S&P/TSX Composite Index: What It Is, What It Holds and How to Invest in It

The S&P/TSX Composite Index is the yardstick for the Canadian stock market: when the news says “the TSX rose today,” this is the number it means. This page explains what the index tracks, how it is built, why its sector mix differs so much from the US market, and how to invest in it. How it has performed over time is covered on our historical stock market returns page, and every other guide in this section is listed in the Canadian stocks hub.

The Toronto Stock Exchange

The Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) is Canada’s main stock exchange, operated by TMX Group. It lists the country’s largest companies, from the big banks to pipelines and miners. Smaller early-stage companies list on its sister exchange, the TSX Venture Exchange. Trading hours and holidays are on the TSX trading hours and holidays page.

How the index is built

• Constituents: a little over 200 of the largest, most traded companies on the TSX (XIC, which tracks the capped version of the index, held 217 as of October 7, 2026). The number changes as companies are added and removed.
• Weighting: by float-adjusted market capitalization, so bigger companies count for more, and only shares actually available to the public are counted.
• Maintenance: S&P Dow Jones Indices reviews the index every quarter (March, June, September and December), applying size and trading-volume (liquidity) tests; changes take effect after the close on the third Friday of those months.
• Coverage: most of the market value of TSX-listed companies.

Sector weights

Canada’s resource-heavy economy shows up in the index. The weights below are those of XIC, an ETF that tracks the S&P/TSX Capped Composite, as of October 7, 2026. They shift with stock prices.

Financials, energy and materials together make up 68% of the index, which ties its performance closely to bank earnings and to oil, gold and base-metal prices. The companies behind those weights are covered in our guides to Canadian bank stocks, Canadian oil stocks and gold stocks.

TSX vs S&P 500

Sector weights are those of XIC (S&P/TSX Capped Composite) and XUS (S&P 500) as of October 7, 2026.

Because the sector mixes differ, the two indexes can lead at different times: the TSX tends to benefit when commodity prices are strong, the S&P 500 when technology stocks lead. The period-by-period comparison, in Canadian dollars, is on our historical returns page.

Sub-indexes

How to invest in the index

The simplest way is an ETF that tracks the Composite or a similar broad Canadian index:

MERs change from time to time; our VCN vs XIC comparison and best index funds guide compare the options in more detail. All of these can be held in a TFSA, RRSP, FHSA, RESP or non-registered account through any Canadian brokerage; the steps are in how to buy stocks in Canada. Canadian dividends paid by these ETFs in a non-registered account qualify for the dividend tax credit, and there is no foreign withholding tax on them.

The TSX and commodity prices

• Higher oil prices lift energy producers and pipelines, a large part of the index.
• Higher gold prices lift the miners and royalty companies.
• Trade and tariff news affects resource and manufacturing exporters.
• The Canadian dollar tends to move with commodity prices, which changes how the index looks to foreign investors.

This sensitivity is why the TSX has followed different cycles from the US market.

What the TSX offers and what it lacks

For Canadian investors, TSX exposure brings:

• no currency conversion, with returns and dividends in Canadian dollars;
• the dividend tax credit on Canadian dividends in non-registered accounts;
• a higher dividend yield than the S&P 500 at present: XIC’s trailing 12-month yield was 1.96% against 1.10% for XUS (as of September 23, 2026).

Its limits:

• heavy concentration in three sectors;
• little technology or health care;
• a small share of the world’s stock market.

That is why many Canadian portfolios pair Canadian stocks with US and international holdings, often through an all-in-one ETF; see our best all-in-one ETFs guide.