high monthly income.

What Should Investors Do?

I don’t have a crystal ball that tells me who will win the FIFA World Cup. Neither can I say for sure which exact company or stock will win the AI race and emerge victorious.

What I will say is that investors who are looking to buy Canadian, want access to large, quality Canadian companies spread out across sectors, and who also want to get monthly income, could consider the Harvest Canadian High Income Shares ETF (TSX: HHIC).

Disclaimer

For Information Purposes Only. All comments, opinions and views expressed are of a general nature and should not be considered as advice and/or a recommendation to purchase or sell the mentioned securities or used to engage in personal investment strategies.

Commissions, management fees and expenses all may be associated with investing in Harvest Exchange Traded Funds (managed by Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. (the “Funds”). The funds are not guaranteed, their values change frequently and past performance may not be repeated. Please read the relevant prospectus before investing. Tax, investment and all other decisions should be made with guidance from a qualified professional.

The Funds that use modest leverage of 25% do so to enhance exposure, directly or indirectly, to the underlying stocks. This places them within the category of liquid alternative ETFs.  The use of leverage increases the return volatility, meaning it will amplify both gains and losses.

Recent Insights

Disclaimer

For Information Purposes Only. All comments, opinions and views expressed are of a general nature and should not be considered as advice and/or a recommendation to purchase or sell the mentioned securities or used to engage in personal investment strategies.

Commissions, management fees and expenses all may be associated with investing in Harvest Exchange Traded Funds, managed by Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. (the Fund(s)). Please read the relevant prospectus before investing. The indicated rates of return are the historical annual compounded total returns (except for figures of one year or less, which are simple total returns) including changes in unit value and reinvestment of all distributions and do not take into account sales, redemption, distribution or optional charges or income taxes payable by any securityholder that would have reduced returns. The funds are not guaranteed, their values change frequently and past performance may not be repeated. Distributions are paid to you in cash unless you request, pursuant to your participation in a distribution reinvestment plan, that they be reinvested into Class A, Class B or Class U units of the Fund. If the Fund earns less than the amounts distributed, the difference is a return of capital. Tax, investment and all other decisions should be made with guidance from a qualified professional.

The current yield represents an annualized amount that is comprised of 12 unchanged monthly distributions (using the most recent month’s distribution figure multiplied by 12) as a percentage of the closing market price of the Fund. The current yield does not represent historical returns of the ETF but represents the distribution an investor would receive if the most recent distribution stayed the same going forward.

Certain statements in the Harvest Insights are forward looking. Forward-looking statements (“FLS”) are statements that are predictive in nature, depend upon or refer to future events or conditions, or that include words such as “may,” “will,” “should,” “could,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “plan,” “believe,” or “estimate,” or other similar expressions. Statements that look forward in time or include anything other than historical information are subject to risks and uncertainties, and actual results, actions or events could differ materially from those set forth in the FLS.

FLS are not guarantees of future performance and are by their nature based on numerous assumptions, which include, amongst other things, that (i) the Fund can attract and maintain investors and have sufficient capital under management to effect their investment strategies, (ii) the investment strategies will produce the results intended by the portfolio managers, and (iii) the markets will react and perform in a manner consistent with the investment strategies. Although the FLS contained herein are based upon what the portfolio manager believe to be reasonable assumptions, the portfolio manager cannot assure that actual results will be consistent with these FLS.

Unless required by applicable law, Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. does not undertake, and specifically disclaim, any intention or obligation to update or revise any FLS, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.