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It’s been a wild ride for investors in US stock exchange-traded funds in recent months, rolling from a bull market into a tariff-driven downturn and back up again.
Amid this volatility, it can be difficult to sift through the dozens of US stock ETFs available to Canadian investors. To screen for the top-performing ETFs in this category, we looked for those with the best returns over the last one-, three-, and five-year periods. All names that passed the screen were index funds.
Vanguard S&P 500 Index ETF VFVBMO S&P 500 Index ETF ZSPGlobal X S&P 500 Corporate Class ETF HXSiShares Core S&P 500 Index ETF XUSTD US Equity Index ETF TPUMackenzie US Large Cap Equity Index ETF QUUFidelity US High Quality ETF FCUQFranklin FTSE US Index ETF FLAMiShares ESG Advanced MSCI USA Index ETF XUSRGlobal X US Large Cap Index Corporate Class ETF HULC
US Equity Funds Performance
Over the last 12 months, US equity funds have returned 11.8%. On an annualized rate, US equity funds have returned 14.49% over the last three years and gained 14.01% over the last five years. That compares with the Morningstar Canada Index, which has returned 20.10% over the last 12 months, 12.91% per year over the last three years, and 16.04% per year over the last five years.
US Equity Funds vs. the Morningstar Canada Index
Source: Morningstar Direct. Data as of May 14, 2025.
What Are US Equity ETFs?
Funds in the US equity category must invest at least 90% of their equity holdings in securities domiciled in the US, and their average market capitalization must be greater than the US small/mid-cap threshold, according to the Canadian Investment Funds Standards Committee.
Screening for the Top-Performing US Equity ETFs
To find the best US equity funds, we looked at returns data from the past one, three, and five years using data in Morningstar Direct. We screened for Canada-domiciled ETFs in the top 25% of the category using their lowest-cost primary share classes for those periods. We also filtered for funds with a Morningstar Medalist Rating of Bronze, Silver, or Gold. We excluded funds with assets under USD 100 million. This left 10 funds. Four of the ETFs track the S&P 500 Index.
Vanguard S&P 500 Index ETF
Over the past 12 months, the C$22.3 billion Vanguard S&P 500 Index ETF rose 16.23%, while the average fund in its category rose 11.80%. The Vanguard fund, which launched in November 2012, has climbed 17.98% over the past three years and gained 16.92% over the past five years.
“Vanguard S&P 500 funds offer well-diversified, market-cap-weighted portfolios of 500 of the largest US stocks. The funds accurately represent the large-cap opportunity set while charging rock-bottom fees, a recipe for success over the long run.
“The funds track the flagship S&P 500, which selects 500 of the largest US stocks—roughly 80% of the US equity market—and weights them by the market cap. An index committee has discretion over selecting companies that meet certain liquidity and profitability standards. While a committee-based approach may lack clarity, it adds flexibility to reduce unnecessary changes during reconstitution, taming transaction costs compared with more rigid rules-based indexes.
“The end portfolio is well-diversified and accurately represents the US large-cap opportunity set. This allows the strategy to capitalize on its low fee and closely track the performance of the large-cap market.”
“The bedrock of this strategy is market-cap weighting, which harnesses the market’s collective wisdom of the relative value of each holding with the added benefit of low turnover and associated trading costs. It’s a sensible approach because the market tends to do a good job pricing large-cap stocks. Large, highly traded markets tend to reflect new information quickly and are well-suited for indexing.”
“When a few richly valued companies or sectors power most of the market gains, market-cap weighting may expose the strategy to stock- or sector-level concentration risk. As of year-end 2024, the top 10 holdings made up the largest portion of the index (37%) in several decades, and the 34% allocation to technology stocks was the highest since the dot-com bubble. But this is not a fault in design. The S&P 500 simply reflects the market composition. In the long run, its broad diversification, low turnover, and low fee outweigh these risks.”
—Brendan McCann, associate analyst
BMO S&P 500 Index ETF
Over the past 12 months, the C$20.5 billion fund has gained 16.22%, while the average fund in its category is up 11.80%. The BMO fund, which launched in November 2012, has climbed 17.96% over the past three years and gained 16.90% over the past five years.
Global X S&P 500 Corporate Class ETF
The C$4.2 billion fund has climbed 16.01% over the past 12 months, outperforming the average fund in its category, which rose 11.80%. The Global X fund, which launched in November 2010, has climbed 17.85% over the past three years and gained 16.79% over the past five years.
iShares Core S&P 500 Index ETF
The C$9.2 billion fund has climbed 16.07% over the past 12 months, outperforming the average fund in its category, which rose 11.80%. The iShares fund, which launched in April 2013, has climbed 17.86% over the past three years and gained 16.78% over the past five years.
“iShares Core S&P 500 offers a well-diversified, market-cap-weighted portfolio of 500 of the largest US stocks. The fund accurately represents the large-cap opportunity set while charging rock-bottom fees, a recipe for success over the long run.”
—Brendan McCann
TD US Equity Index ETF
Over the past 12 months, the C$3.3 billion fund has gained 17.03%, while the average fund in its category is up 11.80%. The TD fund, which launched in March 2016, has climbed 18.50% over the past three years and gained 16.85% over the past five years.
Mackenzie US Large Cap Equity Index ETF
Over the past 12 months, the C$3.8 billion fund has gained 17.06%, while the average fund in its category is up 11.80%. The Mackenzie fund, which launched in January 2018, has climbed 18.53% over the past three years and gained 16.90% over the past five years.
Fidelity US High Quality ETF
Over the past 12 months, the C$971.6 million fund has gained 18.55%, while the average fund in its category is up 11.80%. The Fidelity International fund, which launched in January 2019, has climbed 18.10% over the past three years and gained 17.03% over the past five years.
Franklin FTSE US Index ETF
Over the past 12 months, the C$368.2 million fund has gained 16.81%, while the average fund in its category is up 11.80%. The Franklin Templeton fund, which launched in February 2019, has climbed 18.17% over the past three years and gained 16.71% over the past five years.
iShares ESG Advanced MSCI USA Index ETF
The C$302.1 million fund has climbed 17.64% over the past 12 months, outperforming the average fund in its category, which rose 11.80%. The iShares fund, which launched in April 2020, has climbed 21.27% over the past three years and gained 17.59% over the past five years.
Global X US Large Cap Index Corporate Class ETF
The C$375.2 million fund has climbed 16.90% over the past 12 months, outperforming the average fund in its category, which rose 11.80%. The Global X fund, which launched in February 2020, has climbed 18.41% over the past three years and gained 16.77% over the past five years.
