Bond ETFs are a great way for bond investors who are chasing debt yield to diversify their holdings.
Bond ETFs come in many flavors. There are corporate bond ETFs which break down into a subset of Long bonds, short term bonds and junk debt. The later having the highest perceived risk, but also the highest yield.
There are also various government issued bonds such as state or provincial bonds, federal government bonds (eg. Canada savings bonds or US Treasuries), municipal bonds, real return bonds (TIPs in the USA) and other
On this page we will try to list all of the bond ETFs available to Canadians and give you a little bit of information about them. Our list is confined to stocks primarily traded on the major American and Canadian Exchanges due to the availability of these stocks to Canadian investors (NYSE, NASDAQ, AMEX, TSX).
Government Bond ETFs
Our list of government bond ETFs is below. The Canadian traded ETFs appear first on the list, followed by US funds. Keep in mind that the Canadian funds may have specific tax advantages and talk to an account about how these can be realized inside a TFSA, RRSP, or a standard brokerage account.
| ETF | SYM | TYPE | NAT |
|---|---|---|---|
| Canadian Government Bonds | |||
BMO Canadian Government Bond Index ETF |
ZGB | Government Bond |  |
| BMO Short Provincial Bond Index ETF | ZPS | Government Bond | |
| Claymore 1-5 Yr Laddered Government Bond ETF | CLF | Government Bond | |
| iShares CDN Government Bond Index Fund |
XGB | Government Bond | |
| BMO Short Federal Bond Index ETF | ZFS | Government Bond | |
| US 30 Year Bond Bear Plus ETF | HTD | Leveraged US Treasuries | |
| US 30 Year Bond Bull Plus ETF | HTU | Leveraged US Treasuries | |
| iShares DEX Real Return Bond Index Fund | XRE | Real Return Bond Fund | |
| iShares DEX Universe Bond Index Fund | XBB | Diversified Government | |
| > Jump to Corporate Bonds | |||
| US MUNICIPAL BONDS | |||
| PowerShares Insured New York Muni Bond | PZT | US Muni Bond - single state | |
| PowerShares Insured California Muni Bond | PWZ | US Muni Bond - single state | |
| SPDR Barclays Capital New York Muni Bond | INY | US Muni Bond - single state | |
| SPDR Barclays Capital California Muni Bd | CXA | US Muni Bond - single state | |
| iShares S&P NY AMT-Free Municipal Bd | NYF | US Muni Bond - single state | |
| iShares S&P CA AMT-Free Municipal Bd | CMF | US Muni Bond - single state | |
| Market Vectors Long Municipal ETF | MLN | US Muni Bonds - Diversified | |
| PowerShares Insured National Muni Bond | PZA | US Muni Bonds - Diversified | |
| Market Vectors Intermediate Muni ETF | ITM | US Muni Bonds - Diversified | |
| SPDR Barclays Capital Municipal Bond | TFI | US Muni Bonds - Diversified | |
| Market Vectors Short Municipal ETF | SMB | US Muni Bonds - Diversified | |
| iShares S&P National AMT-Free Muni Bd | MUB | US Muni Bonds - Diversified | |
| iShares S&P S/T Natnl AMT-Free Muni Bd | SUB | US Muni Bonds - Diversified | |
| SPDR Barclays Capital Short Term Muni Bd | SHM | US Muni Bonds - Diversified | |
| PowerShares VRDO Tax-Free Weekly | PVI | US Muni Bonds - Diversified | |
| Market Vectors High-Yield Muni ETF | HYD | US Muni Bonds - Diversified | |
| Market Vectors Pre-Refunded Muni ETF | PRB | US Muni Bonds - Diversified | |
| SPDR S&P VRDO Municipal Bond | VRD | US Muni Bonds - Diversified | |
| iShares Barclays Aggregate Bond | AGG | Multisector Bond | |
| US TREASURIES | |||
| UltraShort 20+ Year Treasury ProShares | TBT | US Treasury Bond Fund | |
| SPDR Barclays Capital TIPS | IPE | US Treasury Bond Fund | |
| iShares Barclays TIPS Bond | TIP | US Treasury Bond Fund | |
| UltraShort 7-10 Year Treasury ProShares | PST | US Treasury Bond Fund | |
| SPDR Barclays Capital 1-3 Month T-Bill | BIL | US Treasury Bond Fund | |
