Best All-in-One ETFs in Canada (2026): XEQT, VEQT, VGRO, VBAL and Others Compared

An all-in-one ETF, also called an asset allocation ETF, is a single fund made up of several other ETFs, giving you stocks and bonds from around the world in one purchase. The main choice is the level, meaning how much of the fund is in stocks and how much in bonds; the Ontario Securities Commission’s investor site says your mix should match your risk tolerance and financial goals, and that a longer time horizon lets you take more risk. Funds at the same level from different issuers also differ in other ways. This page explains the levels, then compares the funds from iShares, Vanguard, BMO and Fidelity using figures each issuer publishes.

Jump to a category:

• All-equity
• Growth
• Balanced
• Conservative

What is an all-in-one (asset allocation) ETF?

It’s a fund of funds: instead of holding stocks and bonds directly, it holds a handful of other ETFs, each covering one region or type of bond. Vanguard calls its versions a “single-ticket solution” built from blends of several of its core ETFs. The underlying funds cover stocks from different regions, such as Canada, the US and other developed and emerging markets, plus bonds at the levels below all-equity.

The issuer keeps the fund close to its target mix by rebalancing, so you don’t have to. Spreading money across many investments that don’t move together is what the Ontario Securities Commission’s investor site calls diversification, and it can leave a portfolio less risky than its parts held on their own.

The fund’s main ongoing cost is its management expense ratio (MER), and Vanguard and BMO say the fund-of-funds setup doesn’t make you pay management fees twice: Vanguard says there is “no duplication of management fees,” and BMO says its fee is reduced by the fees charged in the underlying funds. The MER is taken out of the fund rather than billed to you, and it lowers your return whether the fund goes up or down.

What do the levels mean, and how do you pick one?

Each issuer sells the same idea at several levels. iShares, for example, lists five:

• All-equity: 100% stocks
• Growth: 80% stocks, 20% bonds
• Balanced: 60% stocks, 40% bonds
• Conservative: 40% stocks, 60% bonds
• Income: 20% stocks, 80% bonds

Vanguard, BMO and Fidelity use similar steps under their own names, and the table below shows each fund’s own stated target.

More stocks means a higher potential return over the long term and bigger swings along the way; the Ontario Securities Commission’s investor site gives the example of a half-stock, half-bond portfolio being less volatile and less likely to take a large, sharp loss than an all-stock one. The issuers’ own risk ratings follow the same pattern: in the documents we checked, VEQT, ZEQT and FEQT are rated medium risk, and VGRO, VBAL and ZGRO low to medium.

Which level fits depends mainly on your time horizon and how much loss you can live with: the longer you can leave the money invested, the more time it has to recover from a fall, and money you need within a few years generally belongs in lower-risk investments. Our guides to building an ETF portfolio and asset allocation by age go further.

The main all-in-one ETFs compared

The table covers iShares, Vanguard, BMO and Fidelity at the four levels they have in common, all-equity, growth, balanced and conservative, with each figure taken from the issuer’s own fund page, fact sheet or financial report. Other issuers’ all-in-one ETFs aren’t in the table.

Issuer-published figures. Holdings are as of August 31, 2026, September 30, 2026; the grey part of each bar is cash and anything the issuer doesn't split out by region (for Fidelity, a global small-company fund). MER as of BMO December 31, 2025; Fidelity March 31, 2026; Vanguard March 31, 2026; iShares June 30, 2026 (each issuer's latest reported MER). Fidelity publishes no separate emerging-markets figure. Each ticker links to the issuer's page, which has the current price, holdings and performance.

Each level’s heading gives its usual target, and a fund whose own target differs says so under its name; the bar shows what the fund actually held on the date in the note, which can drift from the target between rebalancings. There are no return or yield columns: past results can’t tell you how a fund will do next, and each ticker links to the issuer’s page for the current price, holdings and performance. Each fund’s ETF Facts document, on the issuer’s website, gives its risk rating and costs in a standard format.

How do the iShares, Vanguard, BMO and Fidelity funds differ?

At the same level, the funds differ in these ways.

How much is in Canada. These funds hold far more Canadian stocks than Canada’s weight in world markets, which is about 3% of the MSCI ACWI index of global stocks. The index all-equity funds hold from 24.2% (ZEQT) to 30.6% (VEQT) in Canada. Vanguard explains its tilt as a judgment that about 30% Canadian and 70% international is the best long-term mix for Canadian investors, while warning that portfolios heavy in Canada can be more volatile because Canada’s market is concentrated in a few large companies.

Emerging markets. The share in emerging markets also varies: 4.8% in XEQT, 7.0% in VEQT and 9.4% in ZEQT.

How the US stocks are held. VEQT holds its US stocks through Vanguard’s Morningstar U.S. Total Market Index ETF, listed in Toronto, which in turn invests mainly in a US-based Vanguard ETF, and ZEQT uses Canadian-dollar units of BMO’s S&P 500 ETF. XEQT holds both a Toronto-listed and a US-listed iShares US total-market ETF. For withholding tax this matters less than it sounds: BlackRock’s guide says every Canadian-listed ETF or fund with US stocks faces the same US withholding tax whether it holds them directly or through another ETF. Our page on US-listed vs Canadian-listed ETFs covers what that costs in each account.

Bonds. VGRO holds a Canadian bond ETF plus Canadian-dollar-hedged US and global ex-US bond ETFs; XGRO holds a Canadian bond ETF and seeks to hedge its exposure to the US dollar and other foreign currencies in its non-Canadian bonds; and BMO’s ZBAL uses hedged units of BMO’s US bond ETF.

