Questrade was founded on 1999. Questrade offers self-directed and managed accounts. Self-directed accounts is where people can trade stocks, ETFs, mutual funds, etc. Questrade charge commission fees for every buy or sell trade on self-directed accounts.
Managed accounts is where Questrade automatically invest funds for a management fee of 0.25% per year. Questrade calls their managed account a Questwealth portfolio.
Questrade offers non-registered, TFSA and RSP accounts for both self-directed and managed accounts.
For the most part, Questrade self-directed accounts are more popular than Questwealth managed portfolios. Most of this article will discuss the fees on Questrade self-directed accounts.
Questrade Fees
Questrade charges around $5 for most buy or sell stock trades. In contrast, TD Direct Investing and RBC Direct Investing charge around $9.95 per buy or sell stock trade.
These fees apply for Questrade self-directed accounts such as margin, TFSA, and RSP accounts.
| Stocks (Buy or sell) | 1 cent per share (min $4.95, max $9.95) |
| Options (Buy or sell) | $9.95 + $1.00/contract |
| ETF Buy | Free |
| ETF Sell | 1 cent per share (min $4.95, max $9.95) |
| Mutual Fund | $9.95 per trade |
| International Stocks | 1% of trade value (min. $195) |
Note: Questrade will pass ECN fees to clients for stocks and ETF trades. ECN (Electronic Communication Networks) fees is around $0.01 for every 3 shares traded. For instance, buying 21 shares will result to an ECN fee of $0.07. In total, buying or selling 21 shares will cost around $5.02 ($4.95+$0.07).
ECN fees are charged by stock exchanges such as NYSE (New York Stock Exchange) and TSE (Toronto Stock Exchange). ECN fees apply for most trades. ECN fees varies from $0 to $0.004 per share. (More info)
Questrade Stock and ETF Fees
Questrade charges 1 cent per trade with a minimum of $4.95. Buying or selling less than 495 shares of any stock will result to a $4.95 minimum commission fee.
Most trades will have an additional ECN fee. For instance, buying or selling 150 shares of Apple stock will result to an ECN fee of around $0.50 (150/3). Since 150 is less than 495, the minimum fee of $4.95 applies.
Overall, buying or selling 150 shares of Apple stock will result to a commission fee of around $5.45 on Questrade.
Fees on selling an ETF is similar with stock trading fees. Selling 300 units of an ETF will result to an ECN fee of close to $1.00 (300/3). At 1 cent per share, 300 units will have a fee of $3.00, but the minimum of $4.95 will apply.
In total, selling 300 units of an ETF will result to a commission fee of around $5.95.
For ETF buy orders, only ECN fees apply. For example, buying 100 shares of any ETF will cost around $0.34 in total commission fees.
ETFs charge a yearly fee of around 0.03% to 0.80% per year. These management fees is charged by the actual ETF (Exchange Traded Fund). ETF fees will be automatically deducted from the price of an ETF.
ETF fees are charged when holding any ETF on any investing platform.
Assuming an ETF charge 0.12% per year, holding for only a month will result to a fee of 0.01%. ETF management fee will reflect on the price of an ETF.
S&P 500 ETFs like SPY and VOO charge close to 0.10% in yearly fees. The 1-year returns of both SPY and VOO will differ from the actual 1-year return of the S&P 500 index. The difference of around 0.10% is the fee charged by the ETF.
Stock Investing Platforms in Canada
| Investing Platform | Commission Fees (Stock Buy or Sell Trade) |
| RBC Direct Investing | $9.95 per trade (Lower pricing of $6.95 for active traders, 150+ trades every 3 months) |
| TD Direct Investing | $9.99 per trade (Lower pricing of $7.00 for active traders, 150+ trades every 3 months) |
| Wealthsimple Trade | $0 free commission fees for CAD stocks 1.50% exchange rate fee for US stock trades |
| Questrade | Around $5 for most trades (Lower pricing available for active traders) |
Wealthsimple Tutorial – How to Trade Stocks
Questrade – How to Buy and Sell Stocks
Questrade Mutual Fund and (Call and Put) Option Fees
Questrade charges $9.95 per buy or sell mutual fund trades. Also, mutual fund charges different fees on its own which ranges from 1-2% every year. Some mutual fund may charge additional fees when buying while others may charge additional fees when selling a mutual fund.
