This VEQT review covers Vanguard’s all-equity ETF portfolio, the closest competitor to iShares’ XEQT: what it holds, what it costs, how it has performed and how it is taxed. The VEQT figures come from Vanguard Canada’s VEQT page and factsheet, checked by YieldMaple on October 8, 2026. This review is general education, not financial advice.
VEQT at a glance
| Item | Current figure | Source |
|---|---|---|
| VEQT management expense ratio (Vanguard, MER as of March 31, 2026) | 0.22% | vanguard.ca Verified October 8, 2026 |
| VEQT management fee | 0.17% | vanguard.ca Verified October 8, 2026 |
| VEQT number of stocks (Aug 31, 2026) | 13,721 | vanguard.ca Verified October 8, 2026 |
| VEQT total assets (Vanguard product page, October 6, 2026) | $17.53 billion | vanguard.ca Verified October 8, 2026 |
| VEQT inception date | January 29, 2019 | vanguard.ca Verified October 8, 2026 |
| VEQT distribution frequency | annually | vanguard.ca Verified October 8, 2026 |
| VEQT 12-month trailing yield (Sep 30, 2026) | 1.22% | vanguard.ca Verified October 8, 2026 |
| VEQT 5-year annualized NAV return to Sep 30, 2026 | 13.96% | vanguard.ca Verified October 8, 2026 |
| VEQT annualized NAV return since inception to Sep 30, 2026 | 14.24% | vanguard.ca Verified October 8, 2026 |
| Accounts VEQT is eligible for (Vanguard factsheet) | RRSP, RRIF, RESP, TFSA, DPSP, RDSP, FHSA and non-registered accounts | fund-docs.vanguard.com Verified October 8, 2026 |
In sentences: VEQT’s MER is 0.22% and its management fee is 0.17%. It holds 13,721 stocks and had $17.53 billion in assets. It launched on January 29, 2019, pays distributions annually, and had a 12-month trailing yield of 1.22% at September 30, 2026. Its annualized return was 13.96% over five years and 14.24% since inception.
What does VEQT hold?
VEQT holds 13,721 stocks through four underlying Vanguard index ETFs, with a long-term target of 100% equity securities. It is a fund of funds: one purchase buys all four.
| Feature | Weight | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Vanguard U.S. Total Market Index ETF (VUN) | 44.77% (better on this row) | U.S. large, mid and small companies |
| Vanguard FTSE Canada All Cap Index ETF (VCN) | 30.58% | Canadian large, mid and small companies |
| Vanguard FTSE Developed All Cap ex North America Index ETF (VIU) | 17.63% | Europe, Japan, Australia and other developed markets |
| Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets All Cap Index ETF (VEE) | 7.00% | Emerging markets such as Taiwan, China and India |
Source: Vanguard Canada VEQT page, allocation to underlying Vanguard funds as at August 31, 2026. Weights drift with markets and are rebalanced at Vanguard's discretion.
The U.S. fund was 44.77% of VEQT, the Canadian fund 30.58%, the developed international fund 17.63% and the emerging markets fund 7.00%.
At the level of individual companies, the top 10 holdings at August 31, 2026 were NVIDIA, Apple, Royal Bank of Canada, Microsoft, Toronto-Dominion Bank, Amazon, Shopify, Alphabet, Broadcom and Taiwan Semiconductor. NVIDIA was the largest at about 3.1%, and Royal Bank was the largest Canadian name at about 2.4%. By sector, the factsheet shows technology at 25.4% and financials at 20.8%.
Compare that with a single-country fund. In the VDY review, one bank is a double-digit share of the fund. In VEQT, no single company is much above three percent.
What is VEQT’s MER?
VEQT’s MER is 0.22%, per Vanguard Canada, measured as of March 31, 2026. The management fee within it is 0.17%, after Vanguard reduced it from 0.22% to 0.17%, effective November 18, 2025. Vanguard’s factsheet notes that there is no duplication of management fees between VEQT and the four funds it holds.
