Canadian Preferred Share Rate Reset Calendar

What happens at a rate reset?

Most Canadian preferred shares issued since roughly 2008 are rate-reset preferreds: every five years, the issuer chooses either to redeem the shares at $25.00 par or to let the dividend reset to a new fixed rate — the then-current Government of Canada 5-year bond yield plus the spread set in the prospectus. Holders usually get the mirror-image choice: convert to a floating-rate series (3-month T-bill plus the same spread) or accept the reset and keep holding.

Reset season matters because a reset can move the dividend materially: an issue bought at a discount with a 5-year-old fixed rate may reset to a much higher yield — or be called away entirely, returning par to holders who then face reinvestment at prevailing rates. Our reset season cheat sheet walks through the mechanics, and every symbol page on this site (for example BPO.PR.R) shows the issue's own reset terms and prospectus details.

Note: this calendar lists scheduled reset dates from prospectus terms. Call (redemption) decisions happen on the reset date itself, so an issue appearing here may ultimately be redeemed rather than reset.

How resets work for each type of preferred share

Not every preferred share has a reset date — and the ones that do behave differently at it. Here is what the reset (or absence of one) means for each major type on the exchange.

Rate-reset (fixed-reset) preferred shares

The standard structure today and the reason this calendar exists. A rate-reset preferred pays a fixed dividend for five years. On the reset date the issuer either redeems at $25.00 par or declares a new fixed dividend equal to the 5-year Government of Canada yield plus the issue's reset spread. Holders who accept the reset keep the shares at the new rate; holders who don't usually convert to the paired floating-rate series. The reset is the moment when an below-market coupon catches up to current rates — or an above-market coupon gets redeemed away. Browse the full database of rate-reset preferreds to see each issue's spread and reset terms.

Floating-rate preferred shares

Floating-rate series pay the 3-month Treasury bill rate plus a spread, revised every quarter, so their dividend follows short-term rates instead of being fixed for five years. They still carry the five-year anniversary date, but it works as a switch rather than a reset: the issuer and holders choose between the fixed-rate and floating-rate streams going forward. That means floating-rate series appear in reset decision tables even though their dividend never "resets" to a new fixed rate while they remain floating.

Perpetual preferred shares

Perpetuals — most issues before the mid-2000s, and a handful since — have no reset date at all. The dividend rate is fixed for the life of the issue, and the issuer's only lever is a call at par on scheduled call dates. Rate risk shows up in the price instead: when market rates rise, a perpetual's price falls to keep its yield competitive, because there is no reset coming to reprice the dividend. You won't find perpetuals in this calendar; you'll find them in the yield rankings filtered by type.

Structured preferred shares

Structured preferreds are issued by structured-finance vehicles rather than operating companies: the credit is a portfolio of loans or leases, and the shares typically pay a fixed rate with a five-year issuer option to redeem or extend the term — economically similar to a reset decision, driven by the vehicle's cost of funding. Because the "issuer" is a portfolio rather than a bank or utility, credit analysis differs from corporate preferreds, and the five-year decision dates are just as important to track.

Split-share preferred shares

Split-share (split-corp) preferreds are the preferred units of split corporations like North American Financial 15 or Brompton's split funds. They have no rate reset: the dividend is fixed by the fund's structure, typically with a defined termination date and a NAV-based backstop rather than a par-value call. Their risk profile is driven by the fund's leverage and the underlying portfolio, not by interest-rate resets — which is why they don't appear in this calendar. See the split corps section for the full list, or the split-corps explainer for how the structure works.

Rate reset FAQ

When is the next Canadian preferred share rate reset?

The next resets are shown in the first table above — that month is free as a sample. The complete 24-month schedule is available free with a member account.

What happens to my preferred share when it resets?

On the reset date the issuer announces whether it will redeem the shares at $25.00 par or reset the dividend to the 5-year Government of Canada yield plus the issue's spread. If it resets, you can keep the shares at the new fixed rate or, on most issues, convert to the floating-rate series (3-month T-bill plus the same spread). You never lose principal to the reset itself — the risk is being redeemed at par and having to reinvest at current rates.

Do perpetual preferred shares have reset dates?

No. Perpetual preferred shares have a fixed dividend for life and no reset mechanism — only call dates. This calendar covers rate-reset and structured issues; perpetuals are identified by type on every symbol page and in the screener.

What is a reset spread?

The reset spread is the margin over the Government of Canada 5-year bond yield that a series will pay after its reset, fixed in the prospectus at issue. A spread of 2.94% means the post-reset dividend rate will be the 5-year GoC yield plus 2.94% — so today's reset spread, applied to current bond yields, is the best estimate of the next dividend.

Is a rate reset good or bad for holders?

It depends on where bond yields sit relative to the issue's current dividend and your purchase price. If short rates have risen since issue, a reset usually raises the dividend — good for holders who keep the shares, bad for holders of issues the issuer redeems instead. The reset season cheat sheet and the per-symbol issue pages show the numbers for each case.