Not registered. Not advice. DecodeETF is an information service. We are not registered as an adviser, dealer, or investment fund manager with the Ontario Securities Commission or any Canadian provincial regulator. Nothing on this site is a recommendation, solicitation, or offer to buy or sell any security. Past performance is not indicative of future results, and all investing carries risk including the loss of principal. Speak with a registered financial professional before making investment decisions.
TD ETFs
5.1% headline yield, and 60% of it is classified as return of capital. ROC is a tax label, not by itself a sign of capital being paid back; for some funds, such as REITs, it reflects depreciation passed through. The capital trend is the clearer signal. Over the last 3 years its capital grew 6%/yr.
Payout over time
Fund health
Where the 3-year return came from
The unit price grew 6.2% a year over this window while distributions added 4.9%: the income came on top of capital growth, not out of it.
3-year annualized, on a shared scale: bars left of the line are negative. Capital appreciation is the fund's own unit-price change; income return is the contribution from distributions being reinvested. The two combine (multiplicatively) to the total return.
Risk and resilience
How it's taxed
The CRA taxes each distribution dollar by its character. These shares are measured against the full taxable distribution, including any portion the fund reinvested as units rather than paying in cash.
| Character | % of taxable | $ / unit |
|---|---|---|
| Foreign income | 40% | $0.3103 |
| Return of capital | 60% | $0.4607 |
Foreign withholding tax already taken inside the fund: $0.0149 per unit. In a non-registered account, foreign tax reported on the T3 may be claimable as a foreign tax credit, subject to T2209 limits. TFSA and RRSP accounts do not claim that T3 credit.
Return of capital is not tax-free. It lowers your adjusted cost base, so the deferred tax can increase a later capital gain or reduce a later capital loss when you sell. If return of capital keeps building up and your cost base reaches zero, any further return of capital is taxed as a capital gain in the year you receive it, not deferred to a sale.
Based on TD ETFs's 2025 T3 / tax-factor filing. Character can vary year to year. This is not tax advice; consult a tax professional about your situation.
What Premium adds
Next steps
Prices as of 2026-07-27. Distributions as of 2026-07-28. Tax character year 2025.
We break down what Canadian ETF investors need to know. Free. No account needed. Unsubscribe anytime.
The cash distribution was reduced in 2 calendar years since 2020.
What you own
The top 3 sectors shown are 99% of the fund; Real Estate is the largest at 98%.
Coverage 2.3×: The fund paid a 5.1% distribution rate against a 11.5% a year total return; the total return was at least the current distribution rate over this window.
What you keep, in your account
Each figure below starts from the headline yield of 5.1% and shows an estimate of what you keep after tax. Where you hold the fund changes the answer: a TFSA shelters Canadian tax and can still lose foreign withholding tax when the fund has foreign withholding, a non-registered account taxes each character at its own rate, and an RRSP defers tax until you withdraw.
These figures are estimates at the top ON marginal tax rate, not your personal rate. The return-of-capital portion is not taxed now: it lowers your cost base, so more of your eventual sale is taxed as a capital gain instead.
Illustrative, not tax advice.