| iShares Barclays 1-3 Year Treasury Bond | SHY | US Treasury Bond Fund | |
| iShares Barclays Short Treasury Bond | SHV | US Treasury Bond Fund | |
| iShares Barclays 3-7 Year Treasury Bond | IEI | US Treasury Bond Fund | |
| SPDR Barclays Capital Interm Term Trs | ITE | US Treasury Bond Fund | |
| iShares Barclays 7-10 Year Treasury | IEF | US Treasury Bond Fund | |
| iShares Barclays 10-20 Year Treasury Bd | TLH | US Treasury Bond Fund | |
| PowerShares 1-30 Laddered Treasury | PLW | US Treasury Bond Fund | |
| SPDR Barclays Capital Long Term Treasury | TLO | US Treasury Bond Fund | |
| iShares Barclays 20+ Year Treas Bond | TLT | US Treasury Bond Fund | |
| Vanguard Extended Dur Treas Idx Instl | EDV | US Treasury Bond Fund | |
| PIMCO 3-7 Year U.S. Treasury Index ETF | FIVZ | US Treasury Bond Fund | |
| PIMCO 15+ Year US TIPS Index ETF | LTPZ | US Treasury Bond Fund | |
| PIMCO 1-5 Year US TIPS Index ETF | STPZ | US Treasury Bond Fund | |
| Short 20+ Year Treasury ProShares | TBF | US Treasury Bond Fund | |
| PIMCO 7-15 Year U.S. Treasury Index ETF | TENZ | US Treasury Bond Fund | |
| PIMCO Broad U.S. TIPS Index ETF | TIPZ | US Treasury Bond Fund | |
| Direxion Daily 30 Yr Trs Bull 3X Shares | TMF | US Treasury Bond Fund | |
| Direxion Daily 30 Yr Trs Bear 3X Shares | TMV | US Treasury Bond Fund | |
| PIMCO 1-3 Year US Treasury Index ETF | TUZ | US Treasury Bond Fund | |
| Direxion Daily 10 Yr Trs Bull 3X Shares | TYD | US Treasury Bond Fund | |
| Direxion Daily 10 Yr Trs Bear 3X Shares | TYO | US Treasury Bond Fund | |
| PIMCO 25+ Yr Zero Cpn U.S. Trsy Idx ETF | ZROZ | US Treasury Bond Fund | |
| SPDR Barclays Cap Mortgage Backed Bond | MBG | Government Bond - Mortgage | |
| iShares Barclays Agency Bond | AGZ | Government Bond - General | |
| INTERNATIONAL Gov't Bonds | |||
| SPDR Barclays Cap S/T Intl Treasury Bond | BWZ | Global Bond Fund | |
| WisdomTree Dreyfus Emerging Currency | CEW | Global Bond Fund | |
| iShares S&P/Citi Intl Treasury Bond | IGOV | Global Bond Fund | |
| iShares S&P/Citi 1-3 Yr Intl Treasury Bd | ISHG | Global Bond Fund | |
| SPDR Barclays Capital Intl Treasury Bond | BWX | Global Bond Fund |
Complete list of Corporate Bonds ETFs
Below is a list of corporate bond ETFs widely available in Canada. They are again sorted with Canadian TSX traded funds first and then the American alternatives.
| ETF | SYM | TYPE | NAT |
|---|---|---|---|
| Canadian Corporate Bonds | |||
BMO High Yield US Corporate Bond Hedged to CAD Index ETF |
ZHY | US Junk Bonds | |
| BMO Short Corporate Bond Index ETF | ZCS | Canadian Short Term Corporate Bond ETF | |
| Claymore 1-5 Yr Laddered Corporate Bond ETF | CBO | Canadian Short to Medium Term Corporate Bond ETF | |
| iShares CDN Corporate Bond Index Fund | XCB | Canadian Corporate Bond ETF | |
| BMO LONG CORPORATE BOND INDEX ETF | ZLC | Long Term Canadian Corporate Bonds | |
| CLAYMORE ADVANTAGED HY BOND ETF | CHB | Junk Bonds | |
| US Corporate Bonds | |||
| SPDR Barclays Capital High Yield Bond | JNK | Corporate Bond - High Yield Junk | |
| iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bd | HYG | Corporate Bond - High Yield Junk | |
| PowerShares High Yield Corporate Bond | PHB | Corporate Bond - High Yield Junk | |
| iShares iBoxx $ Invest Grade Corp Bond | LQD | Corporate Bond - General | |
| SPDR Barclays Cptl Interm Term Crdt Bd | ITR | Corporate Bond - General | |
| SPDR Barclays Capital Long Crdt Term Bd | LWC | Corporate Bond - General | |
| SPDR Barclays Capital Convertible Bond | CWB | Convertible Bond | |
| SPDR Barclays Capital Short-Term Corporate Bond ETF | SCPB | Short Term Corporate | |
| Inter-Term Corporate Bond ETF | VCIT | Medium Term Corporate | |
| Long-Term Corporate Bond ETF | VCLT | Long Term Corporate | |
| Short-Term Corporate Bond ETF | VCSH | Short Term Corporate | |