Investing in high-quality dividend stocks offers investors a load of benefits. In addition to buying top-notch businesses with proven track records that you can count on, one of the most important benefits is that you can begin to earn passive income from the investment essentially instantly.

Starting to earn passive income as soon as you buy dividend stocks is essential for a few reasons. Firstly, it helps to lower the risk of the investment because you begin to earn returns immediately, unlike a non-dividend paying stock, where any potential returns you expect to earn will typically be realized far in the future.

In addition, though, earning passive income quarterly, or for some stocks even monthly, allows you to put that money back to work immediately and take advantage of the power of compounding, which can help your entire portfolio to grow at an even faster pace.

So if you've got cash to invest right now, here's why Enbridge (TSX:ENB), the massive $120 billion energy infrastructure stock, is my top pick for instant income.

Why is Enbridge one of the best dividend stocks to buy and hold long term?

There are several reasons why Enbridge is such a high-quality investment for passive income seekers today and why you can have the confidence to buy the energy infrastructure giant and hold for the long haul.

First, its business model. Enbridge provides essential services crucial to the North American energy industry, which already gives it a great deal of stability. However, it's also a massive business with well-integrated operations and significant competitive advantages.

Therefore, its diversification not only helps to mitigate risk, but it also offers synergies within its other business segments and gives Enbridge more opportunities to grow and expand its operations.

Furthermore, since energy is arguably the most important sector in our economy, and since Enbridge's operations are crucial to the North American energy industry, it's one of the most reliable and recession-resistant businesses in Canada, giving investors the confidence to buy the dividend stock now and hold for years to come.

Another key reason Enbridge is one of the top dividend stocks to buy is that it's a dividend aristocrat with one of the longest dividend growth streaks in the country, at 27 consecutive years.

Since it constantly generates billions in cash flow and owns a lot of long-life assets, Enbridge has the ability to increase its dividend payouts to investors each year while continuing to invest in more future growth to ensure dividend increases for years to come.

In fact, while the dividend stock offers a compelling yield of 6.6% today, it's also increased its dividend by more than 24% in just the last five years, so it's certainly one of the best dividend stocks on the TSX, especially if you plan to hold it for years to come.

How cheap is Enbridge stock today?

With interest rates now on the decline in both Canada and the United States, Enbridge has already begun to rally and is now trading at its 52-week high. Yet even after its recent rally, there is still significant opportunity for investors today.

Currently Enbridge is trading at roughly 18.5 times its forward earnings. That's not necessarily cheap, but it's also not too expensive either. For comparison, its 10-year average forward price-to-earnings ratio is 19.8 times.

Furthermore, its forward enterprise value to earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EV/EBITDA) ratio is just 11.6 times, which is also below its 10-year average of 12.9 times.

Finally, even its dividend yield of 6.6% is higher than its historical average, showing the value that the impressive energy stock offers today. For comparison, its 10-year average forward dividend yield is just 6%.

Therefore, if you have cash to invest today, there's no question that Enbridge is one of the best dividend stocks on the TSX to buy today. I'd act soon, though, as Enbridge has substantial momentum right now, and I wouldn't be surprised to see it continue to rally in the coming months.