In dollar terms, on $10,000 invested the MER works out to about $22 a year. On $100,000 it is about $220 a year. The cost is taken from the fund’s assets and is already reflected in the returns Vanguard publishes.
Many older reviews still show a higher MER for VEQT. They were written before the November 2025 fee cut worked its way into the published MER.
VEQT vs XEQT: what is the difference?
VEQT charges 0.22% and keeps 30.58% in Canadian stocks, while XEQT charges 0.19% and keeps about 25% in Canada. Almost everything else is the same idea from a different company.
| Feature | VEQT (Vanguard) | XEQT (iShares) |
|---|---|---|
| MER | 0.22% | 0.19% (better on this row) |
| Number of stocks | 13,721 (better on this row) | 8,296 |
| U.S. weight | 44.77% | about 46% |
| Canada weight | 30.58% | about 25% |
| Developed international weight | 17.63% | about 24% |
| Emerging markets weight | 7.00% | about 5% |
| Assets | $17.53 billion | $23.3 billion (better on this row) |
| Inception | January 29, 2019 | August 7, 2019 |
| 12-month trailing yield | 1.22% | 1.56% |
| 5-year annualized return | 13.96% | 13.94% |
Sources: Vanguard Canada (VEQT, checked October 8, 2026; holdings data as at August 31, 2026) and iShares Canada (XEQT, checked October 8, 2026). Returns are annualized to September 30, 2026.
What the table means in practice:
- Cost. The MER gap is 0.03 percentage points. On $10,000 that is about $3 a year in XEQT’s favour.
- Breadth. VEQT holds 13,721 stocks against 8,296 for XEQT, roughly 65% more. The extra names are mostly small companies with tiny weights, so the effect on returns is limited.
- Canada. VEQT’s Canadian weight is 30.58% and XEQT’s is about 25%. XEQT puts more into developed international markets: about 24% against 17.63%.
- Size. XEQT is the larger fund, with $23.3 billion in assets against $17.53 billion. Both are large enough to trade easily for ordinary order sizes.
The full XEQT vs VEQT comparison goes deeper on each point.
How has VEQT performed?
VEQT’s annualized NAV return to September 30, 2026 was 13.96% over five years and 14.24% since inception, per Vanguard Canada’s VEQT page. Over one year it was 18.99%, and over three years 23.52% a year.
| Feature | VEQT | XEQT |
|---|---|---|
| 1 year | 18.99% (better on this row) | 18.88% |
| 3 years | 23.52% (better on this row) | 23.46% |
| 5 years | 13.96% (better on this row) | 13.94% |
| Since inception | 14.24% | 14.46% (better on this row) |
Sources: Vanguard Canada factsheet (VEQT, NAV returns) and iShares Canada (XEQT, total returns). The two funds launched about six months apart, so the since-inception figures cover different periods. Past performance may not be repeated.
Over five years the two were 0.02 percentage points apart, with VEQT’s 13.96% just ahead of XEQT’s 13.94%. That is too small a gap to call a winner.
The calendar years tell the risk story. VEQT’s strongest year from 2021 to 2025 was 2024, at 24.87%. Its only losing year in that stretch was 2022, at -10.92%. In 2025 it returned 20.45%. Vanguard reports a standard deviation of 9.94%, measured over 36 months of returns. A fund that is 100% equity securities will have losing years, and some will be deeper than 2022.
How often does VEQT pay distributions?
VEQT pays distributions annually, per Vanguard Canada, and its 12-month trailing yield was 1.22% at September 30, 2026. The December 2025 distribution was $0.76 per unit in cash, plus a $0.24 capital gains distribution paid in reinvested units (ex-date December 30, 2025; paid January 7, 2026).
On $10,000 of VEQT, the trailing yield works out to about $122 a year, paid once. That is an illustration from the trailing figure, not a forecast. Investors who want cash on a schedule usually look at dividend-focused funds or sell units as needed; VEQT is built for growth.
How is VEQT taxed in a TFSA, RRSP and non-registered account?
