The 10 Best Online Brokers in Canada

Discovering the best online brokers in Canada is crucial to your success. In today’s dynamic market, there are countless online brokers offering varied services for any budget, making it an ideal time to start investing. Yet, with so many options, choosing the right platform can be overwhelming.

Consider your investment approach: Are you a frequent trader, or do you prefer long-term investments? Whether you’re into ETFs, mutual funds, or advanced strategies like options contracts, each platform has its own fee structure that can affect your profits.

In this guide, we zero in on the best online brokers in Canada, comparing their fees, services, and special features to enhance your investment strategy. Let’s help you compare online brokers to find the one that best fits your financial goals.

Qtrade: Overall Best Online Broker in Canada

Qtrade Direct Investing is an online broker that continuously ranks as the best online broker in Canada by the likes of the Globe and Mail and other major publications. Its portfolio analysis tools can be very useful for beginner and intermediate investors. This is the best broker for the average investor, especially since several exchange-traded funds (ETFs) can be traded for free.

Prices & Fees

This platform offers trade commissions under $10. Their pricing has two levels, “Investor” and “Investor Plus”. For the “Investor” pricing level, equity commissions are $8.75 per trade, options trades are $8.75 plus $1.25 per contract, and select ETFs are commission-free. The “Investor Plus” pricing level offers clients commission-pricing of $6.95 per trade on equities and $6.95 + $1.25 per contract on options. Select ETFs are free, while all other ETFs and mutual funds cost $6.95 each.

To qualify for Investor Plus pricing, clients must either trade at least 150 times per quarter or have at least $500,000 in assets. Both plans come with an administration fee of $25 per quarter for clients with combined account balances of less than $25,000. The fee can also be waived by placing at least 2 commission-generating trades per quarter, setting up an automatic deposit to your account of at least $100 per month, or qualifying for the Young Investor offer. The fee for registered U.S. Dollar accounts (RSP, RIF, TFSA FHSA) is $60 per year, or $15 per quarter.

Account Type & Investment Products

You can choose between two categories of accounts: “investment accounts” and “self-directed registered plans”. Investment accounts consist of cash and margin accounts, both in Canadian and U.S. dollars. Self-Directed Registered Plans include TFSAs, RRSPs, RESPs, and more.

In both categories of accounts, individuals can trade stocks, bonds, ETFs, mutual funds, options, GICs, and new issues. Like other Canadian dealers, there are certain restrictions. Short selling and trading in complex options is only permitted in margin accounts. Qtrade offers Morningstar as a resource for information.

In terms of access to additional market data, Qtrade has real-time quotes and chart tools to meet your investing needs. Level 2 quotes are available for all Canadian Exchanges during order execution (but not for US stocks)

Questrade: Best Online Broker in Canada for its Variety of Investment Products

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Questrade occupies a comfortable place between brokers aimed at advanced traders and those aimed at beginners. It offers a wide variety of accounts, registered and unregistered, and financial products to trade. It is therefore very suitable for all the needs of an investor who wishes to evolve in the future without having to change platforms.

Prices & Fees

Questrade is one of the best online brokers in Canada for those wanting to take advantage of niche investment products like CFDs. It offers a “self-managed investment price” where you pay a fee of $0.01 per share traded, for a minimum of $4.95 and a maximum of $9.95. For exchange-traded funds (ETFs), the purchase is free and the sale works the same way as shares. Options are billed at a cost of $9.95, plus $1 per contract. Mutual funds are also $9.95. Finally, you must make a minimum purchase of $5,000 to buy bonds or guaranteed investment certificates (GICs).

If you are an active investor, you can choose between the fixed or variable plan. For the fixed plan, you pay $4.95 per transaction on stocks and $4.95 plus $0.75 per contract on options. You buy the ETFs for free and sell them for $4.95. The variable plan charges a fee of $0.01 per share traded, to a maximum of $6.95. Options cost $6.95 + $0.75 per contract. You can buy ETFs for free and sell them for $0.01 per share, for a maximum of $6.95.

ECNs for electronic communication networks may be charged. Rather than including these fees in their trading commissions, they charge them to each investor who incurs these fees. ECN fees do not apply to all trades.

Account Type & Investment Products

In terms of account type, you can invest in almost any type of account, with the most popular being a TFSA, RRSP, RESP, margin account, and more. It was also the first online broker to make the tax-free First Home Savings Account (FHSA) available to users.

