For most Canadians the answer is WSHR in a TFSA and SPUS or MNZL in an RRSP, and the reason is tax rather than Shariah. All three are credibly screened: SPUS holds 219 S&P 500 names screened to AAOIFI standards at a 0.45% expense ratio, MNZL holds 487 Russell 1000 names under an AAOIFI plus ethical screen at 0.40%, and WSHR holds developed-market stocks from the Dow Jones Islamic Market Developed Markets Quality and Low Volatility Index at a 0.56% MER. SPUS and MNZL are US-listed in US dollars and pay distributions that lose 15% to US withholding tax inside a TFSA but nothing inside an RRSP; WSHR is Canadian-listed in CAD. This comparison puts the three issuer pages side by side and ends with a decision table by account, as part of our halal investing hub.
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The three funds side by side, from the issuer pages
Every figure in the table comes from sp-funds.com, manzilfunds.com or wealthsimple.com on 10 September 2026, with MNZL's sector data from the fund's semi-annual shareholder report and WSHR's management fee from the Wealthsimple ETFs prospectus. The holdings counts are the number of rows in each fund's published daily holdings file on the fetch date, which is why they differ from the rounded figures the issuers quote in prose.
| Feature | SPUS | MNZL | WSHR |
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | SP Funds S&P 500 Sharia Industry Exclusions ETF | Manzil Russell Halal USA Broad Market ETF | Wealthsimple Shariah World Equity Index ETF |
| Exchange and currency | NYSE Arca, USD | Nasdaq, USD | Cboe Canada, CAD |
| Index | S&P 500 Shariah Industry Exclusions Index | Russell IdealRatings Manzil Halal USA Broad Market Custom Index | Dow Jones Islamic Market Developed Markets Quality and Low Volatility Index |
| Screen | AAOIFI standards via S&P Shariah | Russell IdealRatings (AAOIFI-based) plus AFSC ethical screen | Dow Jones Islamic Market; certified by Ratings Intelligence Partners |
| Fee | 0.45% expense ratio | 0.40% expense ratio | 0.50% management fee, 0.56% MER |
| Holdings on fetch date | 219 | 487 | Not published as a count on the quote page |
| Inception | 17 December 2019 | 18 November 2025 | Not on the quote page; first distribution in its purification table is September 2021 |
| Net assets | USD 3.37 billion | USD 33.35 million | Not on the quote page fetched |
Two differences jump out. SPUS is a hundred times larger than MNZL, which matters for bid-ask spreads and for the risk that a small fund is closed; manzilfunds.com shows a 30-day bid/ask spread of 0.15% for MNZL. And WSHR is the only one of the three that publishes a purification table: a quarterly list of the dividend per unit, the impure ratio and the impure dividend amount, running from September 2021 to June 2026 on the fetch date. Our SP Funds profile, our Manzil profile and our Wealthsimple profile record each issuer's Shariah governance.
What each fund actually holds: concentration versus spread
SPUS and MNZL both own US large caps, but their weighting schemes produce very different top ends. SPUS is market-cap weighted within the screened S&P 500, so its daily holdings file on 10 September 2026 shows NVIDIA at 14.37%, Apple at 12.09% and Microsoft at 9.76%, which is 36.2% of the fund in three names. MNZL's index drops NVIDIA, Microsoft and Alphabet, and its file on 10 September 2026 shows Apple at 16.0%, Broadcom at 5.6% and Tesla at 3.67% as the largest positions. The two funds therefore disagree on which technology giants pass, a disagreement explained in our page on why halal screeners disagree.
WSHR is built the other way. Its index weights companies by risk rather than market capitalization and selects for a quality and low volatility score, so the largest position on the Wealthsimple quote page is Singapore Telecommunications at 1.1%, followed by Swisscom at 1.1%, Coca-Cola, Johnson & Johnson and Secom at 1.0% each. Sector weights are consumer staples 15.5%, health care 13.9%, industrials 13.4%, information technology 12.4%, consumer discretionary 11.6%, materials 10.6% and energy 7.7%, with financials at 3.3% (Shariah-screened names such as exchanges and real estate rather than banks). Geography is United States 48.0%, Japan 12.4%, Switzerland 7.2%, Britain 7.2%, Canada 5.5% and Australia 4.6%.
