5 defensive stocks that should be on your radar: T, BCE, L, DOL and FTS

Investors looking for defensive stock could explore these five TSX-listed income stocks for their portfolio.

For new investors, there is fortunately hope. There are some excellent investment choices that not only provide some relief from volatility but also have the potential for long-term income growth.

Investors could explore TSX defensive stocks like Metro (TSX: MRU), Cogeco (TSX: CCA), Northland (TSX: NPI), Boralex (TSX: BLX) and North West (TSX: NWC) amid recession fear triggered by rising policy interest rates.

On July 14, the S&P/TSX Composite was down by 1.5 per cent and closed at 18,329.06 points.

New investors could explore quality TSX stocks which have large market capitalization and are backed by solid businesses to build healthy portfolio

Investors could consider quality TSX stocks like Toronto-Dominion (TSX: TD), BCE (TSX: BCE), Fortis (TSX: FTS), Barrick Gold (TSX: BCE) and Canadian Utilities (TSX: CU) that can protect their investment portfolio from the prevailing market uncertainties.

As the Bank of Canada implements a full percentage point hike in interest rates, investors can look at quality TSX stocks like Telus (TSX: T), Loblaw (TSX: L), Canadian Pacific (TSX: CP) etc.

The experience of retiring during a recession could be bad if you don't plan your investments properly. Many people lost most of their life savings during the 2008 Financial Crisis.

The Canadian equities markets have underperformed in comparison to the performance in 2021. At the beginning of this year, markets remained volatile due to the spread of the omicron variant and later the Russia-Ukraine war negatively impacted the market.

The Canadian housing market seems to be going through quite a bit of a rough patch, giving investors ample reason to worry about real estate stocks.