Silver had an incredible run in early 2026, and if you were watching the Canadian mining sector, you definitely noticed which stocks rode that wave best. I've been tracking the performance of best canadian silver stocks on the TSX and TSXV, and the gains were pretty substantial for some players.

Back in January, silver hit $121.62 per ounce - an all-time high that caught a lot of people's attention. Even though prices pulled back from those peaks, the metal is still sitting way above its 40-year previous high of around $50. The structural supply deficit combined with rising industrial and investment demand created a perfect storm for silver exposure.

So which best canadian silver stocks actually delivered? I looked at the top performers from the start of 2026 through late March, focusing on companies with market caps over C$10 million.

BP Silver caught my eye early on. The exploration company started the year at C$0.62 and ran up to C$0.93 by late January on the back of the silver rally. Then they released assay results from their Cosuño project in Bolivia that showed some serious grades - including one hole hitting 1,655 g/t silver over a meter. The stock eventually hit C$1.32, posting a year-to-date gain of 56.25 percent by early March. That's the kind of move you see when exploration results actually impress the market.

Highlander Silver was another standout, up 41.3 percent year-to-date. They started 2026 at C$5.46 and climbed to C$10.42 by early March. The real catalyst came in late January when Eric Sprott announced a US$40 million strategic investment in the company. That kind of endorsement from a major silver bull carries weight in this space.

For the larger cap names, First Majestic Silver - the world's second-biggest silver miner by market cap - gained 23.26 percent. The company operates four producing mines in Mexico and reported 2025 silver production of 15.4 million ounces. Their stock moved from C$22.06 to C$43.64 by late February. That's a meaningful move even for a company with a C$14 billion market cap.

Silvercorp Metals, the fourth-largest silver miner globally, posted a 21.64 percent year-to-date gain. They're producing from operations in China and reported quarterly revenue up 51 percent year-over-year. The stock climbed from C$11.45 at year start to C$18.96 by late February.

Honey Badger Silver rounded out the best performers with a 28.95 percent gain. They're an exploration play in Canada's northern territories that closed an C$11.5 million private placement to fund acquisition costs for the PC silver project.

What's interesting is how the entire sector responded to that silver price surge. Whether you were looking at pure exploration plays or established producers, best canadian silver stocks benefited from both the fundamental supply-demand story and the investment demand flowing into silver as a cheaper alternative to gold. The range of gains - from 21 percent to 56 percent over a few months - shows how leveraged these companies are to silver prices.

If you're building a watchlist of best canadian silver stocks, these names showed they could actually execute and deliver shareholder returns when the macro backdrop turned favorable.