Is XGD the best gold ETF available on TSX?

Screening Filters

1. monthly_average_dollar_volume ≥ 10,000

   • Purpose: Focus on ETFs that trade enough every day to be realistically buyable/sellable.
   • Rationale: When asking whether XGD is the “best” gold ETF, you care about funds you can actually trade without huge bid–ask spreads or liquidity problems. A minimum dollar volume helps exclude tiny, illiquid ETFs that look good on paper but are impractical in real use.

2. sector = Basic Materials

   • Purpose: Limit results to funds whose underlying holdings are in materials, where gold miners and related companies live.
   • Rationale: XGD holds gold mining stocks, which generally fall under the Basic Materials sector. To compare “like with like,” the screener targets ETFs with exposure to the same general part of the market, instead of, say, financials or tech.

3. themes = Precious Metals

   • Purpose: Narrow the universe to ETFs that are explicitly focused on gold / precious metals.
   • Rationale: Your question is about the best gold ETF on the TSX, not broad commodity or materials funds. The “Precious Metals” theme isolates funds whose mandate is gold/silver/related metals, which is the correct peer group for XGD.

4. stock_position_pct = MoreThan50Pct

   • Purpose: Include only ETFs that hold at least 50% in equities (stocks) rather than purely holding bullion, futures, or other instruments.
   • Rationale: XGD is a gold miners (equity) ETF, not a physical gold ETF. This filter steers the screen toward other equity-based gold/precious-metals funds so you’re comparing XGD to similar “gold stock” products, not to bullion-only ETFs that behave differently.

5. expense_ratio ≤ 0.60%

   • Purpose: Focus on relatively cost-efficient ETFs.
   • Rationale: When judging “best,” fees are a key factor. Capping the expense ratio helps eliminate very expensive niche or leveraged products, leaving you with mainstream, competitively priced gold/precious-metals ETFs that a long-term investor would realistically consider alongside XGD.

Why Results Match Your Question

• The filters collectively isolate TSX-listed, liquid, cost-competitive, precious-metals equity ETFs, which is the right comparison set for evaluating whether XGD is among the best options.
• By focusing on precious-metals themed, Basic Materials sector, equity-heavy funds with decent liquidity and reasonable fees, the screener produces a list of close peers so you can compare XGD’s costs, diversification, and performance against truly similar gold ETFs available to Canadian investors.