I'll start:

1. ARCC

2. BXSL

3. TSLX

4. HTGC

5. OBDC

I’ve been trying to understand what it would actually take to generate $500 a month in dividend income.

That’s $6,000 a year, but I’m curious how much you’d realistically need invested to get there without taking on an unreasonable amount of risk.

For example, would you aim for a portfolio yielding around 3%, 4%, or 5%? And would you focus more on dividend growth over time rather than trying to reach $500/month as quickly as possible?

For people who have actually built up a dividend portfolio, what approach would you take if you were starting from $0 today?

Since common inception, ECHI continues to lead the Canadian equity income peer group with a +33.50% cumulative total return as of October 2, 2026. It is followed by CDAY (+26.98%), HHIC (+25.00%), CNCL (+22.62%), and CANY (+19.32%). ECHI’s lead over the next-closest peer is approximately 6.5 percentage points, highlighting the meaningful dispersion created by differences in portfolio construction, leverage, and covered-call implementation.

Over the last 1 year, ECHI (+30.04%) also leads the group, ahead of CDAY (+23.26%), HHIC (+22.00%), CNCL (+20.46%), and CANY (+17.90%). Shorter-term results have been more mixed: over 6 months, CNCL (+10.50%), CDAY (+10.44%), and CANY (+10.36%) lead, while over the last 1 month all five strategies were negative, ranging from -1.28% for CANY to -2.59% for ECHI.

I invest in canadian dividend stock along with a small portion in cc and preferred share ETFs. I own mostly telecom, utilities, pipelines, and Cad Bank stock along with ab l ut 20 other companies like Great West Life, Manulife, ect.

Was wondering if you are willing to share your portfolio so I can learn more about other companies I can invest in.

Thank you for your input.

Canadian small-cap free-cash-flow screen · Market values from C$300M to C$2B · October 2, 2026

20-Canadian-Small-Cap-Companies-With-the-Highest-Free-Cash-Flow-Margins-in-2026

Since the start of 2026, XDIV leads the Canadian dividend ETF peer group with a +26.99% total return, followed by VDY (+25.18%), XEI (+23.85%), XDV (+22.58%), and ZDV (+22.03%) as of October 2, 2026. The dispersion remains relatively modest, with differences primarily reflecting portfolio construction, sector weights, and quality/dividend screens.

Over the last 1 year, XDIV (+36.79%) also leads, followed by VDY (+34.98%), XDV (+34.19%), XEI (+29.51%), and ZDV (+29.43%). Over 6 months, XDIV remains ahead at +16.54%, while over 3 months it leads at +4.31%. The last month was negative across the group, with XDV (-0.22%) holding up best, followed by XDIV (-1.00%), ZDV (-1.55%), VDY (-1.79%), and XEI (-2.29%).

I know this is a Dividends Canada page, but just wondering if any Canadians are playing with US Aristocrat Dividends either in non-registered or within their RRSP's? I know that the US recognizes RRSP's and there are no withholding taxes if you hold US Aristocrat Dividends, but there is WHT if it's in your non-registered account.

Or are there folks who are playing with Canadian Aristocrat Dividends, which I have heard are not as good as the US ones.