Your 2026 TFSA Game Plan: How to Turn the New Contribution Room Into Monthly Cash

If you want your Tax-Free Savings Account (TFSA) to produce steady monthly cash later, you need a simple game plan now. The 2026 TFSA dollar limit is $7,000, which gives you fresh room to add to a long-term income engine without paying tax on the growth or the payouts. The key is picking holdings you can keep through boring years, then letting reinvested distributions do quiet work in the background. So, let’s look at some strong options for 2026.

ENB

Enbridge (TSX:ENB) can be a great starting point as it is built around energy infrastructure that earns money for moving and storing molecules, not for guessing oil prices. For a beginner, the cash flow discipline is strong in a world where interest rates and regulation still matter. In late 2025, the dividend stock’s quarterly update was weaker than expected on profit, a reminder that even defensive names can disappoint in a single quarter.

What you should watch with Enbridge is how it funds itself and how stable its cash flow stays when rates stay higher for longer. It carries a lot of debt as large pipelines cost big money, so refinancing and interest expense are always part of the story. That sounds scary, but it is also why income investors focus on the cash the business generates and the dividend policy, not just a headline earnings number. If you hold it in a TFSA, the dividend can become a clean, tax-free building block.

FTS

Fortis (TSX:FTS) plays a different role. As a regulated utility, it tends to grow by building and upgrading assets that regulators let it earn a return on. That usually makes it less dramatic than most dividend stocks, which is exactly what many beginners want. In its third-quarter 2025 update, it reported results and declared a dividend of $0.64 per share, showing it’s still running its regular payment machine.

The beginner-friendly part of Fortis is that you can judge it with a few steady questions. Is it investing in projects that will earn returns for years? Is the balance sheet staying reasonable? Or is it keeping the dividend trend intact? Valuation still matters, but the bigger mistake is overtrading it as the price drifts. A utility often does its best work for you when you ignore it.

PPL

Pembina Pipeline (TSX:PPL) can round out the mix as it gives you cash flow plus a clear operating scoreboard. In the third quarter of 2025, it reported earnings of $286 million and adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) of $1.034 billion, with adjusted cash flow from operating activities of $648 million, or $1.12 per share. It also updated its 2025 adjusted EBITDA guidance range to $4.25 billion to $4.35 billion.

It also highlighted progress on long-term agreements, including new transportation agreements on its Peace Pipeline and a new 10-year toll supported by about 96% of firm capacity on Alliance. For a new investor, that means long contracts can make distributions feel sturdier. The main risks to respect are the usual ones for infrastructure, including project timing, volume swings at the edges, and the cost of capital when markets get tight.

Bottom line

To turn these ideas into a TFSA plan, treat the $7,000 as a repeatable annual deposit, not a one-time splash. Start in accumulation mode and reinvest distributions so your share count grows. Build a small cash buffer inside the account so you are not forced to sell during a dip. Over time, you can combine different payout schedules across holdings so cash shows up in more months, even if each company does not pay monthly. And right now, here’s what $7,000 in each dividend stock can bring in annually.

COMPANYRECENT PRICENUMBER OF SHARESDIVIDENDANNUAL TOTAL PAYOUTFREQUENCYTOTAL INVESTMENTPPL$51.86134$2.84$380.56Quarterly$6,959.24FTS$69.90100$2.51$251.00Quarterly$6,990.00ENB$63.93109$3.88$422.92Quarterly$6,978.37

The point is not perfection. It’s staying invested long enough that compounding does the hard work. Check in once a year to confirm the payout looks sustainable, and the risk still fits. Keep position sizes sensible, as a TFSA should not hinge on one dividend stock. If rates fall, that can help. Yet your return should mainly come from patience, reinvestment, and consistency.

The post Your 2026 TFSA Game Plan: How to Turn the New Contribution Room Into Monthly Cash appeared first on The Motley Fool Canada.

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More reading

• Two High-Yield Dividend Stocks You Can Buy and Hold for a Decade
• Canadians: Here’s How Much You Need in Your TFSA to Retire
• 3 Blue-Chip Dividend Stocks for 2026
• 2 Stocks to Boost Your Income Investing Payouts in 2026
• TFSA: 4 Canadian Stocks to Buy and Hold Forever

Fool contributor Amy Legate-Wolfe has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Enbridge, Fortis, and Pembina Pipeline. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.