20 newer Canadian ETFs that have earned a real track record

Short answer: Twenty Canadian-listed ETFs launched in 2020 or 2021 have now earned both a Five Star Morningstar Rating and a Gold Morningstar Medallist Rating. They span factor investing, ESG, balanced allocations, and thematic strategies. This page walks through each one in plain English so you can decide which (if any) are worth a closer look.

The Globe and Mail’s May 2026 number-cruncher column flagged that out of 144 Canadian-domiciled ETFs launched in calendar years 2020 and 2021, only 20 have made it to the rating threshold that suggests both strong past performance and forward-looking conviction from Morningstar’s analysts.

That’s a useful filter. A lot of ETFs that launched during the 2020 and 2021 fund-launch boom either failed to attract assets or got wound up. The 20 that survived this screen aren’t guaranteed winners, but they cleared a real hurdle: they made it through the 2022 rate shock, kept investors, and earned analyst conviction on top of category-relative returns.

This guide is the hub. Each ETF has a short profile here, with a link to a deeper individual writeup where one exists. Fund details change. Always check the latest disclosures before buying anything.

This is not financial advice.

The fund-launch boom and what survived

Cast your mind back to 2020 and 2021. The pandemic crashed markets, the Fed and other central banks dropped rates to zero, and retail trading went mainstream. ETF issuers responded by launching a wave of new products: factor funds, ESG portfolios, thematic plays, and asset-allocation wrappers.

Most of those launches were aimed at the moment. Five years later, some are gone, some have flatlined, and a smaller group has actually built a record. The 20 ETFs covered here are in that last group.

A few patterns stand out:

• Factor and active-with-tilts is a recurring theme. Fidelity’s strategic-beta lineup (momentum, value, currency-neutral) accounts for five of the 20 entries.
• ESG-labelled all-in-ones held up. The iShares ESG portfolio ladder and Invesco’s ESG index ETFs are well represented.
• Asset-allocation wrappers from Fidelity and Mackenzie both made the list across multiple risk levels.
• Thematic single funds are rarer survivors. CI Global Climate Leaders (CLML) is one of the few thematic plays to clear the bar.

The 20 ETFs, by category

Canadian equity (factor)

Fidelity Canadian Momentum ETF (FCCM) · MER 0.38% · Strategic beta. A momentum-tilted Canadian equity wrapper that has put up a 27.9% three-year annualized return through May 2026. The mandate is to buy Canadian stocks showing recent price strength and rotate as that strength fades. Works well in trending markets, struggles in choppy ones.

Fidelity Canadian Value ETF (FCCV) · MER 0.39% · Strategic beta. The companion value tilt to FCCM. Holds Canadian stocks that look cheap on fundamentals. The three-year return of 22.9% trailed FCCM, which makes sense given how strongly momentum has run in this cycle.

Global equity (active)

iShares ESG Equity ETF Portfolio (GEQT) · MER 0.25% · Active. An ESG-screened global equity all-in-one. Cheaper than most active funds because the underlying components are iShares index products. The ESG screen rules out tobacco, weapons, and severe controversies, but it is not a deep-green fund.

CI Global Climate Leaders Fund (CLML) · MER 0.99% · Active. Thematic global equity with a climate-transition lens. Strong three-year run. Expensive. The full writeup covers the strategy, holdings, and tax picture.

Global equity balanced (90/10 to 80/20 stocks)

Fidelity All-in-One Growth ETF (FGRO) · MER 0.42% · Active. Fidelity’s 85/15 wrapper. Big AUM at roughly $5.9 billion. Uses Fidelity’s own underlying funds, which is why it costs more than a comparable VGRO or XGRO.

iShares ESG Growth ETF Portfolio (GGRO) · MER 0.24% · Active. The 80/20 step on the iShares ESG ladder. Cheaper than FGRO, screened on ESG.

Mackenzie Growth Allocation ETF (MGRW) · MER 0.18% · Active. The cheapest all-in-one growth wrapper on this list. Smaller AUM, but cost is the headline.

Global fixed income balanced (40/60 stocks/bonds)

iShares ESG Conservative Balanced ETF Portfolio (GCNS) · MER 0.23% · Active. The conservative end of the iShares ESG ladder. Good fit for an account where capital preservation matters more than growth.

Mackenzie Conservative Allocation ETF (MCON) · MER 0.19% · Active. Mackenzie’s conservative wrapper. Cheaper than GCNS, no ESG screen.

Global neutral balanced (60/40 stocks/bonds)

Fidelity All-in-One Balanced ETF (FBAL) · MER 0.40% · Active. The largest fund on this list at roughly $11.4 billion in net assets. The 60/40 sweet spot, Fidelity wrapper, Fidelity underlyings.

iShares ESG Balanced ETF Portfolio (GBAL) · MER 0.24% · Active. The 60/40 step on the iShares ESG ladder, cheaper than FBAL.

Fidelity Global Monthly High Income ETF (FCGI) · MER 0.64% · Active. The income-tilted balanced wrapper. Monthly distributions, higher fee, smaller AUM. Built for retirees or income-focused taxable accounts.

Mackenzie Balanced Allocation ETF (MBAL) · MER 0.18% · Active. Mackenzie’s 60/40, cheapest in the category on this list.

International equity

Fidelity International Momentum ETF (FCIM) · MER 0.49% · Strategic beta. International developed momentum. 27.3% three-year annualized return, helped by the post-2022 international rebound. Companion to FCCM and FCMO.