You can purchase all investment products. You can buy guaranteed investment certificates (GICs), mutual funds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), stocks, fixed income, options, new issues, contracts for difference (CFDs), etc. With Questrade, you can also trade in the foreign exchange and precious metals markets.

From your margin account, you can leverage stock trading, short-sell your holdings, trade complex options strategies and leverage your precious metals trading expertise.

Trading Platforms

There are two platforms available: Questrade Trading and Questrade Edge. Both offer relatively the same features, but active investors will likely prefer Edge, as they will have access to more options and customization, including the addition of quick trade buttons, alerts, profit (and losses) calculator, filtering, etc. You also have the option to skip the order confirmation window by creating shortcuts on your keyboard.

Questrade also offers a mobile application and a platform for advanced products. Questrade Global is a much more advanced platform if you are interested in trading FOREX and CFDs.

Wealthsimple Trade: Best Online Broker in Canada for Zero-Commission Trading on Canadian Stocks

Wealthsimple is one of the best-known online brokers in Canada. Since its debut, it has offered a very user-friendly application. Stocks and ETFs trade commission-free. These two features make it the best platform for beginners who want to trade Canadian stocks for free.

Prices & Fees

Wealthsimple Trade is another one of the best online brokers in Canada because it stands as an almost cost-free platform and opening an account is fast and easy. Wealthsimple does not charge any commissions and there is no minimum account balance requirement either. Compared to other online brokers who charge different fees depending on the type of transaction you make, Wealthsimple only charges a fee for currency conversion depending on the value of assets you have with them.

While Wealthsimple positions itself as a free trading platform, that’s not entirely true. If you trade US-listed securities in Canadian dollars, you’ll be charged conversion fees. That means only Canadian-listed securities are actually free while US securities come at a cost that beginners are probably not aware of: a 1.50% conversion fee is charged when you trade US stocks in Canadian dollars and vice versa. However, once you have more than $100,000 in assets with Wealthsimple, the conversion fee is waived.

If you want to skip the conversion fee on US trades, you can open a USD account. Then you’ll be able to trade, deposit, and withdraw in USD without any conversion fees. You’ll only incur conversion fees when you convert money to or from Canadian dollars (CAD). USD accounts also cost $10 plus any applicable taxes per month.

These fees mean that if you want to trade US stocks often, Wealthsimple is probably not the best platform for you. Other commission-free brokers allow you to open a USD account for free and fund it by converting your Canadian money into US dollars. Then, you can trade US stocks in this account without additional fees on each transaction.

The rest of the transactions are entirely free. Transaction fees, options commissions, annual fees and account maintenance fees all cost $0.

Account type & Investment products

Wealthsimple Trade allows you to trade within TFSAs, RRSPs, FHSAs, and non-registered accounts. In terms of investment choices, you can trade exchange-traded funds, stocks and fractional shares. You can automatically reinvest your dividends. You can also trade crypto within the app, making Wealthsimple one of the best online brokers in Canada for cryptocurrency enthusiasts.

Trading Platform

The Wealthsimple Trade platform has been designed primarily for mobile devices. The application is available on iOS and Android. You also have the option to invest via their web platform. It is very simple to learn and use. It has recently become possible to invest automatically with this platform, which is very practical. Simply set up recurring purchases. Choose an amount and a stock to buy regularly. Your amount can even be less than the price of a single share, thanks to split orders.

However, there is very little information about stocks. There are no tools to analyze stocks. In addition, you can only trade on select Canadian and American stock exchanges.

BMO InvestorLine: Best Online Broker in Canada for Market Research

BMO InvestorLine is one of the best online brokers in Canada for extensive and accessible market research. As one of the major banks with the largest number of analysts in the country, it has great expertise to rely on to provide analyst reports.

Prices & Fees

This broker charges a standard trading commission rate of $9.95 per trade for all clients. Options cost $9.95 + $1.25 per contract. However, there are no commissions charged on certain ETFs. For experienced and active traders, BMO InvestorLine offers a program with additional features and special pricing.

A $25 fee will be charged each quarter on non-registered accounts with an account balance of less than $15,000. This fee is waived for clients who hold a registered account with BMO InvestorLine and for clients that make 2 or more commissionable trades in 6 months.