Rebalancing and fees. iShares says its funds are continuously monitored and rebalanced as needed, Vanguard rebalances from time to time at its sub-advisor’s discretion, BMO rebalances quarterly and Fidelity once a year. In 2025, iShares cut XGRO’s management fee from 0.18% to 0.17%, Vanguard cut VEQT’s from 0.22% to 0.17% and BMO cut ZEQT’s from 0.18% to 0.15%. The MER in the table is the last one each issuer reported, so for some funds it doesn’t yet reflect a cut.

Fidelity’s all-in-one ETFs

Fidelity’s funds work differently from the other three families. Each invests in Fidelity’s own ETFs. Fidelity describes FGRO’s neutral (target) mix as about 82% “equity factors”, 15% “systematic and actively managed” bond ETFs and 3% cryptocurrencies. One of FEQT’s holdings, for example, is Fidelity U.S. Momentum ETF, which Fidelity describes as “single-factor exposure” to companies with positive momentum signals. Each also holds a small slice of Fidelity’s bitcoin ETF, between 0.5% and 3% of its target mix. Fidelity rebalances once a year, and sooner if the mix drifts more than 5% from target. It charges no management fee at the fund level; the underlying funds’ fees show up in the MER instead.

XEQT vs VEQT

Both are all-equity funds holding stocks from around the world, with the same 0.17% management fee. The differences are in the mix and the paperwork:

• Canada: 25.6% in XEQT, 30.6% in VEQT.
• Other developed markets: 24.4% in XEQT, 17.6% in VEQT.
• Emerging markets: 4.8% in XEQT, 7.0% in VEQT.
• Latest reported MER: 0.19% for XEQT, 0.22% for VEQT; Vanguard’s reported MER is dated March 31, 2026, and it cut the fee in November 2025.
• Distributions: XEQT pays quarterly, VEQT annually.

So VEQT leans more on Canada and emerging markets, XEQT more on other developed markets. Our XEQT page covers XEQT on its own in more detail.

XEQT vs ZEQT

ZEQT is BMO’s all-equity fund. It has the lower management fee, 0.15% against XEQT’s 0.17%. It holds more in emerging markets (9.4% against 4.8%) and less in other developed markets (16.4% against 24.4%). BMO says ZEQT rebalances quarterly; iShares says its asset allocation ETFs are rebalanced as needed. See how the funds differ for what these differences mean.

VGRO vs XGRO (and ZGRO)

The three aim for about 80% stocks and 20% bonds. VGRO holds the most in Canadian stocks (24.7%, against 20.1% in XGRO and 19.5% in ZGRO), and XGRO the most in other developed markets (20.0%, against 14.8% and 13.1%). Their bond sides differ as described above.

VBAL vs VGRO

These are the same Vanguard family at two levels: VBAL targets about 60% stocks and 40% bonds, VGRO about 80% and 20%. Both have a 0.17% management fee and carry the same low-to-medium risk rating in their ETF Facts. The choice between them is the level question in the section above. VBAL vs XBAL is the same level from two issuers; the table shows how their weights compare.

Can you start with small amounts, like $100 a month?

Yes: because each unit holds the fund’s whole mix, a small purchase is spread across the same investments as a large one. Investing a set amount at regular intervals is called dollar-cost averaging. What decides whether small purchases make sense is the account: you usually pay a commission each time you buy or sell an ETF, so the broker’s fees and whether it offers automatic purchases matter more than the fund. Your firm may offer to buy more units for you automatically, likely without a sales commission, and Vanguard’s distribution reinvestment plan reinvests its ETFs’ cash distributions without a commission; see DRIP investing. The investment calculator shows what regular amounts could grow to at a rate you choose.

What don’t all-in-one ETFs do?

• They give you one mix wherever you hold them. Because the stocks and bonds come in the same unit, you can’t keep the bonds in one account and the stocks in another; see asset location.
• The regional weights are the issuer’s choice. The issuer sets and rebalances the mix; if you want less Canada or more emerging markets, you need a different fund or your own mix.
• They can overlap with what you already own. The funds in the table already hold Canadian and US stocks through their underlying ETFs, as the region column shows; XEQT, VEQT and ZEQT, for example, each hold a Canadian index ETF and a US one. A separate Canadian or US index fund held beside one adds to regions it already covers.
• Distributions show up at tax time in a non-registered account. For a fund set up as a mutual fund trust you get a T3 slip; the distributions can be interest, dividends, capital gains, return of capital or a mix. A return of capital is the part of a fund's distribution that is more than its earnings; it isn't taxed in the year you receive it but reduces the adjusted cost base (ACB) of your units, which generally means a larger capital gain or smaller capital loss when you sell, and if it takes the ACB below zero the negative amount is a capital gain for that year. Selling units, for example to switch funds, can trigger a capital gain. See how ETFs are taxed and the T3 slip explained.
• They aren’t covered by deposit insurance, and like any ETF, they can lose money.

If you build a similar mix from a few ETFs yourself, the rebalancing the issuer would otherwise do becomes your job; our Couch Potato portfolio guide shows how. A robo-advisor is the other hands-off route: it manages and rebalances a portfolio for you.

Where to go next

• Where to buy ETFs: compare brokers
• How to build your own ETF portfolio
• MER calculator: what fees cost over time
• XEQT in detail
• All ETF guides