| Characteristic | SPUS | MNZL | WSHR |
|---|---|---|---|
| Largest position | NVIDIA 14.37% | Apple 16.0% | Singapore Telecommunications 1.1% |
| Top three weight | 36.2% | About 25% | About 3% |
| Technology weight | Dominant; three largest names are all technology | 40.4% (31 January 2026 report) | 12.4% |
| Geography | United States only | United States only | Developed markets, US 48.0% |
| Canadian stocks | None | None | 5.5% |
The practical reading: SPUS is a bet on US mega-cap technology with a Shariah filter, MNZL is a broader US fund that excludes some of those mega-caps and tilts to health care and industrials, and WSHR is a defensive global fund that will lag both in a technology rally and hold up better in a drawdown. A Canadian who already owns a lot of US technology through an employer plan should weigh that before adding SPUS.
US withholding tax: the number that decides the account
US-source dividends paid to a Canadian resident are subject to US withholding tax, which the Canada-US tax treaty reduces from 30% to 15% when a W-8BEN is on file with the broker. The treaty exempts dividends earned inside registered retirement accounts (RRSP, RRIF, LIRA, LIF) from that withholding, but it does not treat a TFSA, FHSA, RESP or RDSP as a retirement account, so the 15% is withheld in those accounts and cannot be recovered through a foreign tax credit. TD's guide for Canadians investing in US equities and Scotia Wealth Management's tax planning note both state this, and the Scotia note adds that the RRSP exemption does not extend to US dividends flowing through a Canadian-listed ETF.
That last point is the WSHR subtlety. WSHR is Canadian-listed, so the 15% is not withheld on its distribution to you in a TFSA; instead the US withholding on its 48% US sleeve is paid inside the fund before the distribution, in every account type. For SPUS and MNZL held directly, the account decides: inside an RRSP there is no US withholding on the dividend at all, inside a TFSA 15% is lost, and in a non-registered account 15% is withheld but creditable against Canadian tax. Because SPUS and MNZL are low-yield technology-heavy funds, the dollar cost of the TFSA leakage is small, which is why the account rule below is a preference rather than a prohibition. The mechanics for registered accounts are worked through in our guide to US-listed halal ETFs in a TFSA.
Trading mechanics, currency and Norbert's Gambit
WSHR trades in CAD on Cboe Canada and any Canadian broker will buy it with no conversion. SPUS and MNZL require US dollars. At most Canadian brokers the default is to convert CAD to USD at the broker's spread on each purchase; the alternative, Norbert's Gambit, converts a lump sum through an interlisted security at close to the spot rate and is described step by step in our Norbert's Gambit guide for halal investors. Registered accounts need a USD side, or a broker that journals US holdings, to avoid converting the distributions back to CAD each time.
- WSHR: buy in CAD at any broker, hold in any registered account, distributions in CAD with a published purification ratio each quarter.
- SPUS: buy in USD on NYSE Arca; 219 holdings; the largest and most liquid of the three; best held in an RRSP or in a non-registered account where the withholding is creditable.
- MNZL: buy in USD on Nasdaq; 487 holdings; small fund with a 0.15% published 30-day spread, so use limit orders and avoid trading at the open.
- None of the three hedges currency: SPUS and MNZL are unhedged USD exposure and WSHR holds its foreign stocks unhedged in a CAD wrapper.
- Check the conversion fee and USD account availability at your broker before deciding, because a 1.5% conversion each way on a small purchase outweighs a 0.05% fee difference.
On currency, a Canadian investor holding any of the three is taking on foreign exchange risk; a CAD listing does not remove it, because WSHR's holdings are priced in dollars, yen, francs and pounds. The question of whether to hedge is addressed in our CAD-hedged versus unhedged halal ETF guide. The sister comparison HLAL vs MNZL covers the other US-listed halal fund that Canadians consider.
Which one, by account and investor
The decision table assumes you want one core halal equity ETF and are choosing which to hold where. It weighs the withholding rule, the currency mechanics and the concentration profile above. A reader who wants both US technology weight and global diversification holds two of them rather than one.
