This Questrade review answers the question most Canadians now ask: with Questrade charging nothing to trade stocks and ETFs, is it the right brokerage for you, or is Wealthsimple the better fit? Questrade is a Canadian-owned online brokerage with $80 billion in assets under administration, after 27 years in the Canadian market, by its own figures. Below is every fee that still applies, what the accounts and platforms include, where Questrade beats Wealthsimple and where it loses, and who should skip it. Every Questrade figure comes from Questrade’s own pricing, fee, margin, account and promotions pages, checked September 24, 2026; Wealthsimple figures come from Wealthsimple’s own pages. This review is general education, not financial advice.
Questrade at a glance
| Item | Current figure | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Questrade commission on stocks and ETFs | $0 to buy and sell Canadian and U.S.-listed stocks and ETFs | questrade.com Verified October 7, 2026 |
| Questrade dual-currency accounts (hold CAD and USD) | free — every account can hold both Canadian and US dollars | questrade.com Verified October 7, 2026 |
| Questrade currency conversion fee — how it is charged | 1.5% on Canadian-to-US-dollar conversions and back, built into the exchange rate Questrade applies | questrade.com Verified October 8, 2026 |
| Questrade options commission | $0 commissions on US equity options contracts | questrade.com Verified October 7, 2026 |
| Questrade fee to journal shares (e.g. for Norbert's Gambit) | $9.95 per online journaling request (free and unlimited with Questrade Plus) | questrade.com Verified October 7, 2026 |
| Questrade CAD margin interest rate (non-registered accounts) | CAD prime + 4.25% on debit balances under $100,000 (CAD prime + 3.25% from $100,000) | questrade.com Verified October 7, 2026 |
| Interest Questrade pays on uninvested cash (at current prime rates) | 0% at current prime rates — Questrade's formula for CAD cash is prime minus 8.50%, and a negative result pays 0% | questrade.com Verified October 7, 2026 |
| Questrade fee to transfer an account to another institution | $150 per account, for a full or partial transfer (sales tax added where applicable) | questrade.com Verified October 7, 2026 |
| Questrade fee per partial RRSP, spousal RRSP, LIRA or LRSP withdrawal | $50 per partial withdrawal from an RRSP, spousal RRSP, LIRA or LRSP | questrade.com Verified October 7, 2026 |
| Questrade account opening fee and minimum balance | free to open, with no minimum balance | questrade.com Verified October 7, 2026 |
| Questrade annual account and inactivity fees | none — no annual account fees and no inactivity fees | questrade.com Verified October 7, 2026 |
| Questrade Plus subscription price | $19.99 a month plus applicable taxes (free for the first 30 days) | questrade.com Verified October 7, 2026 |
| Questwealth Portfolios management fee schedule | 0.25% a year on balances of $250 to $99,999, and 0.20% from $100,000 | questrade.com Verified October 7, 2026 |
In one line: buying and selling is free and holding US dollars is free, so the costs a typical client actually pays come from currency conversion, margin interest, uninvested cash that earns nothing, and the fees for leaving or withdrawing from an RRSP.
Is Questrade good?
Yes: Questrade is a good choice for most self-directed Canadian investors, especially anyone who holds US stocks, needs an unusual account type or wants active-trading tools. YieldMaple rates it 4.3 out of 5.
What it does well:
- Free trading. Questrade’s pricing page lists $0 to buy and sell Canadian and U.S.-listed stocks and ETFs, and $0 commissions on US equity options contracts.
- US dollars without a monthly fee. Dual-currency accounts are free — every account can hold both Canadian and US dollars, including registered accounts.
- A long account list. TFSAs, RRSPs, FHSAs and RESPs sit alongside LIRAs, LIFs, RRIFs, trust, estate and corporate accounts.
- Serious tools at no cost. Questrade Pro is free for all Questrade customers, with free real-time Level 1 streaming quotes, plus free snap quotes.
- Cheap robo portfolios. Questwealth charges 0.25% a year on balances of $250 to $99,999, and 0.20% from $100,000.
Where it costs you:
- Currency conversion at 1.5% each way, unless you use Norbert’s Gambit.
- Margin at CAD prime + 4.25% on Canadian-dollar loans.
- Idle cash that earns nothing at today’s prime rate.
