BCE vs. TELUS: 1 Stock Stands Out for TFSA Investors Right Now

If you hold only one Canadian telecom in your Tax-Free Savings Account (TFSA), make it TELUS (TSX:T) and not BCE (TSX:BCE).

Both companies are chasing artificial intelligence, fibre, and enterprise growth. But they are at very different points in their journeys. TELUS is executing, while BCE is rebuilding. That gap matters when you are choosing where to put tax-sheltered money.

The bull case for this TSX telecom stock

Let’s start with the number that matters most for income investors: free cash flow (FCF).

TELUS generated a record $2.2 billion in FCF in 2025. That was an 11% jump over 2024. And the year before that, free cash flow grew 12%. The company is guiding for approximately $2.45 billion in FCF in 2026, representing roughly another 10% gain.

On the wireless side, TELUS posted a full-year postpaid mobile phone churn rate of 0.97% in 2025, the 12th consecutive year in which it reported a churn rate of below 1%. TELUS emphasized that its churn rate is 25 basis points better than its peers. Low churn means customers are staying, which translates to predictable revenue and lower costs to acquire new ones.

TELUS also added 1.1 million combined mobile and fixed customers in 2025, the fourth consecutive year in which it surpassed one million net additions.

TELUS reported a 44% jump in AI-enabling capabilities revenue in Q4 of 2025, reaching $229 million.

For the full year, AI revenue grew 35%, and TELUS is targeting roughly $2 billion in AI-powered revenue by 2028, up from approximately $800 million in 2025.

TELUS also owns sovereign AI data centers in Rimouski and Kamloops. According to CEO Darren Entwistle on the earnings call, those legacy facilities were never sold and are now being converted into AI factories at a fraction of the cost of a ground-up build.

The net debt-to-EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) ratio fell from 3.9 times at the end of 2024 to 3.4 times by the end of 2025. TELUS is targeting three times or better by the end of 2027.

Is BCE stock a good buy?

BCE is a company in transition. At BCE’s May 7, 2026, annual general meeting, CEO Mirko Bibic laid out a compelling vision.

• Bell AI Fabric, its full-stack AI compute platform launched in May 2025, is growing fast.
• The company completed the Ziply Fiber acquisition in the United States.
• Crave, its streaming platform, hit 4.7 million subscribers and is targeting six million by 2028.

However, BCE cut its dividend in May 2025, and shareholders who have held the stock since 2022 have watched the share price fall roughly 50%.

The company’s capital markets plan, which includes a three-year commitment to return approximately $5 billion in dividends, signals no dividend growth for the foreseeable future.

Incoming board chair Louis Vachon acknowledged at the meeting that the share price remains depressed, noting that he had personally been buying BCE shares as a vote of confidence.

The verdict for TFSA investors

For a TFSA, you want two things: a stock that pays you to wait, and a business with a credible path to growth.

TELUS offers both, given record free cash flow, the best wireless churn rate in Canada, a growing AI revenue line, and a deleveraging program that is ahead of schedule.

BCE offers a turnaround story with real long-term potential. But turnarounds take time, and your TFSA contributions are too valuable to sit in a stock still finding its footing.

The post BCE vs. TELUS: 1 Stock Stands Out for TFSA Investors Right Now appeared first on The Motley Fool Canada.

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More reading

• BCE or Telus: Which TSX Dividend Stock Is a Better Buy in 2026?
• Forget Telus: A Cheaper Dividend Stock With More Growth Potential
• All It Takes is $3,000 in Telus to Generate Hundreds in Passive Income
• The 5 Dividend Stocks I’d Be Most Excited to Own at This Moment 
• How Putting $20,000 in These 4 TFSA Stocks Could Generate $1,200 in Passive Income

Fool contributor Aditya Raghunath has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends TELUS. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.