Income investors want big dividends. However, you wouldn't want ones that are so high such that they could be cut. So, what is considered an ultra-high yield that could be safe?

We can use the Canadian stock market yield as a gauge. Currently, the market, using the iShares S&P/TSX 60 Index ETF as a proxy, offers a cash distribution yield of about 3%. Let's call 6% or higher an ultra-high yield.

GEI, T, and BNS Dividend change over the last 10 years. Data by YCharts

Here are three ultra-high-yield dividend stocks that investors can look further into. They are ordered from highest yield to the lowest.

A dividend stock with a 7.5% yield

Gibson Energy (TSX:GEI) is an interesting stock pick. It is a liquids infrastructure company that stores, optimizes, processes, and gathers liquids and refined products. History going as far back to 2011 indicates that its cash flow generation could be cyclical. So, interested investors should aim to buy at a decent discount from its intrinsic value.

Thankfully, its cash flows should be more resilient than in the past, as it has focused more on contracted cash flows from more stable infrastructure assets. About 80% of its portfolio is in infrastructure and about 75% of this revenue from infrastructure is from take-or-pay contracts.

At $21.77 per share at writing, it offers a dividend yield of 7.5%. It targets a payout ratio that's 70 to 80% of its distributable cash flow, while its trailing 12-month payout ratio was 63%. So, the dividend seems sustainable.

So far, it has increased its dividend every year since 2020. Additionally, the company appears to be reasonably leveraged with a net-debt-to-adjusted-EBITDA ratio of 3.5 times, within its target of 3 to 3.5 times.

At the recent price, the consensus 12-month price target represents a discount of about 16%, or 12-month upside potential of approximately 19%. The stock seems to be recovering from a dip so it's not a bad buy here.

TELUS stock yields 7.1%

As one of the big three telecoms in Canada, TELUS (TSX:T) probably doesn't require much introduction. The blue chip stock has a long, 20-year track record of raising its dividend. For your reference, its five-year dividend growth rate is 6.7%, while its last dividend hike (a year-over-year comparison of 12 months) was about 7%.

The stock has been a laggard since 2022 – no thanks to higher interest rates. Thankfully, T stock offers a rich dividend yield today. At $21.96 per share at writing, it yields 7.1%. At this recent price, analysts believe it trades at a discount of about 10%. If growth spurs, for example, from the support of a rate cut cycle, the stock could be re-rated higher.

This big Canadian bank stock yields 6.7%

It's no secret anymore that Bank of Nova Scotia (TSX:BNS) stock offers the biggest dividend yield among its big Canadian bank peers, as it has been a laggard. Fortunately, investors don't necessarily need price appreciation to earn a decent return. The stock offers a large dividend yield of 6.7%.

The stock is reasonably valued trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of about 9.7. And if the fairly new chief executive officer, Scott Thompson, is able to stir the ship to smoother waters, the dividend stock has the potential to deliver double-digit returns of about 12 to 15% per year from earnings growth and multiples expansion over the next five years. Consequently, BNS stock seems like a screaming buy for a potential multi-year turnaround.