- Exit and withdrawal fees: $150 per account to leave, and $50 per partial withdrawal from an RRSP, spousal RRSP, LIRA or LRSP.
The rating reflects that balance. For a buy-and-hold ETF investor, Questrade is close to free. For a margin borrower or someone who parks cash, it costs noticeably more than Wealthsimple.
What are Questrade’s fees?
Questrade charges nothing to buy or sell Canadian and US-listed stocks and ETFs; its fees come from currency conversion, margin, a few product commissions and account administration.
Trading fees
- Stocks and ETFs: $0 to buy and sell Canadian and U.S.-listed stocks and ETFs. Exchange (ECN) fees: none on Canadian orders; on US orders only when you route an order to a specific exchange yourself, trade US over-the-counter securities or trade in the overnight session. Questrade also passes on the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s tiny fee on every sale of a US-listed security.
- Options: $0 commissions on US equity options contracts; Canadian-listed options cost CA$0.99 per contract. Exercising an option costs $24.95 to exercise an option (assignment is free).
- Mutual funds: $9.95 per trade. Bonds: $0 in commission to buy or sell (Questrade's pay is built into the bond's price instead) (checked October 8, 2026). GICs: no cost to buy or sell. Bonds and GICs each need a $5,000 minimum purchase.
- Stocks listed outside Canada and the US: 1% of the trade value, charged in US dollars, with a $195 minimum per trade. That minimum makes small overseas purchases uneconomical; a Canadian-listed international ETF is the cheaper route.
- Orders placed by phone through the trade desk: $45 per trade, on top of any regular commission.
- Currency conversion: 1.5% on Canadian-to-US-dollar conversions and back, built into the exchange rate Questrade applies. Journaling shares for Norbert’s Gambit costs $9.95 per online journaling request (free and unlimited with Questrade Plus).
Account and administration fees
- Annual and inactivity fees: none — no annual account fees and no inactivity fees.
- Transferring out: $150 per account, for a full or partial transfer (sales tax added where applicable).
- RRSP, LIRA and LRSP withdrawals: $50 per partial withdrawal from an RRSP, spousal RRSP, LIRA or LRSP, or $100 to withdraw an RRSP, spousal RRSP, LIRA or LRSP in full (the same fee applies to LIF unlocking). Home Buyers’ Plan withdrawals cost $25 for a partial Home Buyers' Plan or Lifelong Learning Plan withdrawal ($50 for a full one). RESP withdrawals are free — no fee for a full or partial RESP withdrawal. The administrative schedule lists no withdrawal fee for TFSAs or FHSAs.
- Moving cash: withdrawals to your bank are free by electronic funds transfer (EFT), up to $50,000 in Canadian dollars or US$25,000 in US dollars; wires cost $20 for a Canadian-dollar wire and $30 for a US-dollar wire.
- Market data: the free tier gives free real-time Level 1 streaming quotes, plus free snap quotes. Expanded data (direct US exchange streaming and live US options data) costs CAD $9.95 a month ($0 with Questrade Plus), and Level 2 depth costs US$44.95 a month.
Is Questrade good for US stocks?
Yes: Questrade is one of the better Canadian choices for US stocks, because every account holds US dollars for free, so you convert once instead of on every trade.
Questrade’s pricing page puts it plainly: you can hold USD in registered accounts, so US trades don't force a conversion. The conversion itself isn’t cheap. Questrade’s transaction-fee schedule lists 1.5% on Canadian-to-US-dollar conversions and back, built into the exchange rate Questrade applies, a fee it says was last updated in November 2023. Once the money is in US dollars, dividends and sale proceeds stay there until you decide to convert back.
Norbert’s Gambit cuts the conversion cost. You buy a security that trades in both currencies (a US-dollar ETF listed on the TSX in both a CAD and a USD version is the usual pick), ask Questrade to journal the units to the US-dollar side, then sell them for US dollars. Questrade now handles journaling as an online request at $9.95 per online journaling request (free and unlimited with Questrade Plus). On a $20,000 conversion, the posted fee would be $300; Norbert’s Gambit costs one journaling fee of $9.95 plus the bid-ask spread on two trades, saving close to $290. The method takes more steps than a direct conversion and leaves you exposed to small price moves until the second trade is done.
