Summary
- Wealthsimple Trade – Best for Canadian stocks
- Questrade – Best for US stocks or Day Trading in general
- RBC and TD – Best for Retirement accounts
1. RBC Direct Investing
Regular Pricing
| Stocks (Buy or sell) | $9.95 flat per trade |
| Options (Buy or sell) | $9.95 + $1.25/contract per trade |
| ETFs (Buy or Sell) | $9.95 per trade |
For all investing platforms in Canada, fees on US stocks is charged on US dollars and CAD trades have commission fees in CAD.
For example, US stock trades have a commission fee of $9.95 USD on RBC DI while CAD stocks have a commission fee of $9.95 CAD per trade.
Active Trader Prices
| Stocks (Buy or sell) | $6.95 flat per trade |
| Options (Buy or sell) | $6.95 + $1.25/contract per trade |
| ETFs (Buy or Sell) | $9.95 per trade |
How to Access Special Pricing
Trade 150 or more times in a quarter (3 months)
Maintenance Fee
RBC DI charges an additional fee of $25 per quarter for accounts less than $15,000. Maintenance fee can be waived by trading 3 or more commission trades in a 3 month period or some other ways.
Premarket and After Hours Trading
I have asked RBC DI, and they do not offer premarket and after hours trading on their online platform. Premarket/ after hours trading can only be done by calling their Services Representative
Instead of regular $9.95 fees, most premarket and after hours trading costs on RBC DI costs $35 + $0.05 per share (min. $43) since it has to be done by calling them.
Premarket trading with RBC starts at 8:00 am ET and after hours trading ends at 5:00 pm ET. Regular market hours runs from 9:30 am to 4:00 pm where RBC clients can place an order online and pay $9.95 per trade.
| Orders Placed Using an Investment Services Representative | ||
| Investment | Price | Commission Rate |
| Stocks / ETFs | $0.00 – $0.50 | 2.5% of trade* |
| $0.51 – $2.00 | $35 + $0.02 per share* | |
| $2.01 and over | $35 + $0.05 per share* | |
| Options | $35 + $1.75 per contract |
*Minimum: $43 per transaction (Source)
Earn $25 cash bonus (Wealthsimple Trade) when you deposit and trade $100 of any stock or ETF. Visit Wealthsimple Trade signup page.
2. Questrade
Regular Pricing
| 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) |
495 shares on a trade or less will cost $4.95 while trading more than 995 shares in a single trade will have a fee of $9.95.
In addittion to prices above, Questrade charges ECN fees of around $0.01 for every 3 shares.
For example, buying 30 shares on Questrade will have a commission fee of around $5.05 ($4.95 + $0.10).
Active Trader Prices
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 companies.
| 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) |
How to Access Special Pricing
Questrade charges $89.95 a month to access these active trader prices. Active trader pricing can be cancelled anytime and switch back to the free plan anytime.
In addition to reduced prices, traders have will have access to Level 2 market data.
Maintenance Fee
Questrade do not charge any maintenance fee.
Premarket and After Hours Trading
Questrade offers premarket and after hours trading on their online platform. Commission fees on premarket or after hours trading are same with regular market hours trading.
Minimum Amount
Questrade requires a minimum $1,000 to open an account and $250 minimum to keep an account active after opening an account.
How to Buy and Sell Stocks on Questrade
3. TD Direct Investing
Regular Pricing
| Stocks (Buy or sell) | $9.99 flat per trade |
| Options (Buy or sell) | $9.99 + $1.25/contract per trade |
| ETFs (Buy or Sell) | $9.99 per trade |
Active Trader Prices
| Stocks (Buy or sell) | $7.00 flat per trade |
| Options (Buy or sell) | $7.00 + $1.25/contract per trade |
| ETFs (Buy or Sell) | $7.00 per trade |
How to Access Special Pricing
Trade 150 or more times in a quarter (3 months)
Maintenance Fee
TD DI charges an additional fee of $25 per quarter for accounts less than $15,000. Maintenance fee can be waived by trading 3 or more commission trades in a 3 month period or some other ways.
4. Wealthsimple Trade
Apply for a Wealthsimple Trade account and earn an additional $25 bonus when you deposit and trade $100 of any stock.
Wealthsimple Trade only offers stocks and ETFs. All of the other platforms on this article offer stocks, ETFs, mutual funds, and options. Because of this, Wealthsimple Trade is not designed for day trading.
Wealthsimple do not offer margin accounts while all of the other platforms listed offers margin accounts. Margin accounts allow clients to borrow money to purchase assets at a certain interest rates which depends every platfrom.
Commission Fees
| Stocks/ETFs in Canadian dollars | $0 (Any trade amount) |
| Stocks/ETFs in US dollars | 1.5% of the trade amount |
| Other assets | Not available |
Commission Fees on Canadian stocks and ETFs
Wealthsimple Trade is best when trading Canadian stocks since they charge $0 commissions. In comparison, other platforms charge $5-10 per buy or sell trade. Most people prefer to use Wealthsimple Trade for Canadian stocks and ETFs.
Commission Fees on US stocks and ETFs
Weathsimple Trade have 1,5% fees for every buy or sell US trade which means a $1.50 fee per $100 of buy or sell trade. In comparison, other platforms charge $5-10 USD commission fees per USD trade.
For smaller amounts such as buying $150 of a US stock, Wealthsimple will still be cheaper with a commission fee of $2.25 USD compared to a commission fee of $5-10 USD on other platforms.
For larger amounts such as buying $5,000 of a US stock, trading on Wealthsimple is costly with a commission fee of $75 (1.5% X $5,000). Thus, other platforms may be better with a commission fee of only $5-10 for larger trades.
Overall, trading less than $300 of a US stock is cheaper with Wealthsimple Trade, but trading larger amounts may be better with a different stock investing platform.
| Amount of Trade (USD) | 1.5% Fee (USD) |
| $ 50.00 | $ 0.75 |
| $ 100.00 | $ 1.50 |
| $ 500.00 | $ 7.50 |
| $ 1,000.00 | $ 15.00 |
| $ 5,000.00 | $ 75.00 |
Maintenance Fee
Wealthsimple Trade charges $0 monthly fees. This included free unlimited deposits/withdrawals and instant deposits up to $250.
Unfortuanately, stock prices displayed on the Wealthsimple Trade app is 15 minutes delayed. The actual buy/sell price will depend on the actual real time price.
Wealthsimple Trade offers a $3 a month plan which includes real time stock prices and instant deposits up to $1,000. Instant deposits are funds that are available to purchase stocks or ETFs instantly. Most deposits take 2-3 business days.
Premarket and After Hours Trading
Wealthsimple Trade does not offer premarket and after hours trading. Regular market hours runs from 9:30 am Eastern Time (ET) to 4:00 pm ET.
CIPF Insurance
Wealthsimple acquired Canadian ShareOwner Investments Inc. on December 2015. Wealthsimple Trade was publicly launched on March 2019. Currently, Wealthsimple have more than 1.5 million users. (Source)
In case of bankruptcy of a CIPF member firm, CIPF (Canadian Investor’s Protection Fund) insures up to $1 million per general client accounts (cash, margin, TFSA).
| Company | |
| RBC Direct Investing Inc. | CIPF Member |
| TD Direct Investing Inc. | CIPF Member |
| Questrade Inc. | CIPF Member |
| Canadian ShareOwner Investments Inc. (Wealthsimple Trade) | CIPF Member |
These can be confirmed by visiting the member list page on cipf.ca. More details about CIPF insurance on cipf.ca.