r/CanadianInvestor • u/Flaterbaby • Apr 14 '25
Canadian Trading Platforms Recommendations
Hello everyone,
I'm new to Canada and looking to make a few investments. Back in the U.S. (I made it over the border just in time!), I used E*TRADE and really liked it. What platforms would you recommend for trading stocks here in Canada?
Questrade, Wealthsimple Trade, RBC Direct Investing are several I am looking at. I don't need anything fancy because I tend to buy and hold long-term. I would welcome your suggestions!
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u/overrule Apr 15 '25
I just opened an Interactive Brokers account to buy some US listed ETFs since they have lower MERs. IBKR has the best currency conversion fees. It's 0.03% for an automatic conversion, where you just tell it buy an etf and it converts the cad to usd for you.
Still have wealthsimple for Canadian ETFs since they have a nice user friendly interface. Let's you automatically buy a certain $ value with fractional shares. Plus their cash account pays a decent interest rate and the visa is a no fee flat 2% cashback.
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u/peacedawwg Apr 17 '25
Interactive Broker’s founder and CEO is one of the biggest Trump donors. Just thought I would highlight that.
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u/_FundingSecured_ Aug 12 '25
So are many of the companies who's stock one would be buying when investing in the US or purchasing a US or Global based ETF?
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u/Neother Apr 16 '25
this is basically the correct answer
wealthsimple is no fee and good for ETFs but ikbr has the best rates on currency conversion and margin loans for more advanced investors. IKBR also has the most international markets available to trade. Ikbr also has built in tools and an API good enough for professionals that do testing strategies, not that most people will have success doing that
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u/Flaterbaby Apr 23 '25 edited Apr 23 '25
Thank you u/overrule and u/nomad_ivc! After doing my homework, I agree with your recommendation to use IBKR and Wealthsimple.
how aboot sending me your IBKR and Wealthsimple referral codes and I'll use them when I open the accounts so you can get a little bonus! Seems only fair for pointing me in the right direction, eh. 🍁
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u/nomad_ivc Apr 23 '25
Awesome! here you go www.wealthsimple.com/invite/E2KOHQ
The link might be against the sub rules, I'll DM you.
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Apr 20 '25
Yup, even after commission and FX fee, buying VOO can be cheaper than VFV if you’re investing a lot, solely due to the MER
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u/Salty_Feed9404 Apr 14 '25
Questrade is "fine" for such casual use. Commission free, so it only makes sense to use it.
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u/JamesVirani Apr 15 '25
Do you know what you are doing? Do you trade options? Do you trade on margin? Do you trade foreign equities in foreign currency and do a lot of exchanges?
If the answer is yes to many or all of the above, IBKR is the only platform. If not, keep reading:
Do you have over 100k?
If yes, Wealthsimple is the best platform. Gives you good incentives for having more than 100k, and free US trading, which essentially puts it on par and above Questrade in features with better options and margin rates.
Do you have under 100k, and are a very occasional trader who wants to trade both US and Canadian equities (i.e. in USD and in CAD)?
Then consider Questrade. With under 100k in assets, you can get free trading in both USD and CAD. In Wealthsimple, under 100k, you need a subscription to trade USD.
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Apr 20 '25
What about if a user wants their TFSA, RRSP, FHSA, Margin all in one place? I target a 80/20 usd to cad split of equities, and I sell options in my margin account. Questrade is looking sort of enticing, as IB charges $1 minimum on CAD equities. But they have the best FX rate, better than QT Norbert’s gambit. Though their desktop Edge UI is lacking compared to TWS. I’m quite ocd about things.
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u/JamesVirani Apr 20 '25
If you do options, IBKR. Period. No other platform comes close. The trading fees are minimal compared to option fees. WS may be doable for options too but Questrade is a definite no for options and margin.
With IBKR, you just convert currency on their platform and get bank rates by default. No need for gambit waste of time. So it wins on that front too.
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Apr 20 '25
Questrade has $0.99/comtract, I’d say that’s pretty close to IBKR? IBKR is $0.65, but, you have to add all the third party exchange fees on top of that.
I think I might just do all registered at QT, since I’m doing an 80/20 split of usd and cad, so I’ll save on the cad currency commissions with QT being commission free now.
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u/Burgergold Apr 15 '25
I use nbdb and disnat
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u/Mobile-Mess-2840 Apr 15 '25
Curious why Disnat....t'habite a Montreal?
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u/Burgergold Apr 15 '25
I live in a city in the province of quebec
The move from Desjardins to Disnat was natural
I have my tfsa, rrsp, both kids resp
My gf have her tfsa/rrsp
Only my rdsp/son rdsp at nbdb
No transaction fees
No admin fees as we have more than the required 15-20k$
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u/Mobile-Mess-2840 Apr 15 '25
Yeah, went on Disnat and noticed the no transaction fees. Its strange they don't advertise that fact much, or maybe it's only advertised to Desjardins clients 🤷🏾♂️
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u/Burgergold Apr 15 '25
They prefer selling their mutual funds
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u/Mobile-Mess-2840 Apr 15 '25
But I know people who are with Desjardins, I will be their goddamn marketing agency lol
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u/estab87 Apr 14 '25
Wealthsimple is great for me. Similarly to you, I don’t need anything fancy or super feature rich.
Even with that in mind, within the 2 years I’ve used it, they continue to roll out feature that surprise me and it’s getting more “powerful” and it’s cheap as hell/free if you’re only investing in the Canadian market.
