Earlier on June 30, Brianne Gardner, Senior Wealth Manager at Velocity Investment Partners, Raymond James, joined BNN Bloomberg to assess market all-time highs and suggest that Canadian stocks are outperforming the US this year. Investors showed optimism following Canada’s decision to repeal its digital services tax, which specifically targeted large tech companies. Brianne Gardner acknowledged that the market saw a significant rally since the April sell-off and noted that trade talks have once again become a central focus for investors, dominating the market theme after a period of being on the back burner. As for the performance of Canadian stocks, the S&P/TSX Composite Index had risen ~8% year-to-date, outperforming US markets despite the latter being significantly above break-even for 2025.

Gardner stated that her firm remains cautiously optimistic about Canadian stocks, particularly in light of potential rate cuts. She praised Canada’s central bank for cutting rates earlier than the US Fed, which she believes helped Canada avoid a major recession. She reiterated that Canadian stocks have comfortably outpaced US markets this year, with initial strength coming from the energy and gold sectors. However, she observed that this momentum is starting to show some cracks or fade a little bit due to mounting uncertainty, such as softer economic data and breakdowns in trade talks. This pressure, combined with the anticipation of further Bank of Canada rate decisions, suggests that the US might start to outperform Canada in H2 2025 due to its greater leverage.

That being said, we’re here with a list of the 11 cheap Canadian stocks to buy now.

Methodology

We sifted through the Finviz stock screener to compile a list of the top cheap Canadian stocks with a forward P/E ratio under 20. We then selected the 11 stocks with an upside potential of over 25%. The stocks are ranked in ascending order of their upside potential. We have also added the hedge fund sentiment for each stock, as of Q1 2025, which was sourced from Insider Monkey’s database.

Note: All data was recorded on July 22.

Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 373.4% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 218 percentage points (see more details here).

11 Cheap Canadian Stocks to Buy Now

11. Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ)

Forward P/E Ratio as of July 22: 15.31

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 52

Average Upside Potential as of July 22: 21.30%

Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) is one of the cheap Canadian stocks to buy now. On July 17, National Bank raised its price target for Canadian Natural Resources to C$45 from C$43, while maintaining a Sector Perform rating on the shares. The adjustment shows an updated evaluation of the firm’s prospects and aligns with investor expectations.

The company achieved record quarterly production of ~1.82 million barrels of oil equivalents/BOEs per day in Q1 2025. Record Synthetic Crude Oil/SCO production reached 595,000 barrels per day, which was a 34% year-over-year increase.

Canadian Natural Resources also reported adjusted funds flow of ~$4.5 billion and adjusted net earnings of $2.4 billion. However, cold weather has impacted operations at Canadian Natural Resources, and there is uncertainty surrounding the timing of a Shell swap, which could influence future volume guidance. The WTI breakeven cost in the low to mid-$40s could be pressured by lower commodity prices.

Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) is an energy company that acquires, explores, develops, produces, markets, and sells crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids/NGLs in Western Canada, the UK sector of the North Sea, and Offshore Africa.

10.  Equinox Gold Corp. (NYSE:EQX)

Forward P/E Ratio as of July 22: 12.92

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 33

Average Upside Potential as of July 22: 23.61%

Equinox Gold Corp. (NYSE:EQX) is one of the cheap Canadian stocks to buy now. On July 15, Equinox Gold released its 2024 Sustainability Report, which was developed using Global Reporting Initiative/GRI and Sustainability Accounting Standards Board/SASB frameworks that provide a thorough overview of the company’s performance and progress across crucial environmental, social, and governance/ESG areas

Environmentally, the company improved performance by 31% in 2024, as compared to 2023, with a Significant Environmental Incident Frequency Rate of 0.20 per million hours worked. The company reported zero tailings or heap leach-related incidents, diverted 4,531 tonnes of hazardous and non-hazardous material, rehabilitated 38.5 hectares of land, and planted over 32,395 seedlings. Water stewardship initiatives were also advanced.

Socially, Mesquite celebrated 8 years without a lost-time injury/LTI, and Greenstone and Castle Mountain had zero LTIs in 2024. The company-wide LTI frequency rate was 0.49 per million hours worked, surpassing the target. Social investments increased to US$10.1 million, primarily for healthcare and education. Employee development programs were expanded, and a cycling relay raised over C$1.44 million for charities.

Equinox Gold Corp. (NYSE:EQX) is an energy company that acquires, explores, develops, and operates mineral properties in the Americas. The company primarily explores gold and silver deposits.