Ex-dividend date vs record date vs payment date
Since US and Canadian trades moved to T+1 in May 2024, the ex-dividend date and the record date are usually the same day. To get the dividend, you must buy by the close the trading day before. The payment date is when the cash shows up.
The short answer
The ex-dividend date and the record date are now usually the same day. To get the dividend, you must buy the stock by the close of the trading day before the ex-date. Buy on the ex-date or later and the dividend goes to the seller.
The payment date is when the cash lands in your account. It's often days or weeks later. The company picks it.
This changed in 2024. Many pages still explain the old rules, where the two dates were a day apart.
The four dates in one table
| Date | What it means | What it means for you |
|---|---|---|
| Declaration date | The company announces the dividend and its dates | Nothing to do yet |
| Ex-dividend date | The first day the stock trades without the dividend | Buy before this day to get paid |
| Record date | The company checks its list of owners | Usually the same day as the ex-date now |
| Payment date | The cash goes out | It shows up in your account |
The Ex-dividend date is the one that matters for trading. The record date is paperwork. The payment date is when you see the money.
Why the ex-date and record date became the same day
When you buy a stock, it takes time for the trade to "settle". That's when the shares are officially yours. See Settlement.
The US moved to T+1 settlement on May 28, 2024. Canada moved a day earlier, on May 27, 2024, because that day was a US holiday. T+1 means a trade settles one business day after you make it.
So to be on the owner list on the record date, you need to buy one business day before it. That day is the last day before the ex-date. The exchange simply sets the ex-date on the record date.
| Old rule (T+2, before May 2024) | Now (T+1) | |
|---|---|---|
| Trade settles | 2 business days later | 1 business day later |
| Ex-date | 1 business day before the record date | Same day as the record date |
| Last day to buy | 2 business days before the record date | 1 business day before the record date |
Very large special dividends, ones worth a big slice of the share price, follow a different rule. The exchange sets their ex-date after the payment. Check the notice for those.
Sources: sec.gov (US) and securities-administrators.ca (Canada).
What happens to the price on the ex-date
On the ex-date, the stock usually opens lower by about the dividend. That makes sense. Yesterday a share came with the next payment. Today it doesn't.
So buying the day before to "catch" a dividend doesn't give you anything extra. You get the cash, and the shares are worth about that much less. Other news can move the price too, so it's never exact.
The covered call catch: assigned the day before
If you sell Covered calls, the day before the ex-date is the one to watch. A call buyer can exercise that day, own the shares on the record date and take your dividend.
They do it when the dividend is worth more than the call's remaining time value. That mostly happens to calls that are already in the money.
Here is a worked example (hypothetical, made-up company and round numbers). You own 100 shares of Granite Utilities at $60. You sold a $55 call. The company pays a $1.00 dividend. The day before the ex-date, your call trades at $5.15. That's $5.00 of in-the-money value and only $0.15 of time value.
The buyer can keep a call with $0.15 of time value, or exercise and collect $1.00. They exercise. You find out the next morning.
| What you planned | What happened | |
|---|---|---|
| Shares sold at $55 | At expiry | The morning of the ex-date |
| Dividend on 100 shares | +$100 | $0 |
| Gap from your plan | — | −$100 |
You still sold at $55 and kept the call premium. But the $100 dividend you counted on went to the buyer. If you'd built the dividend into your plan for the wheel strategy, that hole is real.
The check takes a minute: compare the dividend with your call's time value the day before the ex-date. The early assignment dividend calculator does it for you, and early assignment before a dividend walks through your choices.
Canada works the same way
Canadian trades are T+1 too, so TSX dividends follow the same timing. The account doesn't change it: a stock in a TFSA or RRSP has the same ex-date as one in a taxable account.
For the dates around any dividend, the dividend dates calculator gives the last day to buy and the record date. For the other key dates of the year, see the full 2027 economic calendar.
Questions
If I buy on the ex-dividend date, do I get the dividend?
No. The seller gets it. You had to buy by the close of the trading day before the ex-date.
If I sell on the ex-dividend date, do I still get the dividend?
Yes. You owned the shares going into the ex-date, so you're on the list. You'll get paid on the payment date even though you've sold.
Is the record date the same as the ex-dividend date?
For normal dividends, yes, since the move to T+1 in May 2024. Before that, the ex-date came one business day earlier.
How long after the record date is the payment date?
It depends on the company. Some pay within days, others weeks later. The date is in the dividend announcement. See when do dividends get paid.
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