Revenge of the TSX: How the Canadian stock market quietly became a world beater
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- Toronto Stock Exchange gained nearly 55% over the last two years adjusted for inflation, ranking among the best two-year rallies in history alongside the dot-com boom and the rebound after the 2009 global financial crisis.
- TSX outpaced the S&P 500 by nearly 2x over the same period, even as the US index is described as "stacked with trillion-dollar giants forging the next great technological age."
- Toronto-Dominion Bank shares rose more than 120% over two years after refocusing on Canada following US$3.1-billion in money-laundering fines, selling its Charles Schwab stake, and buying back its own stock.
- BlackBerry shares nearly quintupled in two years as its QNX software — now embedded in 275 million cars — expanded into robots, medical devices, and factory applications.
- Magna International shares climbed more than 50% from two years ago despite tariff threats, after cutting expenses and passing tariff costs onto customers, with its auto parts crossing the US-Canada border up to eight times per finished vehicle.
- Bombardier shares tripled over two years after Trump backed off threats to decertify its Global Express jets and impose 50% tariffs on Canadian aircraft, as the company rode a generational shift in private aviation and defence spending.
Why it matters: Investors fixated on US AI stocks have missed a generational Canadian rally: the TSX's 55% inflation-adjusted two-year gain nearly doubled the S&P 500 by riding banks (TD up 120%+), BlackBerry, and aerospace names. But the article itself warns that stock gains don't fix Canada's housing bust, NAFTA uncertainty (roughly 25% of GDP), or immigration cuts.
