When it comes to Canadian stock brokers, we have a far fewer options when compared with our souther counterparts. Below is a list comprised of the most advanced, affordable and feature rich stock brokers in Canada.
A new entrant to the Canadian fintech scene is Wealthsimple Trade. They launched their mobile first commission free trading platform back in August of 2018 and since then, they’ve been steadily increasing the breadth of their offered features and backend reliability.
What type of securities are you able to trade and which exchanges does their platform work with?
Their platform currently only allows you to trade both ETF’s and Stocks on three exchanges; the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX), New Your Stock Exchange (NYSE) and the National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations (NASDAQ).
What fees are associated with a typical trade?
Wealthsimlpe was born with the purpose of bringing commission free trading to fellow Canadians; something thats been offered to our American counterparts for several years. Trades executed on the TSX, whether it be Stock or ETF, are completely free; even the typical ECN fee is waived. However, since Wealthsimple doesn’t currently allow you to hold United States currency within your account, trades executed on the NYSE and the NASDAQ are charged a currency exchange fee of 1.5% on both purchases and sales. Wealthsimple will automatically convert your CAD to USD at the moment of purchase and vice-versa. It is important to keep in mind, that this exchange fee is far lower than the national average of 2% offered at competitors such as Questrade. For those with a relatively small account, the fee is negligible, but for those with sizeable accounts it’s best to switch to a broker that allows foreign currency accounts, such as Questrade.
Overall, Wealthsimple Trade is a welcomed presence within the Canadian fin-tech industry as it has offered a means for the average retail investor to participate within the larger active trader scene by removing the expensive boundaries that once plagued the Canadian broker industry. They may not offer all the bells and whistles found elsewhere, but they do offer the only commission free trading platform in Canada currently. And seriously, what more could we ask for?
If you feel like Wealthsimple Trade will meet all your needs, please sign up using my offer code linked here and have a $10 credit added to your new account.
Questrade was established in 1999 with the sole purpose of being a low cost alternative for Canadian self directed account holders.
What type of securities are you able to trade and which exchanges does their platform work with?
Their platform currently allows you to trade on both a multitude of international exchanges and in a multitude of security types.
What fees are associated with a typical trade?
Questrade still lives up to their name today, by collecting one of the lowest commission fees in the game. At $0.01 per a security (minimum of $4.99 and maximum $9.95) and the breadth of features offered in comparison to other fin-tech brokerages, it’s a clear winner for avid day traders, but might be considered over-kill for retail investors, like you and I. It’s important to keep in mind that Questrade tacks on a ton of ‘hidden’ fees, such as a maintenance fee when account minimums aren’t met, ECN fees when your trade removes liquidity from a market (i.e. market orders), Option trading fees for when positions are executed ITM (‘In the Money’) and interest fees when money is borrowed inadvertently from Questrade (happens a lot more often than you think).
Overall, is a powerful ecosystem of stock trading tools that at first can seem overwhelming for the average retail investor, but to an avid day trader, Questrade offers everything you could ever ask for (besides prompt and helpful costumer service) at a reasonable price when comparing it to other high volume brokerages in Canada. For the average retail investor, Questrade can be considered overkill and if you’re just swing trading with a relatively small portfolio, the $4.99 minimum commission can eat into your blossoming profits.
As for all other big bank brokers in Canada, I’d stay far away from them. Not only are their user platform outdated and clunky, their horrendously high trading fees will bleed any semblance of profits you make.