3 Easy Canadian Stocks to Invest $500

New Investors! Kickstart your portfolio with $500 and these easy Canadian stocks to buy for long-term income today.

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Key Points

  • With as little as $500, beginners can build a defensive core using three dividend-paying Canadian stocks: Telus, RioCan REIT, and Bank of Nova Scotia.
  • Their recurring revenues and attractive yields (Telus ~7.6%, RioCan ~6.1% monthly, Scotiabank ~5%) plus reinvested payouts support long-term growth.
  • 5 stocks our experts like better than Telus

New investors often struggle with answering a key issue: Where to invest when starting out with limited funds. Fortunately, several Canadian stocks make for easy investments for new investors.

Here’s a look at a trio of easy Canadian stocks for new investors to load up on, even if limited to a $500 investment.

Start building a fortress

The first thing that new investors looking for some easy Canadian stock investments should consider is growth. By growth, I’m not talking about growth stocks just yet, but rather long-term growth potential.

To achieve long-term growth with a $500 investment, the first option to consider is Telus (TSX:T). Telus is one of Canada’s big telecom stocks. This means that the company earns a reliable revenue stream that is both defensive and recurring.

Telus does this by offering subscription-based services to customers across the country in specific verticals. This includes wireless, wireline, TV, and Internet services.

Prospective investors should note the defensive appeal of this model, as the revenue is recurring and the defensive appeal of those segments continues to grow.

Additionally, Telus offers growth potential through its growing Digital Solutions group. That segment provides solutions to specific niche markets such as healthcare and agriculture.

Between both segments, Telus generates ample revenue to invest in growth and pay out a very handsome quarterly dividend. As of the time of writing, that dividend yields a juicy 7.6%. This means a $500 investment will generate a new share through reinvestments alone.

Adding to that initial investment with subsequent annual bumps means investors will see incredible growth over the long term.

Oh, and let’s not forget that Telus has an established cadence of providing annual or better increases to that dividend going back nearly two decades.

This will supercharge your new portfolio

Another option to consider buying right now that fits the bill as one of the easy Canadian stocks in which to invest is RioCan Real Estate (TSX:REI.UN). RioCan is one of the largest REITs in Canada.

The company boasts a portfolio of nearly 200 properties across Canada’s major metro markets. These properties comprise primarily commercial retail and mixed-use residential.

Investing in RioCan allows investors to become would-be landlords, but without the down payment, mortgage, property tax, or tenants.

RioCan’s commercial retail portfolio comprises high-quality tenants, including some of the largest names in finance and retail. Turning to the mixed-residential segment, RioCan’s portfolio is considerably lower risk when compared to owning a single-rental unit property.

Perhaps best of all, owning RioCan allows investors to collect a monthly distribution, like a landlord collecting rent.

As of the time of writing, RioCan boasts a yield of 6.1%. Using that same $500 initial investment from above, prospective investors can expect to generate a share or two each year through reinvestments.

And like Telus, that initial $500 investment can be supercharged in subsequent years with additional investments.

Cement your portfolio and future income

Rounding out the top three easy Canadian stocks is Bank of Nova Scotia (TSX:BNS). Scotiabank is one of Canada’s big bank stocks. The big banks are notoriously great investments, particularly for new investors.

Part of the reason is because they offer stable, growing dividends, strong, reliable revenue generation at home, and a growth-focused international business.

In the case of Scotiabank, that international growth is supercharged. The bank is known as Canada’s most international bank, and that name is well-earned. Scotiabank operates in over 20 countries around the world.

Recently, the bank refocused its growth efforts on more mature markets in North America – specifically Canada, the U.S. and Mexico. That shift included taking a 14.9% stake in U.S.-based KeyCorp.

Turning to dividends, Scotiabank has been paying out for nearly two centuries. As of the time of writing, Scotiabank offers a tasty 5% yield. An initial $500 investment in Scotiabank won’t generate much in income, but it will help establish a core position that will grow over time.

Here are the easy Canadian stocks to buy

Every stock carries some risk, even the trio of options mentioned above. Fortunately, Telus, Scotiabank, and RioCan offer some defensive appeal and juicy yields to offset some of that risk.

In my opinion, they are great, easy Canadian stocks to hold that should be core to any portfolio.

Fool contributor Demetris Afxentiou has positions in Bank of Nova Scotia. The Motley Fool recommends Bank of Nova Scotia and TELUS. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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