At first glance, a one-ounce gold bar doesn’t look like much – it’s about the size of a loonie. But pick it up and you’ll feel the difference. It’s heavy, about 19 times denser than water and nearly twice as dense as steel.
In uncertain times, that weight carries more than just physical heft. For manyCanadians, it represents stability – something dollars or digital assets can’t always guarantee.
At Global Bullion Suppliers, a gold dealer in Toronto, owner Max Smirnov has seen one of the busiest seasons in recent memory. Sales are up 25 per cent to 30 percent compared to last year, he said.
He’s noticed a pattern: Fear moves people. Whenever news stokes anxiety, people enter the store like clockwork, he said. The loonie drops in value? A flood of customers. “Liberation Day” tariffs? More gold purchases.
“People are looking at gold as a safe haven against the unknown future,” Mr.Smirnov said.
That instinct is being felt across the country. As economic uncertainty deepens and financial markets whip back and forth, demand for gold is surging. From bullion bars to Maple Leaf coins, many Canadians are seeking refuge in one of the oldest and most tangible forms of financial security.
And a growing share of them are younger. Gold dealers say they’re seeing more buyers in their 20s and 30s – people who might otherwise have considered real estate or cryptocurrencies but now see physical gold as a steadier, more emotionally reassuring store of value.
Canada Gold Co-Owners Chris (left) and Charlie Pollock. More and more younger Canadians are purchasing gold for financial security, Chris says.
JENNIFER GAUTHIER/THE GLOBE AND MAIL
“They’ve made a decision to invest in gold because either they don’t want to buy real estate yet or they can’t afford to buy real estate yet,” said Chris Pollock, co-owner of Canada Gold, which operates across the country.
Investors have long turned to gold to hedge against economic volatility. But in recent months, the urgency has intensified amid a choppy stock market.
Meanwhile, gold prices have soared, climbing from around US$2,300 an ounce to about US$3,300 over the past year. Toronto-based Rosenberg Research projects prices could reach as high as
US$6,000 within five years.
“People are looking for ways to protect their savings,” said Andrew Sleigh, a sales representative at Toronto-based gold dealer Sprott Money.
The company sells silver and gold bullion online and has seen about a 30-per-cent increase in sales compared to the same time last year, he said. “Gold and silver are the tried-and-true hedges against inflation.”
Mr. Smirnov says he’s seen many young buyers lately, and credits part of the trend to major retailers such as Costco that began selling precious metals in 2023, making gold more visible and accessible to a younger crowd.
He’s also spoken with young clients who turned to gold after experiencing losses with bitcoin.
“When it had a sharp decline, and they got their first taste of volatility in the market,and they started paying attention to gold. They realized that you shouldn’t have all your eggs in one basket,” Mr. Smirnov said.
Canada Gold has seen a significant uptick in sales of physical gold products, particularly from the Royal Canadian Mint, Mr. Pollock said. What was once a minor supplier has become Canada Gold’s main source of inventory in recent months, he said. He believes the growing appeal of homegrown metals also ties into the broader “Buy Canadian” sentiment that has gained traction this year.
The Royal Canadian Mint’s Maple Leaf coin is a popular item as more investors look to purchase homegrown metals.
JENNIFER GAUTHIER/THE GLOBE AND MAIL
Popular items include the one-ounce gold Maple Leaf coin and a sealed one-ouncebar, both from the Royal Canadian Mint (and both priced at about $4,500).“Investors really like to buy things that are basically pure gold,” Mr. Pollock said.
Canada’s tax system makes gold even more attractive: Investment-grade gold – coins, bars, wafers and ingots with a minimum purity of 99.5 per cent – are exempt from the GST and the HST.
A major driver of rising gold prices has been the surge of global money flowing into gold exchange-traded funds. In the first quarter of 2025 alone, investors poured US$21-billion into gold ETFs – the second-strongest quarter on record, according to the World Gold Council.
These funds let investors gain exposure to gold without holding the physical metal. Despite the convenience of the funds, however, many investors are still opting for the real thing.
Pollock says many people are buying fractional amounts of gold, with the average transaction being around $3,000.
JENNIFER GAUTHIER/THE GLOBE AND MAIL
“They’re looking for something that they can actually touch, and that they’re confident will protect them from inflation in times of uncertainty,” Mr. Pollock said.
With such high prices, not everyone buys a full ounce, especially younger buyers. The average transaction size at Canada Gold is around $3,000, Mr. Pollock said, suggesting many customers are purchasing fractional amounts.
Although gold typically holds its face valueover time, it’s important for investors to understand its trade-offs, said Benjamin Felix, chief investment officer and portfolio manager at PWL Capital Inc.
“There’s a perception that gold is a safe asset,” said Mr. Felix. But people should be aware that gold has “a low expected return,” he said. “You shouldn’t expect to earn stock-like returns for holding gold, even though that has happened recently,”
Still, he acknowledges that gold offers something many investments don’t: peace of mind. “It makes them feel good and secure,” he said.
“People are receiving this emotional dividend – that’s one of the reasons that the expected returns of gold are low, because their investors are deriving non-financial benefits from owning it.”
Written by MEERA RAMAN of THE GLOBE AND MAIL