Tax is the same at every brokerage. Under the Canada–US tax treaty, US dividends paid to an RRSP are exempt from US tax, as long as the plan is operated exclusively to provide pension, retirement or employee benefits. In a TFSA they could be subject to foreign withholding tax, per the CRA's TFSA guide. The full process, from the W-8BEN form to choosing a ticker, is in how to buy US stocks from Canada.
Is Questrade safe?
Yes: Questrade, Inc. is a CIRO-regulated investment dealer and a CIPF member, the same protection framework that covers the bank-owned brokerages.
Questrade’s disclosures describe Questrade, Inc. as a registered investment dealer and a member of both the Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization (CIRO) and the Canadian Investor Protection Fund (CIPF). CIPF’s own limits are $1 million for all general accounts combined (such as cash, margin, TFSA and FHSA accounts), plus $1 million for all registered retirement accounts combined (such as RRSPs, RRIFs and LIFs), plus $1 million for RESPs where you are the subscriber. Cash held at a member firm is eligible too, alongside securities, if the member firm becomes insolvent. What CIPF doesn’t do: it doesn't protect you from a drop in the value of your investments, for any reason, and it costs you nothing — CIPF is funded by its member firms, so you don't pay a fee for it.
One detail matters if you use the robo service: Questwealth Portfolios are managed by Questrade Wealth Management Inc., which isn't itself a CIRO or CIPF member, while Questrade, Inc. provides the custody, trade execution and reporting. Your holdings still sit with the CIPF member. For a longer walk through the coverage rules, see whether Questrade is safe.
What accounts can you open at Questrade?
Questrade offers nearly every Canadian account type, from TFSAs, RRSPs, FHSAs and RESPs to locked-in, retirement-income, trust, estate and corporate accounts.
Its account-types page lists TFSA, RRSP, spousal RRSP, FHSA, RESP (individual and family), LIRA, locked-in RRSP, LIF, RRIF, cash and margin (individual and joint), corporate, trust, estate, partnership, sole proprietorship, and Forex & CFD accounts. Self-directed accounts are free to open, with no minimum balance. Wealthsimple’s self-directed list covers TFSA, RRSP, FHSA, RESP, LIRA, RRIF, non-registered (cash and margin), and corporate accounts, and it accepts transfers of non-registered (individual and joint), TFSA, RRSP, spousal RRSP, FHSA, RRIF, spousal RRIF, LIRA, LIF, pension, RESP, business, and margin accounts. That’s enough for most people; what Wealthsimple doesn’t list are trust, estate, partnership and sole proprietorship accounts, which is where Questrade’s longer list matters.
Two gaps worth knowing. Questrade’s account-types page doesn’t list an RDSP, and neither does Wealthsimple’s account list; TD Direct Investing’s list does (TFSA, FHSA, RRSP, cash, margin, RESP, LIRA, RIF, LIF and RDSP, in individual, joint or corporate ownership). And fractional shares are narrower than at Wealthsimple: Questrade offers hundreds of eligible Canadian and US stocks and ETFs, from $1, commission-free, in any self-directed account, while Wealthsimple offers yes — thousands of Canadian and US stocks and ETFs.
If you’d rather not pick investments at all, Questwealth Portfolios charge 0.25% a year on balances of $250 to $99,999, and 0.20% from $100,000 and need $250 (self-directed accounts have no minimum). That undercuts Wealthsimple’s managed investing at 0.50% a year on Core. The best robo-advisors in Canada guide compares both with the other robo services.
What do Questrade’s platforms and market data include?
Questrade’s active-trading platform, Questrade Pro, is free for every client, and real-time Level 1 streaming quotes are free too.
Questrade Pro adds charting that draws support and resistance lines automatically, a multi-leg options strategy builder, keyboard shortcuts for placing orders, trading straight from a chart and trade-by-trade performance tracking. Questrade also advertises newer tools: trading rules you write in plain language that Pro carries out for you, and a way to connect your account to an outside AI assistant for portfolio analysis. Its site menu also lists a custom indexing product. Questrade’s Edge platforms still matter for one thing: per Questrade’s transaction-fee page, they’re the only place you can choose your own order route, and direct-routed US orders are one of the few ways to trigger ECN fees.
