Top 10 Canadian stocks in Q3 2026

While artificial intelligence (AI) remained the most talked-about theme globally, nine of Canada’s top 10 performers with at least $2 billion in market capitalization were miners and mineral exploration companies in the third quarter of 2026. 

Within that group, most were precious metals producers, which enjoyed the tailwind of resurgent gold and silver prices as investors’ concern grew over government debt levels. (The U.S. national debt surpassed US$40 trillion in August.) The only non-primary metals producer among the leaders was Mississauga-based steel distribution and processing company Russel Metals.

The top three performing stocks in Canada for Q3

The top performer was Benz Mining Corp., which posted a 118% gain over the three months to September 30. The Vancouver-headquartered exploration company, which is developing the Eastmain Gold Project in Quebec, has grown an impressive 263.3% over the past year. Also contributing to its appreciation was its recent acquisition of the Egerton Gold Projects in Western Australia.

Another Vancouver-based company, China Gold International Resources Corp., came in second, rising 80.9% in Q3. China Gold is a precious metals producer with major mines in Inner Mongolia and Tibet. Its controlling shareholder, with a 40% stake, is China National Gold Group Corp., the largest gold producer in China.

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Coming in third with a 46.8% stock price gain was Discovery Mining of Toronto. The company’s assets include the Porcupine Complex in northern Ontario and the massive Cordero Silver Project in Mexico. This year it also acquired the Kidd Creek Mine outside Timmins, Ont.

In September, Discovery was named to the 2026 TSX30, representing the 30 Toronto Stock Exchange companies with the best dividend-adjusted share price performance over the previous three years. In the three years to June 30, 2026, its share price rose 934%.

Here are the 10 mid- to large-cap Canadian stocks that performed best during Q3 2026:

What the numbers say about the S&P/TSX Composite index returns

The S&P/TSX Composite index overall eked out a 1.1% price gain and a 1.6% total return in Q3 2026, just keeping its winning streak going over nine consecutive quarters. The S&P 500 index in the U.S. did slightly better, with a 2% price return and 2.3% total return (in USD) for the quarter. 

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The third quarter’s materials skew came in marked contrast to Q2’s leaderboard, which was widely diversified. Some of the hottest stocks in the second quarter reversed direction in dramatic fashion in Q3, including Keel Infrastructure, down 37.6%, BlackBerry (-31.1%), Aritzia (-21.6%) and Hut 8 Corp. (-19.6%). These reversals demonstrate how, though momentum is a factor in investing, past performance is not a predictor of future returns.

A noteworthy exception was Aya Gold & Silver, which appeared in the top 10 performers list in both the second and third quarters. The Vancouver-based mining company has gained 81.5% over the last six months, 146.5% over 12 months and an astonishing 5,533.8% over 10 years—an outstanding record of value creation.

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About Michael McCullough

Michael is a financial writer and editor in Duncan, B.C. He’s a former managing editor of Canadian Business and editorial director of Canada Wide Media. He also writes for The Globe and Mail and BCBusiness.

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