Ex-dividend, record and payment dates

What are the four dividend dates?

Why are the ex-date and record date now the same day?

When you buy shares, the trade doesn’t settle (officially transfer ownership) instantly. Canada moved to T+1 settlement on May 27, 2024, and the US on May 28, 2024. T+1 means a trade settles one business day after the trade date.

To be on the company’s books on the record date, your trade has to settle by then. A purchase made the business day before the record date settles on the record date, so it counts. A purchase made on the record date settles the next day, too late. That makes the record date itself the first day the shares trade without the dividend, which is why the ex-date and record date generally coincide under T+1. Before the change, with two-day settlement, the ex-date generally came one business day before the record date.

A worked calendar (hypothetical)

Hypothetical Company J declares a quarterly dividend of $0.40 per share. Dates below assume no market holidays in the window; always check the exchange calendar.

Buying, selling and the ex-date: quick scenarios

1. You buy on Thursday, Dec 10. You own the shares before the ex-date, so you receive the dividend.
2. You buy on Friday, Dec 11. This is the last day to buy. You receive the dividend.
3. You buy on Monday, Dec 14. You bought on the ex-date, so the seller keeps the dividend.
4. You owned shares and sell on Monday, Dec 14. You held them going into the ex-date, so you still receive the dividend on Jan 15.

What happens to the share price on the ex-date?

On the ex-dividend date, the share price is expected, all else equal, to fall by roughly the dividend amount, because a buyer that day no longer gets the payment. If Company J closed at $40.00 on Friday, the expectation would be an opening price near $39.60 on Monday. Markets move for many reasons on any given day, so treat this as an expectation rather than something you can reliably observe.

That’s why buying just before the ex-date to “capture” a dividend doesn’t create value on its own: the price adjustment roughly offsets the payment, and in a taxable account the dividend may create a tax bill.

Checklist before relying on a dividend date

1. Confirm the dividend is declared. Calendars sometimes show estimated dates based on past patterns; only the company’s announcement makes them official.
2. Read the dates in the release. The declaration names the record and payment dates; the exchange sets or confirms the ex-date.
3. Check the exchange holiday calendar. A holiday between your purchase and the record date can push the last day to buy earlier.
4. Count the trade date, not the order date. An order placed after the close that fills in the next session is a trade on that next day.
5. Match the account. If you hold the same shares in several accounts, each is paid separately, based on what that account held before the ex-date.

Special cases worth knowing

The ex-dividend date calculator works out the last day to buy from a record date, and the /calendar page shows how dividend dates line up through the month.

• Large distributions: exchanges can set different ex-dividend dates for unusually large special dividends. Read the exchange or company notice. See special dividends.
• US qualified dividends: to be qualified, common shares generally must be held more than 60 days during the 121-day period that begins 60 days before the ex-dividend date. See qualified dividend holding period.
• Payment timing: the payment date can fall in the next calendar year, as in the example above. If timing matters for your tax reporting, see the tax hub.