U.S. equity

Fidelity U.S. Momentum ETF (FCMO) · MER 0.37% · Strategic beta. U.S. momentum tilt. The strongest factor performer on this list at 31.8% three-year annualized. The cycle that rewarded U.S. mega-cap growth has rewarded this strategy.

TD Active U.S. Enhanced Dividend ETF (TUED) · MER 0.73% · Active. TD’s active U.S. dividend fund. Higher fee, but the active mandate gives the team room to skip dividend traps. 26% three-year annualized return.

Invesco S&P 500 ESG Index ETF (ESG) · MER 0.17% · Passive. The cheapest U.S. equity ESG option here. Tracks the S&P 500 ESG Index, which excludes the worst-rated ESG names from the broader 500. Sector mix stays close to the full S&P 500.

Fidelity U.S. Value Currency Neutral ETF (FCVH) · MER 0.41% · Strategic beta. U.S. value with the currency hedged back to CAD. Useful if you want value exposure without the USD/CAD swing.

Invesco ESG NASDAQ 100 Index ETF (QQCE) · MER 0.21% · Passive. NASDAQ 100 with an ESG screen. Tech-heavy, so the screen doesn’t change the character much. 30% three-year annualized.

U.S. small and mid-cap equity

BMO S&P U.S. Mid Cap Index ETF (ZMID.U) · MER 0.17% · Passive. USD-denominated S&P 400 Mid Cap tracker. The U-suffix means it trades in U.S. dollars, useful if you already hold a USD account.

How to think about this list

A Morningstar Five Star rating is a backward-looking signal. It says the fund’s after-fee, risk-adjusted return has beaten its category peers over the rating window. A Gold Medallist rating is forward-looking. It says Morningstar’s analyst team has conviction the fund’s process, team, fees, and parent organization should support continued outperformance.

Both signals together are useful, but neither is a guarantee. Three-year returns this strong across the list also reflect a specific market regime: U.S. equity leadership, factor strategies rewarded, growth and momentum favoured. A different cycle would produce a different ranking.

The honest filter when reading this list is to ask three questions for each one that catches your eye:

1. Is the fee reasonable for what the fund does? A 0.18% allocation wrapper is a different value proposition than a 0.99% thematic active fund.
2. Where would it sit in your portfolio? A momentum fund is a tilt on top of a core, not the core itself. An all-in-one wrapper is a core. They are not interchangeable.
3. Can you hold through a stretch where the strategy doesn’t work? Factor funds underperform broad indices for years at a time. Thematic funds drift in and out of favour. The five-year survival on this list shouldn’t make anyone forget that.

How Greenline fits

If you do pick one of these, Greenline is built for tracking it from the Canadian-tax angle. Adjusted cost base, holdings, and reporting are designed around statements you upload from your brokerage. No bank connection, no aggregator, no pulling of credentials. Distributions and mutual-fund prices still need the occasional manual check.

Frequently asked questions

What is the Morningstar Five Star rating?

A Five Star Morningstar Rating is awarded to funds whose after-fee, risk-adjusted return ranks in the top 10% of their category over the rating period (usually three, five, or ten years). It is backward-looking, not predictive.

What is the Morningstar Gold Medallist rating?

The Gold Medallist rating is Morningstar’s forward-looking analyst rating. It reflects high analyst conviction that a fund’s process, team, parent firm, and fees position it to outperform its category in the future. It is awarded by Morningstar’s manager-research team and is not a backward-looking statistical screen.

Why did Morningstar’s screen pull 20 ETFs?

The Globe and Mail used Morningstar Direct to filter Canadian-domiciled ETFs launched in 2020 and 2021 that have received both a Five Star Morningstar Rating and a Gold Morningstar Medallist Rating. Out of 144 ETFs in that vintage, 20 cleared both bars as of May 19, 2026.

Is a Five Star rating a buy signal?

No. The rating is a snapshot of past category-relative performance. It does not mean a fund will continue to outperform, and it does not consider whether the fund fits your portfolio. Use it as a starting filter, not as a buy signal.

Are any of these ETFs index funds?

Three of the 20 are passive index trackers: Invesco S&P 500 ESG Index ETF (ESG), Invesco ESG NASDAQ 100 Index ETF (QQCE), and BMO S&P U.S. Mid Cap Index ETF (ZMID.U). The rest are either strategic beta (rules-based factor tilts) or fully active.

Can I hold these in a TFSA or RRSP?

All 20 ETFs on this list trade on the TSX and are eligible for any standard Canadian registered account: TFSA, RRSP, FHSA, RESP, RDSP, RRIF, and LIRA, as well as non-registered accounts. ZMID.U and FCCM trade in different currency listings, so check the ticker suffix before buying.

Bottom line

Twenty newer Canadian-listed ETFs have now built records worth a closer look. Most are tilts, not cores. A few are credible all-in-ones at competitive prices. One (CLML) is thematic and expensive. The five-year window includes one major drawdown and one strong recovery, which is a reasonable stress test but not a complete one.

Treat the list as a filtered starting point. Read the individual writeups linked above, check current disclosures, and decide based on whether the fund actually fits your portfolio. A Gold-rated five-star ETF in the wrong account at the wrong weight is still the wrong holding.

Source for the underlying screen: The Globe and Mail, “These newer ETFs with established track records are worth a look,” May 2026, using Morningstar Direct data as of May 19, 2026.