In July of 2025, California faced extensive wildfires. Canada’s response was to put politics aside, as we had serious trade concerns, and send aid and water-scooping air tankers to help our neighbours to the south. In response to Ontario’s catastrophic wildfires, our neighbours imposed tariffs on Canadian goods. One-sided kindness isn’t kindness; it’s gullibility.
Canada-First investing begins with this recognition. To be sure, there is a failure of diplomacy and mistakes on both sides, but the magnitude of the divergent responses prompts fair-minded Canadians to rethink their investment choices. I have been an advocate for free trade my entire adult life. Protectionism is an anathema to sound economic judgments. But one-sided free trade isn’t free trade - it’s the most bounded trade of all. Canada-First investing is acknowledging that free trade is not in the cards that we, as a country, have been dealt this round. Beyond global instability, there are two financial considerations that lend to rethinking global investments.
Currency Fluctuation
As surely as the sun rises and sets, the Canadian dollar will go up and down. It’s generally pegged against the U.S. dollar, but independent metrics like gold can highlight its purchasing power as well. We want to mitigate the risk of currency fluctuation. The ebbs and flows of the Canadian dollar can have a serious negative impact on returns. Intelligent investors want to mitigate risk wherever possible without reducing their rewards, and currency risk is one of the more significant challenges to investment stability. If the U.S. dollar falls, the Canadian investor with U.S. investments also just took a loss. Investing in Canada is a serious mitigating factor that gives investors a measure of confidence.
2. Tax Implications
Global dividends are taxed as regular income; Canadian dividends receive preferential tax treatment. American dividends face IRS withholding tax, and Canadian taxes to be paid as well. Canadian dividends, for Canadian investors, can often face close to half the tax bill. To make matters worse, in the event that the currency fluctuation works in the Canadian investor’s favour, there are tax consequences in addition to that, minimizing the gains and accentuating the losses. Taxes and inflation often go unnoticed for investors as risks and setbacks; they should be foremost on our minds when we invest.
Canada-First investing is about investor prudence and developing our own infrastructure - our own industry. It’s about standing up for Canada when no one else will. It’s about recognizing the greatness of our own industry. Canada-First is putting your country, and your money, first.