Jennifer McClelland, managing director and senior portfolio manager, North American equities at RBC Global Asset Management in Toronto. Illustration by Joel KimmelThe Globe and Mail
Jennifer McClelland doesn’t want to jinx it, but she’s expecting another good year for Canadian stocks, with some bumps along the way.
“If you have some patience as things get a little bit choppy, it can present buying opportunities,” says Ms. McClelland, managing director and senior portfolio manager, North American equities at RBC Global Asset Management in Toronto, who oversees about $15.8-billion in assets.
While she’s not betting on the same outperformance compared with some global markets experienced in 2025, Ms. McClelland believes Canadian sectors such as financials, infrastructure and certain commodities such as gold will continue to do well this year as part of a broader market upswing.
“There’s a big part of [the Canadian] market, similar to the U.S., that hasn’t really participated in this recovery, so that’s where we’re putting a lot of our focus,” says Ms. McClelland, lead manager of the $3.8-billion RBC Canadian Equity Income Fund. “There are some interesting, high-quality names within Canada that are trading at pretty attractive valuations.”
The fund’s Series F returned 25.7 per cent over the past year, as of Nov. 30. The three-year annualized return is 17 per cent, while the five- and 10-year annualized returns are 15.2 and 11.8 per cent, respectively.
The Globe spoke with Ms. McClelland about three stocks she’s been adding to recently and one she sold:
Name three stocks you own today and why.
Pembina Pipeline Corp. PPL-T, a leading energy transportation pipeline and midstream service provider, is a stock we’ve been adding to on weakness. It’s a dominant player in natural gas and liquids infrastructure. Because of its dominance, Pembina used to trade at a premium to other names within the group, but a lot of money has been taken out of these names as many investors try to chase higher-growth stocks.
The opportunity is pretty good, as the market gets a little bit more volatile, to focus on names like this one. Calgary-based Pembina is pursuing several growth projects – including within its existing assets, such as the Cedar LNG project – and a pending data centre project. The company also has a solid dividend yield of about 5.5 per cent, predictable cash flow growth, and a strong management team.
WSP Global Inc. WSP-T, the engineering and consulting services firm, is another stock we’ve been adding to on weakness since last fall. We added more in December after WSP announced the acquisition of TRC Companies, which is growing its presence in the U.S. energy and power market.
Montreal-based WSP is in a sector of the market that was initially thought artificial intelligence would impact negatively, but we believe it has opportunities amid the growing need for power. It has the proprietary information and skill sets to capitalize on AI growth in the economy.
Boralex Inc. BLX-T, the renewable energy producer, is a stock we’ve owned for a long time and have been adding to more recently. Boralex is primarily a wind developer but it’s also into solar and energy storage. Companies in this sector have struggled recently with cost overruns and negative investor sentiment amid the Trump administration’s anti-renewable policies. Boralex has assets in the U.S. but is also diversified across Canada, France and the U.K.
One thing we like about Kingsey Falls-based Boralex is that it’s involved in many smaller projects, which spreads out cost risks compared to some of its peers with fewer, larger projects.
The company has also kept a more conservative dividend payout, which has helped it stand out compared to some of its industry peers. It has been able to self-finance much of its growth, so it just doesn’t have the same volatility.
Name a stock you’ve sold recently.
Rogers Communications Inc. RCI-B-T, the diversified telecommunications and media company, is a stock we’ve been selling in recent months and got out of completely in November last year. We still own some BCE Inc. BCE-T and Telus Corp. T-T.
There’s been a lot of volatility in the Canadian telecom space. It’s unfortunate, as it used to be a core sector in income portfolios. It’s a tough business, with pressure to keep spending and innovating to provide consumers with what they want.
The competitive environment has also been tough. Telecoms have been seeking other avenues for growth. In the case of Toronto-based Rogers, it acquired BCE’s [37.5-per-cent] stake in Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment last summer. Now that MLSE is a bigger part of the Rogers story, the company is even less predictable in terms of cash flow and visibility. It’s also not a big dividend payer, so it was a relatively easy decision to step back on this one.
This interview has been edited and condensed.