Building Generational Wealth: Why Now is Still the Time to Invest in Canadian Stocks

Don’t worry, now is still a good time to invest in Canadian stocks for generational wealth. Canada offers something investors crave when the world feels jumpy: real businesses that throw off cash, pay dividends, and keep compounding through cycles. Canadian markets also lean toward banks, energy, infrastructure, and industrials, which can act like ballast when the hottest parts of global tech cool off.

Add in the Tax-Free Savings Account (TFSA) and the ability to shelter decades of growth and income, and “boring and steady” starts to look like a superpower. The trick is to buy quality when sentiment looks shaky, then hold long enough for time to do its quiet work.

TFII

TFI International (TSX:TFII) is a great example of a Canadian company that can build wealth the old-fashioned way, through scale, discipline, and relentless operating focus. It runs a North American transportation and logistics platform across truckload, less-than-truckload, and logistics services. It grew for years by buying companies, tightening costs, and pushing margins higher. Freight is not glamorous, but it touches everything you buy, which makes demand resilient over time even when the cycle gets choppy.

Over the last year, the headlines around TFII showed how quickly markets can swing between confidence and concern. The Canadian stock dealt with a softer freight environment and talk of economic uncertainty, which tends to pressure shipping volumes and pricing. Management stayed in its lane, talked about efficiency, and kept hunting for deals even when visibility looked murky.

It also had a very public reminder that TFII remains a Canadian company at its core. It flirted with the idea of moving its corporate home to the United States, then reversed course after pushback. Investors took that episode as a signal that TFII will keep prioritizing shareholder value, but it still has to balance politics, perception, and practicality. It also kept a steady tone around future growth, with management pointing to early signs that parts of the truckload market could improve during 2026.

Earnings support

In the fourth quarter of 2025, TFII reported operating income of $127.2 million and net income of $71.7 million. Diluted earnings per share (EPS) came in at $0.87 for the quarter. On an adjusted basis, it reported adjusted net income of $89.5 million and adjusted diluted EPS of $1.09. Those quarter numbers came in below the prior year, which explains why the stock can feel heavy.

For 2025, TFII posted adjusted net income from continuing operations of $364.9 million, which worked out to adjusted diluted EPS of $4.37. It also generated free cash flow of about $832.3 million, which is the kind of number that gives a dividend and buybacks real support. Management leaned on that cash flow to keep returning capital, and raised the quarterly dividend to US$0.47.

The future outlook is where TFII becomes interesting again. Freight cycles always come and go, but TFII tends to play offence when others play defence, through acquisitions, network optimization, and cost control. If demand stabilizes and pricing stops sliding, operating leverage can show up quickly, as this is a business that has already built the platform.

Bottom line

Building generational wealth rarely comes from chasing whatever is loudest this week. It comes from owning durable cash-flow businesses, reinvesting dividends, and letting compounding run for years. TFII can fit that playbook as it has a long history of disciplined growth, it still generates serious free cash flow, and it keeps returning capital even when the freight tape looks ugly. If you can handle cyclical bumps and you are willing to hold through the noisy stretches, this can be the kind of Canadian stock that quietly does its job in a long-term portfolio.

The post Building Generational Wealth: Why Now is Still the Time to Invest in Canadian Stocks appeared first on The Motley Fool Canada.

Should you invest $1,000 in TFI International right now?

Before you buy stock in TFI International, consider this:

The Motley Fool Canada team has identified what they believe are the top 10 TSX stocks for 2026… and TFI International wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could potentially produce monster returns in the coming years.

Consider MercadoLibre, which we first recommended on January 8, 2014 … if you invested $1,000 in the “eBay of Latin America” at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $20,155.76!*

Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor Canada’s total average return is 90%* – a market-crushing outperformance compared to 81%* for the S&P/TSX Composite Index. Don’t miss out on our top 10 stocks, available when you join our mailing list!

Get the 10 stocks instantly #start_btn6 { background: #0e6d04 none repeat scroll 0 0; color: #fff; font-size: 1.2em; font-family: 'Montserrat', sans-serif; font-weight: 600; height: auto; line-height: 1.2em; margin: 30px 0; max-width: 350px; text-align: center; width: auto; box-shadow: 0 1px 0 rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.5), 0 1px 0 #fff inset, 0 0 2px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2); border-radius: 5px; } #start_btn6 a { color: #fff; display: block; padding: 20px; padding-right:1em; padding-left:1em; } #start_btn6 a:hover { background: #FFE300 none repeat scroll 0 0; color: #000; } @media (max-width: 480px) { div#start_btn6 { font-size:1.1em; max-width: 320px;} } margin_bottom_5 { margin-bottom:5px; } margin_top_10 { margin-top:10px; }

* Returns as of February 17th, 2026

More reading

• TSX Today: What to Watch for in Stocks on Thursday, February 19
• 1 Magnificent Canadian Dividend Stock Down 9% to Buy and Hold for Decades
• Maximum TFSA Impact: 2 TSX Stocks to Help Multiply Your Wealth
• This 1 TSX Stock Looks Built for Trade-Headline Chaos

Fool contributor Amy Legate-Wolfe has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends TFI International. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.