For a buy-and-hold investor none of this is necessary; the web platform and mobile app cover buying an ETF each month. For an active trader, the free Level 1 data, the optional Expanded (CAD $9.95 a month ($0 with Questrade Plus)) and Level 2 (US$44.95 a month) packages, and a platform built for charting and options analysis are the real reasons to choose Questrade over a simpler app.
Treat the marketing numbers with care. Questrade’s “Why Questrade” page advertises an average client return of 31.5% for clients with more than $10,000 invested, over the year ending May 29, 2026, against 29.2% for the S&P 500 (a money-weighted average Questrade publishes itself). That’s one year, self-reported, limited to larger accounts and measured in a strong market. It says nothing about what your own portfolio will return, and a brokerage’s platform isn’t what drives long-term returns.
Is Questrade Plus worth it?
Questrade Plus is worth it only for heavy users: at $19.99 a month, it pays off if you journal often, trade many US options or make large RRSP deposits.
The subscription costs $19.99 a month plus applicable taxes (free for the first 30 days), or $239.88 a year. Its perks and their break-even points:
- RRSP match: a 1% match on deposits to your Questrade RRSP (Questrade Plus subscribers, from August 1, 2026). To earn back the fee from the match alone, you’d deposit about $24,000 a year into your Questrade RRSP. The 2026 RRSP dollar limit is $33,810, so only high earners with a lot of RRSP room contribute that much.
- Free, unlimited journaling instead of $9.95 a request. That covers the fee only if you journal more than twice a month.
- Options cashback of $0.05 per US equity options contract (Questrade Plus only). You’d need about 400 contracts a month for cashback alone to cover the fee.
- Expanded market data, normally CAD $9.95 a month ($0 with Questrade Plus), plus lifestyle subscriptions such as MasterClass and The Wall Street Journal.
The perks stack, so an active options trader who also journals and wants Expanded data can come out ahead. A monthly ETF buyer should skip it. Questrade’s promotions page offers Plus free for the first 30 days; if you’re only testing it, check how the trial moves to the paid plan before you sign up.
How much does Questrade charge for margin, and does it pay interest on cash?
Questrade’s CAD margin rate is CAD prime + 4.25%, about 8.70% today, and uninvested cash currently earns nothing.
The full schedule is CAD prime + 4.25% on debit balances under $100,000 (CAD prime + 3.25% from $100,000), with CAD prime at 4.45%. US-dollar borrowing costs USD prime + 4.50% on debit balances under US$100,000 (USD prime + 3.50% from US$100,000), or 11.50% with USD prime at 7.00%. Very high-volume options traders are the exception: Questrade’s margin page lists USD prime − 2.5% on US-dollar borrowing for clients who trade 5,001 or more US equity and index options contracts a month, about 4.50% today. Borrowing $10,000 in Canadian dollars for a year costs about $870 at Questrade, against $495 at Wealthsimple’s Core rate of 4.95%, a gap of $375 a year.
New clients can get 0% interest on your first US$5,000 of USD margin borrowing for up to 6 months (new clients who open a margin account with code 0MARGIN, September 1 to December 31, 2026). Read the fine print before relying on it: the offer’s terms and conditions require an application you start and finish between September 1 and December 1, 2026 (11:59 p.m. ET), a month earlier than the end date in the promotions page’s footnote, so apply early if you want it. Borrowing to invest can lose more than you put in; the Wealthsimple margin account guide explains margin calls.
On the other side of the ledger, uninvested cash earns 0% at current prime rates — Questrade's formula for CAD cash is prime minus 8.50%, and a negative result pays 0%. Cash waiting to be invested earns more elsewhere: Wealthsimple’s Savings account pays 2.5% (available to every client, no tiers), and its Chequing account pays 1.25% on Core.
What would a year at Questrade cost you?
For a buy-and-hold ETF investor, close to nothing; the bill grows only if you convert currency, borrow, withdraw from an RRSP or move your accounts elsewhere. Five typical cases, using Questrade’s published fees:
- Monthly ETF buyer in a TFSA. Twelve purchases of a Canadian-listed ETF cost $0 a year. The same is true at Wealthsimple, so choose on features.
