This TSX Pair Will Power Canada’s Nation-Building Push in 2026

Industrial giants will play vital roles in Canada’s new era of nation-building. The federal government, through the Prime Minister, announced a pro-growth policy agenda aimed at spurring sustained economic expansion, productivity improvements, and structural reform.

The expected government capital spending in private and public investments in 2026 exceeds $1 trillion. A major pillar is the $115 billion in federal infrastructure spending over five years. TSX companies such as Finning International (TSX:FTT) and Russel Metals (TSX:RUS) are particularly well-positioned to benefit from this investment cycle.

Equipment support

Finning International, Caterpillar’s largest dealer in Canada, stands to benefit from government and private investment in construction, mining, and energy projects. This $9.8 billion company sells equipment, including parts, and provides maintenance services and equipment rebuilds.

The infrastructure expansion in 2026 will drive demand. Moreover, in addition to earnings visibility and margin stability, there would be recurring revenue streams during the period. Most of the projects are productivity-focused, reinforcing Finning’s leading position as a productivity-enhancing capital equipment supplier.

Finning’s equipment support will enhance capital efficiency and enable faster project completion, boosting productivity and competitiveness. Its recent quarterly results showed impressive earnings growth. In Q3 2025, total revenue and net income from operations increased 14% and 60% year-over-year, respectively, to $2.8 billion and $154 million.

Its President and CEO, Kevin Parkes, said, “We will continue to maximize product support, drive full-cycle resilience and grow our used, rental and power businesses to improve our return on invested capital.” Performance-wise, FTT is up nearly 100% year-to-date. The share price is $74.42, plus a modest 1.6% dividend.   

Critical supplier

Russel Metals expects strong demand for pipes, steel, and specialty metals amid an expected increase in federal spending on roads, bridges, transit, housing, and utilities. The $2.5 billion company provides steel products and services and boasts a diversified distribution network. It caters primarily to clients in North America’s industrial and energy sectors.

Its steel distributors’ operations are master distributors. They sell steel in large volumes to other steel service centres and large equipment manufacturers. Support for the growth agenda is not limited to the availability of critical industrial inputs, shorter lead times, or quick response to volume requirements.

Russel reported $1.2 billion in revenue in the first, second, and third quarters of 2025. Management said the company has an active pipeline of facility modernization and value-added processing projects. Its energy field stores projects are positioned to gain significant market share in Q4 2025 and into 2026, driven by solid energy activity.

Besides Canada’s nation-building projects, Russel will be involved in the rebuilding of the U.S. industrial base in the medium term. Furthermore, facility modernizations are ongoing, including investments in value-added equipment. If you invest today, RUS trades at $44.11 per share and pays a 3.9% dividend.

Strong tailwind

Both Finning International and Russel Metals will strengthen Canada’s economic resilience. The former will supply the core equipment while the latter will supply the materials to build infrastructure. Regarding share prices, Canada’s infrastructure plan is a strong tailwind for this pair of industrial stocks.

The post This TSX Pair Will Power Canada’s Nation-Building Push in 2026 appeared first on The Motley Fool Canada.

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Fool contributor Christopher Liew has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Russel Metals. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.