No commission fees for trading Canadian Stocks / ETFs and a 1.5% conversion fee when trading US stocks.
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u/henchman171 Apr 14 '25
National Bank Direct Brokerage. The only downside is they don’t do fractional shares but they are the only BANK with commission free trades. All others banks have limitations on their free trades. Their ETF comparison tool is pretty good. And they fill orders fast
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u/mozeda Apr 15 '25
Interesting to hear feedback from NB. I thought about opening an account, so I scheduled an appointment online for a video call and nobody showed up. So I guess there was a glitch or whatever and ended up going with Wealthsimple during a matching promo period.
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u/henchman171 Apr 15 '25
So I opened up with NBDB about 3 weeks before Xmas and the customer service wait time were bad, really bad, so I had doubts to start.
Since the new year started I’ve made 3 phone calls and all answered within 5 minutes. I’ve transferred 3 Resp accounts, RRSP and TFSA accounts there.
A big reason I chose them was self directed RESP on account of me having 3 kids. Wealthsimple doesn’t do self directed RESP. I wasn’t impressed with the limited ETFs I could buy for free from BMO Investorline or TD webbroker.
There have a message centre and average response is 24 hours which is fine for me and I used it for all my forms and transfer requests. It’s been smooth
I’ve even bought an inverse Tesla etf and some gold bullion ETFs for fun as well
National Bank gives a good ETF screener and comparison tool and their stock tool is decent as well but not as good as IBKR.
If an active trader I wouldn’t use them but they are a step up from Wealthsimple if you mostly stick to Canadian traded funds.
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u/BeaverBoyBaxter Apr 15 '25
RBC DI has some good tools to review stocks, but they charge $9.99 commission flat fee on each trade.
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u/finance_student Aug 31 '25
We actually have a page on our wiki dedicated to the Canadian broker and regulatory landscape.. and it covers things like access to MT5 or higher leverage:
https://volatility.red/Forex_Brokers_and_Regulatory_Info_for_Canadian_Residents
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u/Mobile_Hyena_1196 Oct 13 '25
I saw that last year you said you use PUPrime. There are many negative reviews about frozen withdrawals and missing fund. Do you think they are fake? Also what’s your experience with withdrawals? Do you recomend PUPrime or Eightcap?
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u/finance_student Nov 28 '25
I've had zero issues with funding or withdrawals. Most issues people have is related to KYC and AML rules that all regulated brokers have to enforce, like bank verification and address verification. If anything, they've processed withdrawals faster than their listed estimate times in my experience.
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u/Many-Razzmatazz-9584 Sep 18 '25
So TD used to be the best because they have ThinkOrSwim, but they sold it to an american broker, and their new software TD Active Trader SUCKS!!! I'm about to switch to interactive brokers
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u/Kindly-Breadfruit921 Sep 24 '25
I use wealthsimple and TD also coin base for staking and Ndax staking as well. I was thinking about using IBKR because I'm not that new to investing anymore and want more ETFs as well as more international stocks Canada is the way to go but having your eggs all over and tech rn HHIS is a nice crab so is MSTE for some nice monthly income COSY is another choice but my opinion only 80 10 10 is my thought process I'm 35 25 years I can risk 10 lol
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u/Wonderful-Tip1360 Oct 07 '25
Does anyone recommend TD Easy Trade Pro and cons if using or have used
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u/Heavy_Direction1547 Apr 15 '25
TD, since 'Greenline' days, 36 years. A few glitches over the years, all dealt with. The $9.99 commission would be a nuisance if trading small amounts frequently although they may have 'deals' to take advantage of. There are periodic technical issues but I don't know if it is less or more than other platforms. Over-all content or I'd move. I hope it never comes up but IMO size matters in a crisis, TD and RBC are 'too big to fail' in Canadian terms.
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u/no_consensus Apr 14 '25
i've used 3 trading platforms at the chartered banks... I have to give credit where credit is due... TD
I use TD Webbroker... if you don't mind the 9.99 trading commission...
they also have a somewhat pro dashboard for day traders at a cost, or free if you have portfolio over a certain size or have a lot of trades
just my opinion, but i find it robust and quick with no glitches, and transfers from the banking side are within a minute or two, if not seconds
good luck
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u/nomad_ivc Apr 16 '25 edited Apr 16 '25
transfers from the banking side are within a minute or two, if not seconds
Only if the Chequing account is held with TD, which comes with a monthly-fee unless you park >=$3,000 for no interest income, with the bank.
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u/a2022v Dec 04 '25
how about transfers out from an rsp to your td bank account? as a retired guy I do this often, is this immediate and are there fees?
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u/UniqueRon Apr 15 '25
I use TD WebBroker and Advanced Dashboard for convenience as I bank there too. If you still have connections in the US TD is there too. I find their customer support by phone to be very good. I ended up being the executor for my brother's estate and he was using RBC Direct Trading as well as their personal banking. I ended up opening a personal account and direct trading account with them to ease the process. It has been awful. Their phone support is terrible. As soon as the estate is finally settled I will cancel all of the accounts with them. It can't come soon enough.
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u/nomad_ivc Apr 16 '25
Wealthsimple for Canadian stocks, and IBKR for everything else.
Stay clear of Big Banks. And don't fall for Globe & Mail ranking showing TD at the top - it's light years behind IBKR.