Dutch central bank moves 86 metric tons of gold out of Canada and U.S. due to ‘crisis preparedness’ — is Ottawa missing out?

That gap matters more than it looks. If central banks around the world are quietly repositioning gold for a crisis, and Canada’s own central bank isn’t part of that trend, the closest thing this country has to a gold reserve is what individual Canadians choose to hold themselves.

Here’s what the Dutch move signals, why Canada’s approach is different and three practical ways to add gold exposure to a TFSA or RRSP without overreacting to a single headline.

Why central banks are suddenly reshuffling their gold

DNB said the transfer, carried out between March and August, was designed to make its reserves easier to sell quickly in a crisis. Gold held in London can be traded faster than if it’s sitting in Ottawa or New York, according to CTV News. DNB president Olaf Sleijpen said the goal was to strengthen the bank’s “resilience and preparedness,” not to shrink the country’s overall gold stockpile.

The Netherlands isn’t alone. France made a similar move earlier this year, shifting gold held in the U.S. back to Paris, Mining.com.au reported. Analysts point to a mix of factors, including tension tied to the conflict between the U.S. and Iran, and a broader shift toward storage locations that are closer to home or in deep, liquid markets like London.

Why Canada’s empty vault is the outlier

The Bank of Canada began selling its gold in the 1970s and finished the job in 2016, arguing that gold was an illiquid, non-yielding asset better replaced with interest-bearing foreign bonds, The Globe and Mail reported. The sell-off predates the current wave of central bank gold buying and played out across multiple governments

The tradeoff is straightforward: Canada’s reserves are more liquid day to day, but the country has no bullion cushion if confidence in currency or bond markets is what comes under pressure in a crisis. That’s a policy choice for Ottawa. For individual Canadians, it means nobody is holding gold on their behalf.

How Canadians can add their own gold exposure

For most people, the simplest route is a gold exchange-traded fund (ETF) held inside a Tax-Free Savings Account (TFSA), Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP) or First Home Savings Account (FHSA). Physically backed funds such as the iShares Gold Bullion ETF (CGL) or Sprott Physical Gold Trust (PHYS) track the price of bullion directly and are qualified investments in registered accounts, with management fees ranging from roughly 0.16% to 0.55%, depending on the fund.

Gold mining stocks, held individually or through an index fund, offer a different kind of exposure tied to company earnings rather than the metal itself.

Physical gold bars or coins can also go inside a self-directed RRSP, but only through a Canada Revenue Agency (CRA)-approved trustee and depository, and only if the metal is at least 99.5% pure. A Gold Maple Leaf coin qualifies; gold stored at home doesn’t.

What it costs to hedge and how much is reasonable

Gold pays no dividend or interest, and its price is volatile. Bullion is up close to 25% over the past year but has already swung several per cent in the past week alone. Held outside a registered account, any gain is taxed as a capital gain, with 50% of the profit added to that year’s taxable income.

Most advisors who recommend gold at all suggest keeping it to a modest slice of a portfolio, often in the 5% to 10% range, rather than treating it as a core holding.

The bottom line

One country moving its gold to London doesn’t change what belongs in a Canadian’s portfolio. But it’s a reasonable prompt to check whether a TFSA or RRSP has any inflation or crisis hedge at all. Before buying, set a cap — most Canadians shouldn’t go past 10% of total savings — pick a low-fee, physically backed fund over a mining-stock bet, and revisit the allocation annually rather than chasing a price that’s already climbed sharply this year.