- US-stock investor converting $20,000 once. Questrade’s conversion fee is $300, or about $9.95 plus spreads with Norbert’s Gambit, and holding the US dollars afterwards costs nothing. At Wealthsimple, a USD account on Core would cost $320 in the first year and $120 a year after that. Over several years, Questrade is cheaper for this investor on Wealthsimple’s Core plan. Clients with $100,000 or more at Wealthsimple (Premium) pay no monthly USD-account fee, so their $200 conversion beats Questrade’s posted $300, though not Norbert’s Gambit.
- Margin borrower with a $10,000 CAD loan. About $870 a year in interest at Questrade, compared with $495 at Wealthsimple on Core.
- First-time buyer using the Home Buyers’ Plan. Taking Home Buyers’ Plan money out of a Questrade RRSP costs $25 for a partial Home Buyers' Plan or Lifelong Learning Plan withdrawal ($50 for a full one). Two ordinary partial RRSP withdrawals in a year would cost $100.
- Leaving Questrade with a TFSA, RRSP and FHSA. $450 in exit fees, plus sales tax where it applies, unless the new brokerage reimburses them. Wealthsimple’s coverage is reimbursed on transfers of $25,000 or more, up to $150 per account, and its transfer guide explains the steps.
To price your own mix of trades, conversions and account fees across several brokerages, use the Canadian brokerage fee calculator.
Are older Questrade reviews still accurate?
Not on fees: many older reviews, including an earlier version of this one, still describe per-trade commissions, but Questrade’s pricing page now lists $0 to buy and sell Canadian and U.S.-listed stocks and ETFs.
- Old claim: ETF buys are free but sells cost a commission. Now both sides are free, for stocks and ETFs alike.
- Old claim: small accounts pay an inactivity fee. Questrade now lists none — no annual account fees and no inactivity fees.
- Old claim: Norbert’s Gambit needs a phone call. Journaling is now an online request at $9.95 per online journaling request (free and unlimited with Questrade Plus).
- Old claim: Questrade pays a tiered cash-back bonus on deposits. On September 24, 2026, Questrade’s promotions page listed the new-client margin offer, transfer-fee reimbursement, a refer-a-friend bonus of $50 each for you and the friend who opens and funds an account with your referral code and a free Questrade Plus trial, with no deposit-based cash-back offer.
- Old claim: Questrade supports RDSPs. Its account-types page doesn’t list one.
- Old claim: Wealthsimple’s USD account comes with a “Wealthsimple Plus” plan, and families need Questrade for an RESP. Wealthsimple has no Plus plan; its USD account costs $10 a month for Core clients; free for Premium and Generation, and its RESP is available as a self-directed or managed RESP.
Is Questrade or Wealthsimple better?
Neither wins outright: both charge nothing to trade stocks and ETFs, but Questrade wins for long-term US-dollar holdings and specialised accounts, and Wealthsimple wins for margin and everyday banking.
| Feature | Questrade | Wealthsimple |
|---|---|---|
| Commission on stocks and ETFs | $0 to buy and sell Canadian and U.S.-listed stocks and ETFs (better on this row) | $0 (better on this row) |
| Holding US dollars | free — every account can hold both Canadian and US dollars (better on this row) | USD account: $10 a month for Core clients; free for Premium and Generation |
| Currency conversion fee | 1.5% | 1.5% from a CAD account; into a USD account, 1.5% under $10,000; 1.0% from $10,000; 0.5% from $25,000; 0% from $100,000 |
| CAD margin rate | CAD prime + 4.25% | 4.95% on Core (better on this row) |
| Interest on cash | 0% at current prime rates — Questrade's formula for CAD cash is prime minus 8.50%, and a negative result pays 0% | Savings: 2.5% (available to every client, no tiers); Chequing: 1.25% on Core (better on this row) |
| Fractional shares | hundreds of eligible Canadian and US stocks and ETFs, from $1, commission-free, in any self-directed account | yes — thousands of Canadian and US stocks and ETFs (better on this row) |
| Managed portfolios | 0.25% a year on balances of $250 to $99,999, and 0.20% from $100,000 (better on this row) | 0.50% a year on Core |
| Transfer fees covered when you move in | reimbursed up to $150 per account | reimbursed on transfers of $25,000 or more, up to $150 per account |
| Investor protection | Questrade, Inc. is a CIPF member | securities eligible for CIPF coverage up to $1M per defined account |
Sources: questrade.com pricing, transaction-fee, administrative-fee, margin-interest and account-types pages (checked September 24, 2026); wealthsimple.com pricing, margin, accounts and savings pages (checked September 23, 2026).