In a TFSA or FHSA, VEQT’s distributions and growth are not taxed; in an RRSP, tax is deferred until withdrawal; in a non-registered account, each part of the distribution is taxed by its type. Vanguard’s factsheet lists VEQT as eligible for RRSP, RRIF, RESP, TFSA, DPSP, RDSP, FHSA and non-registered accounts.
Per Vanguard Canada, VEQT’s 2025 distributions broke down as $1.00 per unit in total: about $0.32 of eligible Canadian dividends, $0.51 of foreign income, $0.24 of capital gains and under one cent of return of capital, with $0.07 of foreign tax paid. For a non-registered account, that mix means:
- Eligible Canadian dividends come from the Canadian stocks and qualify for the dividend tax credit.
- Foreign income comes from U.S. and international stocks and is taxed as ordinary income. The foreign tax already paid is reported on the T3 slip and can generally be claimed as a foreign tax credit.
- Capital gains distributed by the fund are taxable in the year, even when they are paid in reinvested units and no cash arrives. Reinvested amounts are added to the adjusted cost base.
In registered accounts there is one cost that stays. Foreign withholding tax on dividends is paid inside the fund before distributions reach investors, and a TFSA, RRSP or FHSA cannot recover it. Because VEQT holds its U.S. stocks through a Canadian-listed ETF, this applies in an RRSP as well. The amount is small next to the fund’s total return: Vanguard reported it within the 2025 breakdown above.
Where to buy VEQT
VEQT trades on the Toronto Stock Exchange, so any Canadian brokerage can buy it. What differs is the commission:
- Wealthsimple : $0 commission on listed Canadian stocks and ETFs
- Questrade : $0 to buy and sell Canadian and U.S.-listed stocks and ETFs
- National Bank Direct Brokerage: $0 on online Canadian and U.S. stock and ETF trades
- BMO InvestorLine: $0 per stock or ETF trade on Canadian and US exchanges, online or agent-assisted
- TD Direct Investing: standard commission of $9.99, with a commission-free ETF list including VFV, VEQT, VGRO, VBAL, SPY, QQQ and TD's own ETFs such as TEQT, but not XEQT
- CIBC Investor’s Edge: $6.95 per online stock or ETF trade, with a commission-free ETF list including VFV, VEQT, XGRO and XBAL, but not XEQT
- RBC Direct Investing: $9.95 per online or mobile trade
Commission can matter more than the MER gap between VEQT and XEQT. A single $9.95 commission equals more than three years of the MER difference on a $10,000 holding. Where a brokerage sells one of the two funds commission-free and charges for the other, that is often the deciding factor for small, regular purchases.
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The other Vanguard all-in-one ETFs
VEQT is the all-stock member of a family. The others add bonds:
- VGRO, Vanguard Growth ETF Portfolio: MER 0.22%
- VBAL, Vanguard Balanced ETF Portfolio: MER 0.22%
- VCNS, Vanguard Conservative ETF Portfolio: MER 0.22%
The MER is the same across the four, so the choice is about how much of the portfolio sits in bonds, not cost. More bonds has generally meant smaller swings and lower long-run growth. The guide to Canadian ETFs compares the all-in-one families from Vanguard, iShares and BMO.
Who VEQT fits, and who it doesn’t
VEQT tends to fit investors who:
- want one fund to cover global stocks and rebalance itself
- have a long horizon and can sit through a year like 2022 (-10.92%) without selling
- prefer a Canadian weighting near 30.58%
- can buy it without commission at their brokerage
VEQT is a weaker fit for investors who:
- need the money within a few years
- want regular income, since distributions are paid annually
- want bonds in the mix, which VGRO, VBAL and VCNS provide
- care most about the lowest MER, where XEQT’s 0.19% is slightly lower
The summary: VEQT and XEQT are near-identical answers to the same question. VEQT has more Canada, more individual stocks and a 0.22% MER; XEQT has a slightly lower MER and more international exposure. Their five-year returns were almost the same.
Read next
- XEQT vs VEQT: the full head-to-head
- Guide to Canadian ETFs: the wider ETF landscape
- XEQT review: the closest competitor
- Wealthsimple vs Questrade: where to buy