Also, when economy is going down, will be less money to be invested by people? Or will be more investment to be sold for people need to survice?

Sales are down because S&P 500 and TSX lost 9% and 6.5% YTD respectedly. Both indexes lost ~50% when the tech bubble burst, but IGM continued to raise dividends during the difficult time.

I would differentiate between income trust increase and dividend increase. Dollar for dollar, income trust incomes put less in your pocket after taxes than dividend increases.

Canadian Oil Sand distributed $791 million to unit holders last year but the tarsand operation poured in ~$1.1 billion in free cashflow (cash from op minus capital expenditures). i.e. This is a cash machine with no exploration risks.

The payout ratio is more like a conservative 72%.

COS distributes very little Return of Capital, so it’s not as tax-efficient as most other trusts. This is why the units belong in registered accounts if there’s room.

Do you know where I can find the tax information on HR-UN’s distribution? I cannot find it on their web site.

The tax information is available here: http://www.hr-reit.com/finance/history.asp

Roughly 45% of distribution is tax-free.

I do see all banks to raise their dividends this year, albeit moderately.

There are many great dividend-stocks and income trusts to choose from beside just financial: pipelines, utilities, railways, oil trusts (COS.un), retail (Reitmans), materials (Teck Cominco), and more.