Some mutual funds may also take a portion of the profits generated.
Option fees is very straightforward. For instance, buying 5 contracts of a call option will result to a fee of $14.95 ($9.95 + $1.00 per contract). On the other hand, TD Direct Investing and RBC Direct Investing charge $9.95 + $1.25 per contract for option fees.
Questrade provides free real time prices for US and CAD stocks, ETFs, and options.
Questrade
- Minimum of $1,000 to open an account
- $4.95 commission fees for every stock trade (buy or sell)
- 2% US dollar exchange rate fee
- Questrade is operating for more than 20 years. More than 200,000 new accounts every year
- Platform is a bit more complicated than Wealthsimple Trade
Visit questrade.com for more details. Get $50 in free trades rebate (up to 10 free trades) when you open a new Questrade TFSA account – Questrade.com (promo automatically applies)
Questrade – How to Buy and Sell Stocks
Questrade Active Trader Prices
Questrade offers cheaper prices for active traders. However, Questrade charges $89.95 monthly fee to access the lower pricing structure.
For this reason, active trader plan may be worth the subscription fee when trading 20 or more trades in a month. Otherwise, the default pricing structure may result to lower total fees when trading less than 20 times in a month.
In addition to reduced pricing, active trader plan gives access to the Level 2 Market Data. Level 2 Data will show the amount of buyers and sellers at different price levels of a stock. Big buy or sell orders by other traders at a different price can be seen with Level 2 Market Data.
Questrade offers two active trader plans: Fixed and Variable plan. Fixed plan is designed for high volume trades and option trading. Variable plan is great for buying a few shares of expensive stocks.
| Fixed | Variable | |
| Stocks | $4.95 | $0.01/share (min. $0.01,max. $6.95) |
| Options | $4.95 + $0.75/contract | $6.95 + $0.75/contract |
| ETF Sell | Free | Free |
| ETF Sell | $4.95 | $0.01/share (min. $0.01,max. $6.95) |
For example, buying 40 shares on the Variable plan will result to a fee of $0.40 compared to a minimum of $4.95 (before ECN fees) on the default pricing.
On the other hand, buying 20,000 shares of a penny stock on the Fixed plan will result to a fee of $4.95 instead of $9.95 on the default (free) plan. For option traders, the fixed plan will result to a saving of at least $5 per trade.
Monthly subscription can be cancelled anytime before the last day of a month.
How to Activate Active Trader Pricing
Questrade charges $89.95 to access reduced pricing. Also, they offer a partial rebate of $19.95 when a client traded more than $48.95 in commissions on a month, and a full $89.95 rebate if a client traded more than $399.95 in commissions.
Rebates are typically applied at the end of a month.
Active trader pricing can be activated by going to Account Management >>> Market Data, and select either the Advanced U.S. streaming or Advanced Canadian streaming.
This can be cancelled anytime by navigating to Account Management >>> Market Data, and select Free data package.
This fee will be charged at the first week of the next month. For instance, May subscription is charged around June 2-7.
Questwealth Portfolio Fees
Queswealth portfolios charge a total fee of 0.37% per year (0.25% management fee + 0.12% ETF fee). On a Questwealth Portfolio, funds are automatically invested.
When opening an account, a survey will appear to determine the amount of risk a person is willing to take for investments inside a Questwealth portfolio.
On a $5,000 Questwealth portfolio, a 0.37% fee will result to a yearly fee of around $18.50 or a $1.54 monthly management fee.