For example, if you’re an investor who makes over 15 trades per quarter or invests $250,000 or more, the BMO 5 Star Program is designed for you. This exclusive program offers attractive rates and pricing, with members enjoying the benefit of reduced costs. You also get access to professional tools, such as the BMO Active Trader, enhancing your trading experience.

Account Type & Investment Products

With BMO Self-Directed InvestorLine, you can invest in guaranteed investment certificates, mutual funds, ETFs, equities, fixed income, and options.

There are several types of accounts offered by BMO InvestorLine, including margin accounts, retirement savings accounts (RRSPs, LIRAs, RSPs), RESPs and TFSAs. A popular feature among many investors is that U.S. dollar-registered accounts are available at no charge.

In addition, whether you are a beginner or an advanced investor, the analysis tools are there to help you analyze the data in depth and invest.

Moomoo: Best Online Broker in Canada for New Active Traders

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Moomoo is a new online broker in Canada, launched in August of 2023. This platform is ideal if you’re brand new to day trading or want free level 2 market data and sophisticated tools. A few of the stand-out features include extended trading hours, paper trading, multi-monitor setups, as well as a simple and transparent fee structure, making it another one of the best online brokers in Canada for new, active day traders.

Prices & Fees

US stocks and ETFs cost $0.0099 per share with a minimum $1.99 per order. Margin rates are tiered based on the amount borrowed, ranging from 7.83% to 8.83%. The more you borrow, the lower your margin rate. To swap CAD for USD to buy US stock, the currency exchange rate is just 0.09% with a minimum transaction fee of $2.

To trade on the Canadian market, you’ll have to pay a little bit more, but it remains cheap. Stocks and ETFs are $0.014 per share, with a minimum of $1.49 CAD per order. There are no account fees or funding fees.

Account type & Investment products

At the time of writing, the only type of account available is a non-registered personal account. Moomoo plans to launch RRSPs and TFSAs in 2024. You can also sign up to take advantage of paper trading, which is a practice account that allows you to trade, test strategies, and try out various tools with fake money. You do not need to open a real trading account to access a paper trading account.

On moomoo, you can only trade stocks and ETFs. If you’re looking for mutual funds, options, futures, etc., you’ll need to go elsewhere. However, you do have access to US and foreign markets such as China, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, and Australia.

Trading platform

Moomoo offers a simple, intuitive and user-friendly design. You can access the platform on both the moomoo mobile app and desktop application. The moomoo platform stands out with its easy-to-use features designed for both novice and professional traders. The platform offers extended trading hours from 4 AM to 8 PM Eastern. This allows active traders to react quickly to market changes, and new can trade at their convenience without the pressure of standard market hours. It also provides free real-time data, including a detailed view of 60 levels of bid and ask prices to help you make informed decisions without additional costs. Moomoo’s custom charts and a suite of over 63 technical indicators, coupled with 38 drawing tools and customizable functions, cater to the specific needs of any trader.

Beyond the practical trading tools, moomoo doubles as an educational resource with a rich library of investment materials and free courses. This makes moomoo ideal for new (but active) traders, providing simple explanations of complex concepts, and offering an array of courses and video tutorials to help users progress from beginners to confident, informed traders.

Interactive Brokers: Best Online Broker in Canada for Experienced & High-Volume Traders

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Interactive Brokers is hands down the best online broker for active, high-volume day traders. Since Interactive Brokers’ clients are often professional and institutional investors, they have bet on commissions at the lowest possible price.

Prices & Fees

There are two basic pricing systems which include tiered pricing and fixed pricing. As the name suggests, tiered pricing commissions will decrease based on the volume you trade. It also depends on the trading exchange as well as clearing fees. Refer to the table above to learn more about Interactive Brokers fees.

Account Type & Investment Products

Interactive Brokers Canada offers registered plan accounts such as RRSPs, TFSAs, CAD and USD non-registered accounts, as well as joint accounts, trusts, margin accounts, and more. RRSP and TFSA accounts are available in both Canadian and U.S. dollars, but withdrawals are only available in Canadian dollars.

You can invest in all kinds of investment products with Interactive Brokers. For example, you can invest in derivatives, exchange-traded funds, stocks, fixed-income securities, options, foreign currency (Forex), and more. Recently, you can also earn up to 4.83% interest on your cash balance.