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| Reader | Hold | Why |
|---|---|---|
| TFSA or FHSA only, wants one ticket | WSHR | CAD listing, no direct US withholding on the distribution, global spread, published purification |
| RRSP with a USD side | SPUS or MNZL | Treaty exemption removes US withholding; USD distributions stay in USD |
| Wealthsimple-only user who never converts currency | WSHR, add SPUS if USD trading is enabled | Avoids conversion spread on every trade |
| Already heavy in US technology through work | WSHR | 12.4% technology weight balances a tech-heavy employer plan |
| Wants maximum US growth exposure | SPUS | 36.2% in NVIDIA, Apple and Microsoft; largest and most liquid |
| Wants US exposure but objects to the mega-cap names MNZL excludes | MNZL | Drops NVIDIA, Microsoft and Alphabet; 487 names; additional ethical screen |
| Non-registered account | SPUS or MNZL for US, WSHR for global | 15% withholding is creditable against Canadian tax |
Our view
WSHR is the default for a Canadian halal investor: it is the only one of the three in CAD, the only one with a published purification table, and the only one with Canadian and international stocks. Its weaknesses are a higher 0.56% MER and a defensive index that will trail SPUS whenever US technology leads. SPUS is the right second holding for an RRSP, where the treaty exemption makes a US-listed fund cheaper to hold than a Canadian wrapper, and it is the fund to choose if you want the S&P 500's leaders with a Shariah filter. MNZL is the newest and smallest, and its case rests on its broader 487-name universe, its lower 0.40% fee and its exclusion of names that other screens pass; a Canadian who holds it should accept the small-fund liquidity risk and watch its assets grow. For retirement money specifically, our retirement hub covers fitting these into RRSP and LIRA accounts. Facts checked against sp-funds.com, manzilfunds.com, etfarchitect.com, wealthsimple.com, mackenzieinvestments.com, td.com, scotiawealthmanagement.com on September 10, 2026.
Frequently asked questions
Is MNZL or SPUS better for a Canadian?
SPUS for size and liquidity, MNZL for breadth and a lower fee. SPUS holds 219 screened S&P 500 names at 0.45% with USD 3.37 billion in assets; MNZL holds 487 screened Russell 1000 names at 0.40% with USD 33.35 million. Both are US-listed in USD, so for a Canadian the account rules are identical: best in an RRSP, acceptable in a TFSA with 15% withholding on distributions.
Is WSHR better than SPUS for a TFSA?
Usually, yes. WSHR is Canadian-listed in CAD, so no US withholding is taken from its distribution to your TFSA and no currency conversion is needed; the US withholding on its American holdings is paid inside the fund. SPUS in a TFSA loses 15% of each distribution with no recovery. The difference is small because SPUS's yield is low, so choose WSHR for the TFSA unless you specifically want SPUS's US technology weight.
Do SPUS and MNZL lose withholding tax in an RRSP?
No. The Canada-US tax treaty exempts US-source dividends earned in an RRSP, RRIF, LIRA or LIF from US withholding when the fund is held directly, as TD's and Scotia Wealth Management's guides confirm. The exemption does not apply to a TFSA, FHSA or RESP, and it does not apply to US dividends flowing through a Canadian-listed ETF such as WSHR.
Which of SPUS, MNZL and WSHR publishes dividend purification?
WSHR does, on its Wealthsimple quote page: a quarterly table of dividend per unit, impure ratio and impure dividend amount from September 2021 to June 2026 on the fetch date. SPUS and MNZL did not show a purification table on the pages we fetched; Manzil's site has a separate purification section, and for either fund a screener app can estimate the impure share for you.
Does any of the three hedge the Canadian dollar?
No. SPUS and MNZL are US-dollar funds with no hedging, so their CAD value moves with the exchange rate. WSHR is listed in CAD but holds its foreign stocks unhedged, so its CAD price also moves with the dollar, yen, franc and pound. A CAD listing changes how you buy and receive distributions, not the currency risk you carry.
Compare providers in your province
See side-by-side comparisons of Shariah-compliant products, or let our matcher recommend the best options for your situation.
Can I hold all three in one portfolio?
Yes, and many Canadians do: WSHR as the global core in the TFSA, SPUS or MNZL as the US sleeve in the RRSP. Holding both SPUS and MNZL adds little, because both are US large-cap funds that overlap heavily outside the few names MNZL's index excludes, so pick one US fund and pair it with WSHR.