Both lean on the same headline conversion fee: 1.5% at Questrade and 1.5% from a Wealthsimple CAD account. The difference is what happens next. Questrade lets you keep US dollars for free; Wealthsimple charges $10 a month for Core clients; free for Premium and Generation for its USD account but prices conversions into it by size: 1.5% under $10,000; 1.0% from $10,000; 0.5% from $25,000; 0% from $100,000. From $10,000 up, a conversion into a Wealthsimple USD account costs less than Questrade’s posted fee, and from $100,000 it’s free. Questrade’s answer is Norbert’s Gambit, which costs one journaling fee of $9.95 plus trading spreads, whatever the amount.
Where Questrade beats Wealthsimple: free US-dollar holding on every account (Wealthsimple Core clients pay monthly for theirs), trust, estate and partnership accounts, and cheaper robo portfolios. For active traders, Questrade also offers Questrade Pro, a free advanced platform with automatic support-and-resistance charting and a multi-leg options builder, plus optional Level 2 data and, on its Edge platforms, manual order routing; compare those with Wealthsimple’s current trading tools if they matter to you.
Where Wealthsimple beats Questrade: margin at 4.95% on Core instead of CAD prime + 4.25%, interest on cash in the same app, fractional shares on a longer list, and chequing, savings, tax filing and investing under one login. Questrade’s own menu lists investing accounts and trading tools, not chequing or savings accounts.
The full head-to-head, with fee examples for TFSAs, RRSPs and RESPs, is in Wealthsimple vs Questrade. For everything else Wealthsimple offers, see our complete Wealthsimple guide.
Who should (and shouldn’t) use Questrade?
Pick Questrade if the things it does best match how you invest; pick Wealthsimple if you borrow, hold cash or want banking in the same place.
Pick Questrade if:
- You hold US stocks and want to keep US dollars for years without a monthly fee.
- You need a trust, estate, partnership or sole proprietorship account, which Wealthsimple doesn’t list.
- You trade actively or trade options and want free real-time data, Level 2 depth and control over order routing.
- You want a low-cost robo portfolio: Questwealth charges 0.25% on balances under its top tier.
Pick Wealthsimple if:
- You borrow on margin. For most borrowers, the rate gap is the biggest cost difference between the two.
- You want chequing, savings, investing and tax filing in one app.
- You often hold uninvested cash, which earns nothing at Questrade today.
- You might switch brokerages within a year or two, since each account costs $150 to move out at Questrade.
Look beyond both if: you mainly buy mutual funds, which cost $9.95 per trade at Questrade, or you need an RDSP, which neither Questrade’s nor Wealthsimple’s account list includes.
If Questrade fits, you can compare Questrade's current accounts and offers on its site before applying. If you’re weighing a third option, Wealthsimple vs Interactive Brokers covers the cheapest route for currency conversion. Questrade vs Interactive Brokers compares those two directly. For the matchup with Qtrade, see the Qtrade and Questrade head-to-head.
The verdict
Questrade earns 4.3 out of 5 from YieldMaple. Its core offer is excellent: $0 to buy and sell Canadian and U.S.-listed stocks and ETFs, free US-dollar holding in every account, a long account list and a free advanced trading platform. It loses points for the costs that remain: a 1.5% conversion fee, a margin rate well above Wealthsimple’s, no interest on cash at current rates, RRSP withdrawal fees and a $150 exit fee per account.
For a long-term investor with a US-dollar portfolio or a specialised account, Questrade is one of the best-value homes in Canada. For a margin borrower, a cash-heavy saver or someone who wants all their money in one app, Wealthsimple is the better fit. Either way, the protection framework is the same: Questrade, Inc. is a CIRO-regulated CIPF member, and Wealthsimple’s dealer is Wealthsimple Investments Inc. (WSII), a member of the Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization (CIRO) and the Canadian Investor Protection Fund (CIPF). This review is general education, not financial advice; the right brokerage depends on what you hold, how you trade and which accounts you need.