Canadian Brokerage Fee Calculator 2026: Compare All 10 Brokers

It depends on your trading style. For ETF buy-and-hold investors making monthly contributions: Wealthsimple Trade ($0) and National Bank Direct Brokerage ($0) tie. For active stock traders making 50+ trades/year: Interactive Brokers ($1.25/trade) is typically cheapest. For Canadians who buy US stocks frequently: Interactive Brokers (0.2% FX) or Wealthsimple Trade Premium (native USD account on $10/mo plan) minimize FX losses. Use the calculator above to confirm based on your specific patterns.

Wealthsimple Trade is genuinely free for stocks and ETFs (no commissions, no monthly fees on the free tier). They monetize via FX conversion fees (~1.5% on USD purchases, avoidable with Wealthsimple Premium's native USD account) and Wealthsimple Cash interest spread. National Bank Direct Brokerage is also fully commission-free and uses standard FX. Both are CIPF-insured up to $1M.

Questrade charges $0 to BUY ETFs (any ETF, not a curated list) but $4.95-$9.95 to SELL them. For long-term buy-and-hold investors who rarely sell, this is essentially free. For investors who rebalance frequently, the sell commissions add up. Stocks (not ETFs) cost $4.95-$9.95 per trade in either direction at Questrade.

Most Canadian brokers charge 1.5-1.75% to convert CAD to USD on every trade. On a $10,000 USD stock purchase, that's $150-175 in FX fees — typically more than the entire year's commissions for an active investor. Interactive Brokers charges 0.002% (essentially nothing). Wealthsimple Trade Premium ($10/mo) provides native USD accounts. For US-stock-heavy portfolios, FX fee is the most important number on this comparator.

Switching is worth it if the fee gap exceeds $100-200/year (roughly the time cost of moving). Use the calculator to estimate your current broker's annual cost and compare to the cheapest option. Most major Canadian brokers offer free transfers in (and reimburse the $50-150 transfer-out fee at the losing broker for accounts above $15K). Wealthsimple Trade specifically has aggressive transfer-in promotions.

TD Direct, RBC Direct, BMO InvestorLine, CIBC Investor's Edge, and Scotia iTRADE all charge $6.95-$9.99 per trade due to legacy pricing built when commissions were $30+. They make sense ONLY if you (a) bank at the Big 5 and want integrated account management, (b) qualify for fee waivers (RBC Royal Circle at $250K+), or (c) have specific account types Wealthsimple/Questrade don't offer. For most retail investors, Big 5 brokers are ~$100-500/year more expensive than alternatives.

Excluded: account inactivity fees (Questrade $25/quarter under $1K balance, RBC waived for active accounts, etc.), USD-account monthly fees (Wealthsimple Premium $10/mo), data feed subscriptions for active traders (only relevant at $50+/mo), tax forms and account closure fees ($150 typical), and ECN fees on certain order types ($0.0035/share, small). For most retail investors these are negligible vs commission and FX differences.

Yes — fees verified May 2026 from each broker's official pricing page. Canadian broker fees change occasionally; we update this calculator quarterly. Wealthsimple periodically runs commission-free promotions on selected products; the calculator reflects standard published rates, not promotions.