Trading Platform

The most popular Interactive Brokers platform is the desktop-based Trader Workstation (TWS). It offers absolutely everything, including global assets. You have 494 column customization options. IBot, also available in TWS mobile, uses an artificial intelligence database to quickly respond to customer requests via chat.

For less experienced investors, Interactive Brokers offers the web-based “Client Portal” and IBKR Desktop platforms. This platform includes all the basic functionality needed to invest in a core portfolio. It is much less robust but much easier to use. IBKR Mobile and IBKR Global Trader let you easily monitor your account and make trades from a mobile device like your phone or tablet.

CIBC Investor’s Edge: Best for Young Investors

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If you are looking for an online broker from a major bank that has developed a special offer dedicated to young people, CIBC Investor’s Edge is a strong competitor. Young people and students (regardless of their age) will find something to suit their needs.

Prices and fees

CIBC Investor’s Edge has established a standard commission price of $6.95 per trade. The price of standard options is $6.95 + $1.25 per contract. Active Broker Options are priced at $4.95 + $1.25 per contract.

This online broker also introduced a student-friendly pricing structure that reduced the standard commission price to $5.95 per transaction and waived the annual fee associated with account balances under $10,000. Young investors under the age of 25 with a CIBC Smart Start chequing account enjoy commission-free trades on stocks and ETFs. There is also an active investor price of $4.95 per transaction for individuals making at least 150 transactions per quarter.

There is no account annual fee for TFSAs, RESPs and FHSAs. An account maintenance fee of $100 is charged annually for balances under $25,000 for RRSP, RIF, LIF or LIRA, as well as for non registered accounts with a balance of less than $10,000.

Account Type & Investment Products

CIBC Investor’s Edge offers clients the ability to trade online in both non-registered and registered accounts. For registered accounts, CIBC Investor’s Edge offers many accounts including the FHSA, TFSA, RRSP and RESP. CIBC Investor’s Edge can hold U.S. dollars or Canadian dollars in their registered accounts.

You can invest in these investment products: guaranteed investment certificates (GICs), mutual funds, ETFs, stocks, fixed-income securities, options, initial public offerings, precious metals, structured notes, and Canadian Depository Receipts (CDRs). CDRs make it easy to buy shares in US companies in Canadian dollars and act as hedge against currency fluctuations.

You can trade from the online platform as well as from the mobile application, which are comparable to most standard trading interfaces.

National Bank Direct Brokerage: Best Online Broker in Canada for Big Bank Zero-Commission Trading

Back in late 2016, the National Bank Direct Brokerage (NBDB) was the first Canadian brokerage to offer commission-free trades on Canadian-listed ETFs for investors buying over 100 shares. This was aimed at making investing more accessible to the retail investor. Since then, the online broker has expanded zero-commission trading to include all ETFs, stocks, options, and more. NBDB is now one of the cheapest for active investors.

Prices & Fees

While all purchases and sales of U.S. or Canadian ETFs are eligible for free commissions, the only requirements are that you must have a minimum of 100 ETF units in the transaction and that you receive your documents electronically.

All accounts with less than $20,000 as of May 31 must pay a $100 account maintenance fee. However, you can avoid these fees if you have an Investcube account, are a young investor between 18 and 30 years old, or if you have subscribed to a promotion for eligible professionals.

Account Type & Investment products

With this online broker in Canada, you can trade in a registered or non-registered account. You can trade U.S. and Canadian equities, guaranteed investment certificates, mutual funds, exchange-traded funds, fixed-income securities, options, link notes, and more.

At the registered account level, you can save in a TFSA, RRSP, RRIF, RESP, and FHSA. However, like most online brokers, you cannot invest in registered accounts on margin. Otherwise, you can invest with cash, margin, or short-selling in a non-registered account.

Trading Platforms

National Bank Direct Brokerage offers an all-in-one platform available on desktop and as a mobile app. The Market Q platform (paid) is offered to active investors. With the latter, you can follow quotes in real time, create charts, benefit from advanced fundamental and technical analysis functions, adapt your interface and create personalized alerts.

TD Direct Investing: Best Online Broker in Canada for Self-Directed RDSP Investing

TD Direct Investing is consistently rated one of the best online brokers in Canada, receiving an A-rating from the Globe and Mail. It’s also one of the only platforms that provides self-directed Registered Disability Savings Plan accounts. If you need such an account, this is the perfect broker. Otherwise, its offer is pretty standard.

