We’ll start seeing third-quarter earnings reports toward the third week of October. We do not claim to have any particular insights regarding potential profit surprises, but we are fairly confident that our Dividend Champions should be able to to maintain or grow their dividends. The Champions are selected specifically for their ability to sustain their dividend programs despite adverse business conditions.

Nevertheless, dividends are never guaranteed. They are always at the discretion of the board of directors, who have a duty to ensure that the company is able to meet all its obligations before paying dividends.

Despite a general upward trend in energy and commodity prices, our commodity linked holdings, Finning International (TSX: FTT, OTC: FINGF), Shawcor Ltd. (TSX: SCL, OTC: SAWLF) and Suncor Energy (TSX: SU, NYSE: SU) are not expected to increase dividends. These companies have done well to maintain their dividends through the commodity slump over the past two years, but they will want to rebuild reserves before dividends can be raised again.

Our other “problem children” that have not increased dividends for some time, namely RioCan REIT (TSX: REI-U, OTC: RIOCF), K-Bro Linen (TSX: KBL, OTC: KBRLF) and WestJet (TSX: WJA, OTC: WJAVF), are not expected to do so this quarter either. However, TMX Group (TSX: X, OTC: TMXXF) may surprise with an increase after a few good quarterly results.

Most of our core holdings — including BCE (TSX: BCE, NYSE: BCE), Canadian National Railway (TSX:CNR, NYSE: CNI), Telus (TSX: T, NYSE: TU), Fortis (TSX: FTS, OTC: FRTSF) and TD Bank (TSX: TD, NYSE: TD) — are expected to raise their dividends on a year over year basis by 5% to 20%.

The list of expected reporting dates are provided in the table below. Please note that the announcement dates have not in all cases been confirmed by the companies. We will update the list as more information becomes available.