Visit the DRiP Investing Resource Center at http://www.dripinvesting.org/Boards.
Review the Canadian share offerings that offer both dividend reinvestment plans and share purchase plans that appeal to you. Watch for transaction fees as some drips have begun to charge them. Some companies offer a 2 or 5 per cent discount off shares purchased directly. Also note that some companies that offer drips have limits and calendar restrictions on their share purchase plans or may require payment by certified cheque or money order, which will entail a trip to the bank first and some small administrative fees.
Find someone who will sell you one share. Register for free as a member with the "Canadian drips" chat room at www.dripinvesting.org/Boards. Good manners requires that you pay a $10 "thank you" to your share seller, a courtesy that will be extended to you when you help get someone else started.
Take your share transfer form, which must be signed by the previous owner, who has transferred it to you, and witnessed by a "signature guarantor", a bank official whose official signature is listed in a book and will be checked at the transfer station. Attach the business card of the guarantor to the transfer form, so the clerk can quickly look up their signature for verification. (The share transfer cannot be witnessed by an official of a brokerage house, as the man in the lineup ahead of me discovered.)
Go to the securities transfer agent that administers the shares from your company, typically either Computershare or CIBC Mellon. This information will be given on the share certificate or you can look it up on the company's website, under investor relations. In Toronto, Computershare, www.computershare.com, offers a very helpful customer service window on the 9th floor of the north tower at 100 University Ave. (at the southwest corner of King and University). You can call ahead if you have questions to 1-800-564-6253. CIBC Mellon, www.cibcmellon.com, can be reached at 1-800-387-0825 or you can send your completed enrolment forms by mail to CIBC Mellon Trust Company, P.O. Box 7010, Adelaide Street Postal Station, Toronto, Ont. M5C 2W9. If you opt to register for the dividend reinvestment plan and share purchase plans by mail, you can print off the required forms from their websites.
Once you've completed the share transfer, you must fill out a form to register in the dividend reinvestment plan, which means all dividends earned from your share will be reinvested in more stock rather than paid to you in cash.
At this point, you can also register separately in the stock purchase plan, which allows you to add to your holdings later without brokerage fees.
Pay it forward. Sell one of your drip shares to a friend.