Prices & Fees

The standard commission price per trade is $9.99 on Canadian and US stocks and mutual funds. Unlike other brokers, there is no deposit or minimum number of transactions to obtain this price.

For active investors who make more than a 150 trades per quarter, the cost per transaction is $7.00. For regular traders, Options trading has a cost per transaction of $9.99 + $1.25 per contract, while active traders pay just $7.00 + $1.25 per contract.

Clients with a balance of less than $15,000 are subject to a $25 administration fee that is billed quarterly. You can waive this fee under certain conditions: complete a minimum of 2 commission-generating transactions in 6 months, have a TD Direct Investing registered account or be enrolled in a pre-authorized contribution plan of $100 per month or more.

Account Type & Investment Products

TD Direct Investing offers both registered and non-registered accounts. Registered account types include TFSAs, RRSPs and RESPs. For non-registered accounts, TD Direct Investing offers cash and margin accounts. If you want to trade options and short sell, a margin account and approval is required.

To manage currency conversions in registered accounts, TD Direct Investing has set up a “U.S. Dollar Money Market Sweep and Redemption” service. The service automatically routes the funds required to settle the transaction through a U.S. dollar money market fund, so that a client does not pay the currency conversion fee. They have also extended the service to dividend payments so that customers receiving payments or making dividend purchases in U.S. dollars do not have to pay additional conversion fees.

In terms of investment products available, you have several choices including guaranteed investment certificates, mutual funds, exchange-traded funds, stocks, fixed income securities and options.

Trading Platforms

You can choose between 4 platforms. WebBroker is the most popular platform. It has several trading tools, market data and research reports to help you manage your investments online. Then, the TD app lets you monitor your portfolio’s performance, stay up to date with market events, learn and trade on the go.

To take it to the next level, there is the Advanced Dashboard. You will be able to take advantage of real-time market data, analytical tools, stock and options trading, conditional orders, etc. The Active Trader platform is the fourth and final one. This trading platform is fully customizable. You can also trade option strategies with multiple components (maximum of four).

Scotia iTRADE: Best online broker in Canada for ESG investing tools

A standout out feature that makes Scotia iTrade one of the best online brokers in Canada is it’s unique sustainability insights to help you find investment ideas that match your environmental, social, and governance (ESG) values. They’ve partner with Sustainalytics to provide insights and offer detailed ESG performance ratings for over 1,200 companies on the Toronto Stock Exchange and Russell 1000 Index.

Prices & Fees

Scotia iTRADE has set its standard commission price at $9.99 per transaction when you trade less than 150 times per quarter. Active investors are also eligible for commissions of $4.99 per transaction, subject to a minimum of 150 transactions per quarter. For options trading, the cost is $9.99 plus $1.25 per contract for regular investors. Finally, for clients who make more than 150 transactions per quarter, the cost of trading options is $4.99, plus $1.25 per contract.

Scotia iTRADE charges a $100 fee per year for aggregate accounts (registered and unregistered) less than $25,000, when you make fewer than 12 commissionable trades per year.

Account type & Investment products

Scotia iTRADE offers online trading in both non-registered and registered accounts. For non-registered accounts, Scotia iTRADE offers both cash and margin accounts. Margin accounts to be used for short selling where options trading requires additional approval and minimum capital requirements.

For registered accounts, Scotia iTRADE offers TFSAs, RRSPs, RESPs, and FHSAs. Registered accounts such as RRSPs are available in both U.S. and Canadian currency, but note that U.S. account types have a quarterly fee of $30 per account.

Trading Platform

Scotia iTrade offers a desktop and mobile trading platform. Their advanced trading platform, Trade Pro, is designed for advanced or active brokers. Trade Pro offers level 2 streaming quotes, option chain trading and advanced option analysis. Data pricing is based on the amount of assets and the number of transactions per quarter.

A Summary of the Best Online Brokers in Canada

All the brokerages mentioned here have described their portfolio of products and services on the website. You can easily understand the kind of tools and resources a platform offers. However, it might also make sense to open a brokerage account for free and test a particular platform before diving in completely. You can access these platforms on various devices to see if their interface is user-friendly and if it ticks most of your boxes.

Investing in equities is one of the best ways to create long-term wealth and identifying the best online broker in Canada for your needs is the first step in this process. It’s imperative to use all the tools and resources provided by the online broker which will help you reach your financial goals, especially if you are an active investor.