A dividend is a distribution of a company’s profits to its shareholders. Dividends typically get paid out on a regular basis. Our self-directed trading accounts support dividend stocks as long as they meet our eligibility criteria. 

Dividend payment eligibility

The two important dates to pay attention to with looking at dividend payment eligibility are the Record Date and Pay Date:

• The Record Date is the day the company checks its records to identify its shareholders
• The Pay Date is the day the dividend is paid out to shareholders

To qualify for the dividend payment, shares you purchase must settle in your account before or on the Record Date. Since all orders take two business days to settle, make sure you buy any shares 2-3 business days before the Record Date.

How dividend payments are calculated for fractional shares

Dividends distributed from fractional shares are proportionate to the fractional amount that you own.

For example, if you own 0.267 shares in stock XYZ and the dividend amount is $1.00, you can expect to receive $0.27 in dividends.

View your recent dividend payments

Dividends are paid directly to your cash balance in Canadian Dollars. To view your recent dividend payments, follow these steps:

The details

• All cash dividends are paid out on their payment date, although there may be a delay before we post the proceeds in your account. This can happen if our clearing broker needs extra time to send us the funds.
• Dividends from U.S.-listed companies are paid into the account where the shares were held on the dividend Record Date.
• Dividends paid out by U.S corporations into a TFSA or Personal account include a 15% non-resident withholding tax.

Dividend Reinvestment Programs (DRIP)

For information on Dividend Reinvestments, check out this article.