Deposits to a Questwealth portfolio are automatically invested. On the other hand, you have to manually buy a stock or ETF to invest funds inside a Questrade self-directed account.
Stocks, ETFs, and other assets inside a Questrade self-directed account can be bought or sold anytime.
Questrade Minimum
Questrade requires a minimum of $1,000 deposit to open any account. To keep an account active, Questrade requires a minimum of $250.
Questrade Withdrawal Fees
| Electronic Fund Transfer (EFT) | $0 |
| Wire Transfer | $20 |
| International Wire Transfer | $40 |
For all Questrade self-directed and Questwealth managed accounts, funds can be withdrawn anytime. Assets like stocks, ETFs, and mutual funds inside a Questrade account may have to be sold to be available for withdrawal.
To withdraw funds, go to Requests from the main menu, then go to Withdraw Funds. Withdrawals typically take 2-3 days to transfer from Questrade to a bank account.
Questrade Inactivity Fees
Questrade no longer charge any inactivity fee for all accounts of any size. Also, Questrade charge $0 when opening or closing an account. Multiple accounts can be opened at any one time.
Questrade Margin Account Fees
Margin accounts charge interest for the money borrowed. Margin fees will only apply if the amount of cash is not enough to buy an asset.
Assume a $10,000 CAD cash in a Questrade account. Buying less than $5,000 CAD of any stock will result to zero margin fees since no money is borrowed. On the other hand, buying $14,000 CAD of a stock will result to a $4,000 CAD loan from Questrade to complete the purchase.
The borrowed $4,000 CAD will result to margin interest fees. Also, margin fees apply when borrowing US dollars.
| CAD Margin accounts | 5.95% (CAD prime + 3.50%) |
| USD Margin accounts | 7.00% (USD prime + 3.75%) |
Margin interest rate is on a per year basis. Assuming a 6.00% margin interest rate, borrowing $2,000 will result to a $120 yearly interest. If funds are borrowed only for a month, margin interest fee would be $10 for the $2,000 borrowed.
Margin interests will stop either when enough stocks are sold to cover debt, or when additional funds are added to a Questrade account.
When opening any account, both CAD and USD accounts are automatically opened. There are no monthly fees for each. Margin interest will only apply when borrowing money from Questrade to complete a purchase.
Do Questrade charge monthly fees?
Questrade have eliminated inactivity fees around December 2020. Questrade do not charge any monthly fees for self-directed (DIY) accounts. Questrade charge a yearly management fee of around 0.25% for managed accounts on Questwealth portfolios.
In addittion, ETFs inside a Questwealth portfolio charge 0.12%, so the total yearly fee would be 0.37% ($0.37 per $100). ETFs and mutual funds may charge management fees.
Is Questrade Safe?
Like the big banks, Questrade is safe since they are regulated by the IIROC (Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada) and a CIPF (Canadian Investor Protection Fund) member. In addition to $1 million CIPF insurance, Questrade have purchased up to $10 million private insurance per client if they go bankrupt.
These can be confirmed by visiting the members list pages on the iiroc.ca and cipf.ca. More information on CIPF insurance can be found on cipf.ca.
IIROC (Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada) is the national self-regulatory organization which oversees all investment dealers and trading activity on debt and equity marketplaces in Canada to protect investors. (iiroc.ca)
The CIPF (Canadian Investor Protection Fund) is a not-for-profit corporation created by the Canadian investment industry in 1969 to protect investor assets in the event of a CIPF member’s bankruptcy. (Source)
How to Fund a Questrade account
To deposit funds, add “Questrade Inc.” as a bill payee from any bank. Then, enter the account number of a Questrade account. When funding for the first time, transferring $1 on first deposit may help assure that funds are cleared. Adding funds through this process usually takes 3 business days.
After waiting 3 business days, a person can check if the $1 deposit is added. There are also other ways to transfer funds to a Questrade account.