Canadian bank dividends: the Big 6 and their history
How often Canada's six largest banks pay, how long they've paid, and how their raise streaks look after the 2020-2021 freeze.
General information, not financial advice. No prices or yields on this page: those change every day and live in the app.
Canada's “Big 6” banks are Royal Bank of Canada, TD, Scotiabank, BMO, CIBC and National Bank. Together they hold most of the country's deposits, and all six are listed on the TSX. Dividend investors often look at them because several have paid dividends for well over a century and because they pay on a regular quarterly schedule. This page collects the facts: how often each pays, how far back its payment record goes, and how its recent record of raises looks. Today's yield and payment dates are in the app, linked under each bank.
How to read this page. “Raise streak” counts consecutive calendar years in which the bank's total regular dividend per share was higher than the year before (the S&P annual-total rule, by payment date). Banks don't publish one official count, so other sites may show different numbers.
Good to know: the 2020-2021 freeze. On March 13, 2020, Canada's bank regulator (OSFI) told federally regulated banks and insurers not to raise dividends. It lifted that on November 4, 2021, and most banks raised soon after1. None of the six cut its dividend during the freeze. Under the annual-total rule, though, some banks' totals stayed flat from 2020 to 2021. That is why three of them show streaks that restart in 2022.
Bank of Montreal (BMO)
TSX: BMO- What it does
- Canada's oldest bank, founded in 1817, with large operations in Canada and the U.S. Midwest.
- Pays
- Quarterly.
- Raise streak
- 5 years, higher every year since 20222. 2020 and 2021 had the same total.
- Dividend facts
- BMO describes itself as the longest-running dividend-paying company in Canada3. According to Motley Fool Canada and TSI Network, its payments go back to 18294.
Bank of Nova Scotia (Scotiabank)
TSX: BNS- What it does
- Canadian bank with a large international business, mainly in Latin America and the Caribbean.
- Pays
- Quarterly. The bank's stated policy is to pay common dividends quarterly5.
- Raise streak
- 5 years, higher every year since 20222. 2020 and 2021 had the same total.
- Dividend facts
- Scotiabank declared its first dividend on July 1, 1833, and “payments have been made continuously since”5. (Some sites say 1832; the bank's own page says 1833.)
Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC)
TSX: CM- What it does
- Canadian bank focused on Canadian retail and commercial banking, wealth management and U.S. commercial banking.
- Pays
- Quarterly6.
- Raise streak
- 16 years, higher every year since 20112.
- Dividend facts
- “CIBC hasn't missed a regular dividend since its first dividend payment in 1868”67.
National Bank of Canada
TSX: NA- What it does
- Canada's sixth-largest bank, based in Montreal, with its strongest presence in Quebec.
- Pays
- Quarterly.
- Raise streak
- 5 years, higher every year since 20222. 2020 and 2021 had the same total.
Royal Bank of Canada (RBC)
TSX: RY- What it does
- Canada's largest bank by market value, with personal and commercial banking, wealth management, insurance and capital markets.
- Pays
- Quarterly.
- Raise streak
- 16 years, higher every year since 20112.
- Dividend facts
- According to Simply Safe Dividends and Motley Fool Canada (citing S&P data), RBC has paid a dividend every year since 18708. RBC's investor pages don't state the year.
Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD)
TSX: TD- What it does
- Canadian bank with one of the largest retail banking networks in the eastern U.S.
- Pays
- Quarterly.
- Raise streak
- 16 years, higher every year since 20112.
- Dividend facts
- According to Simply Safe Dividends, TD has paid dividends since 18579. TD's own dividend lookup tool goes back to 1969.
This page is general information, not financial advice. It is not a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any security. Dividends can be cut or suspended. Check the company's own filings before deciding anything.
Sources (last checked November 7, 2026)
- OSFI statement, Nov 4 2021, https://newswire.ca/news-releases/statement-by-the-superintendent-on-the-lifting-of-expectations-on-dividends-share-repurchases-and-executive-compensation-870402129.html ; Insurance Journal, https://insurancejournal.com/news/international/2021/11/05/640770.htm
- Raise streaks: Parachute Monkey's dividend records (payment history), cross-checked against the banks' published histories.
- BMO Investor Relations: “longest running dividend paying company in Canada”, https://www.bmo.com/ir
- Motley Fool Canada, “This Banking Powerhouse ... Has Paid Dividends for 196 Straight Years” (2025-05-27), https://fool.ca/2025/05/27/this-banking-powerhouse-yielding-4-4-has-paid-dividends-for-196-straight-years ; TSI Network, “BMO: Longest dividend streak in Canada”, https://www.tsinetwork.ca/daily-advice/dividend-stocks/bmo-longest-dividend-streak-canada-2
- Scotiabank, Common share dividend history and stock splits, https://scotiabank.com/ca/en/about/investors-shareholders/common-share-dividend-history-stock-splits.html
- CIBC, Common Dividends, https://www.cibc.com/en/about-cibc/investor-relations/share-information/common-share-information/common-dividends.html
- Motley Fool Canada, “This Passive-Income Machine Hasn't Missed a Dividend in 148 Years” (2016), https://www.fool.ca/2016/03/30/this-passive-income-machine-hasnt-missed-a-dividend-in-148-years/
- Simply Safe Dividends, “Royal Bank of Canada: Paying Dividends Every Year Since 1870”, https://simplysafedividends.com/intelligent-income/posts/144 ; Motley Fool Canada (2016, S&P Global Market Intelligence data), https://www.fool.ca/2016/06/28/5-companies-that-have-been-rewarding-shareholders-for-at-least-140-years/
- Simply Safe Dividends, “Toronto-Dominion Bank: Uninterrupted Dividends Since 1857”, https://www.simplysafedividends.com/intelligent-income/posts/169-toronto-dominion-bank-uninterrupted-dividends-since-1857 ; TD Dividend look up, https://www.td.com/ca/en/about-td/for-investors/investor-relations/share-information/share-price-tools/dividend-look-up