For the last year, gold has been on an upward climb with the precious metal starting 2025 around $3,000 US an ounce and reaching new highs of more than $5,000 US an ounce at the beginning of 2026.
Data is based on monthly averages for gold prices, from 2001-03 to 2026-02. Source: World Gold Council.
As one of the oldest forms of currency, gold has historically been considered a safe-haven investment when there’s geopolitical issues and/or economic uncertainty.
Although gold is traded on the stock market in the form of exchange traded funds (ETFs) that track the metal’s price, these funds typically also hold physical bars of gold in vaults, said Robert Cohen, Vice President and Senior Portfolio Manager at Scotia Global Asset Management.
“When people are worried about the stock market at the end of the day if you have physical gold, you’ll always have that gold.”
Canada is the world’s fourth largest gold producer, with China and Russia holding the two top spots and more than 50% of Canada’s gold exports go to the United Kingdom. In 2024, Canada mined 200 tonnes of gold, according to Natural Resources Canada. The majority comes from Ontario and Quebec, though most provinces have some type of gold excavation.
One of the reasons that Canada’s stock market has been doing well is because of gold, Cohen says.
“The biggest most important gold market in the world is the Toronto Stock Exchange,” he said. “The second most important is the Australian Stock Exchange.”
