Canadian Index Funds

Every major bank in Canada—as well as a small number of other financial institutions—offers a family of index mutual funds. Their fees are typically much lower than those of actively managed funds, but truth be told, most are more expensive than they need to be. Investors in the US can typically purchase index funds for less than half of what Canadians are charged.

Below is a complete catalogue of index mutual funds available in Canada. Use this list to compare the fees charged by each fund sponsor, and to compare the index that each one tracks. When choosing an index fund, look for one that tracks an understandable, transparent, and broadly based index at low cost.

To see our recommendations, visit the Model Portfolios page.

Mutual funds that hedge their exposure to foreign currency are marked with an asterisk (*). Funds that hold derivatives rather than the actual stocks in the index are marked with a number sign (#).

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TD Mutual Funds

TD’s e-Series funds are only available to investors who open an online account with TD Canada Trust, or through a TD Waterhouse discount brokerage account.

Fund name	Fund ID	MER	Index tracked
TD Canadian Index – e	TDB900	0.31	S&P/TSX Composite
TD US Index – e	TDB902	0.33	S&P 500
TD US Index – e *	TDB904	0.48	S&P 500
TD Dow Jones Industrial Avg – e *	TDB903	0.31	Dow Jones Industrial Average
TD NASDAQ Index – e *	TDB908	0.48	NASDAQ 100
TD International Index – e	TDB911	0.48	MSCI EAFE
TD International Index – e *	TDB905	0.50	MSCI EAFE
TD European Index – e *	TDB906	0.48	MSCI Europe
TD Japanese Index – e *	TDB907	0.48	MSCI Japan
TD Canadian Bond index – e	TDB909	0.48	DEX Universe Bond

These TD index funds are also available in a higher-fee  “Investor Series,”  which can be purchased through any discount brokerage:

Fund name	Fund ID	MER	Index tracked
TD Canadian Index	TDB216	0.84	S&P/TSX Composite
TD US Index	TDB661	0.53	S&P 500
TD US Index *	TDB655	0.84	S&P 500
TD Dow Jones Industrial Average *	TDB657	0.84	Dow Jones Industrial Average
TD NASDAQ Index *	TDB981	0.96	NASDAQ 100
TD International Index	TDB964	1.31	MSCI EAFE
TD International Index *	TDB656	0.96	MSCI EAFE
TD European Index *	TDB659	0.97	MSCI Europe
TD Japan Index *	TDB658	0.98	MSCI Japan
TD Canadian Bond Index	TDB966	0.79	DEX Universe Bond

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RBC Asset Management

Fund name	Fund ID	MER	Index tracked
RBC Canadian Index	RBF556	0.68	S&P/TSX Composite
RBC US Index	RBF557	0.70	S&P 500
RBC US Index *	RBF558	0.69	S&P 500 #
RBC International Index *	RBF559	0.67	MSCI EAFE #
RBC Canadian Bond Index	RBF563	0.63	DEX Universe Federal Bond

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CIBC Mutual Funds

Fund name	Fund ID	MER	Index tracked
CIBC Canadian Index	CIB300	1.08	S&P/TSX Composite
CIBC US Index	CIB500	1.08	S&P 500
CIBC US Broad Market Index	CIB484	1.08	Dow Jones Wilshire 5000
CIBC NASDAQ Index	CIB520	1.16	NASDAQ 100
CIBC International Index	CIB510	1.11	MSCI EAFE
CIBC European Index	CIB513	1.10	MSCI Europe
CIBC Asia Pacific Index	CIB518	1.18	MSCI All Country Pacific
CIBC Emerging Markets Index	CIB519	1.37	MSCI Emerging Markets
CIBC Canadian Bond Index	CIB503	1.06	DEX Universe Bond
CIBC Canadian Short-Term Bond	CIB489	1.03	DEX Short Term Bond
CIBC Global Bond Index	CIB511	1.06	JP Morgan Global Gov’t Bond
CIBC Balanced Index	CIB901	1.08	[custom]

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ScotiaFunds

Fund name	Fund ID	MER	Index tracked
Scotia Canadian Index	BNS381	0.99	S&P/TSX Composite
Scotia US Index	BNS382	0.89	S&P 500
Scotia CanAm Index	BNS351	0.98	S&P 500 #
Scotia NASDAQ Index	BNS397	1.01	NASDAQ 100 #
Scotia International Index	BNS387	1.14	MSCI EAFE
Scotia Canadian Bond Index	BNS386	0.89	DEX Universe Bond

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BMO Mutual Funds

Fund name	Fund ID	MER	Index tracked
BMO [Canadian] Equity Index	BMO144	1.00	S&P/TSX Composite
BMO US Equity Index	BMO722	1.09	S&P 500 #
BMO International Index	BMO727	1.07	MSCI EAFE

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Altamira (National Bank of Canada)

Fund name	Fund ID	MER	Index tracked
Altamira Canadian Index	NBC814	0.52	S&P/TSX 60
Altamira US Index	NBC846	1.14	Dow Jones Industrial Avg #
Altamira US Index *	NBC856	0.52	S&P 500 #
Altamira International Index	NBC839	1.16	MSCI EAFE #
Altamira International Index *	NBC877	0.52	MSCI EAFE #

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Pro-Financial Asset Management

Pro-Financial’s fundamentally weighted index funds are available in several versions. This list includes the Class F versions available from fee-based advisors. The Class A and B versions available from discount brokerages have higher annual fees in addition to either front-end loads or deferred sales charges.

Fund name	Fund ID	MER	Index tracked
PRO Canadian Index (Class F)	PRO930	0.98	FTSE RAFI Canada
PRO US Index (Class F)	PRO931	1.00	FTSE RAFI US 1000
PRO Global Index (Class F)	PRO932	1.00	FTSE RAFI Global Ex-US
PRO Hong Kong China (Class F)	PRO933	1.04	FTSE RAFI Hong Kong China
PRO Emerging Markets (Class F)	PRO934	0.99	FTSE RAFI Emerging Mkts

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Dimensional Fund Advisors

Strictly speaking, Dimensional funds are not “index funds,” as they do not track any index. But they are passively managed funds designed to capture the returns of specific asset classes, which make them entirely appropriate for Couch Potato investors. DFA funds are available to Canadian investors only through a select group of financial advisers. The funds listed below are the Class F versions; the Class A funds have much higher fees.

Fund name	MER
DFA Canadian Core Equity	0.40
DFA US Core Equity	0.47
DFA US Vector Equity	0.54
DFA International Core Equity	0.62
DFA International Vector Equity	0.63
DFA Global Real Estate Securities	0.70
DFA 5-Year Global Fixed Income	0.44
DFA Investment Grade Fixed Income	0.38

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ING Mutual Funds

The Streetwise Funds are only available directly from ING.

Fund name	MER
Streetwise Balanced Fund	1.00
Streetwise Balanced Income Fund	1.00
Streetwise Balanced Growth Fund	1.00