Wealthsimple gold is real, physically backed bullion that you buy and sell in a self-directed Wealthsimple account for a fee of 1% on top of the spot price on each trade, with no storage charge. This guide sets out what Wealthsimple actually offers for gold today, what each route costs, how the gold coins work, and when a gold ETF costs less. YieldMaple checked Wealthsimple’s gold page, pricing page, futures page and help centre on September 30, 2026, and every figure below comes from those pages.
Wealthsimple gold at a glance
| Item | Current figure | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Wealthsimple gold trading fee (physical gold, per buy or sell) | 1% on top of the spot price | wealthsimple.com Verified October 7, 2026 |
| Gold trading fee by plan (Core, Premium, Generation) | 1% on Core, Premium and Generation alike | wealthsimple.com Verified October 7, 2026 |
| Smallest gold purchase on Wealthsimple | $1 | wealthsimple.com Verified October 7, 2026 |
| Storage fee on gold held at Wealthsimple | $0 | wealthsimple.com Verified October 7, 2026 |
| Redemption fee for a 1 oz Wealthsimple gold coin | 2.25% | wealthsimple.com Verified October 7, 2026 |
| Redemption fee for a 1/10 oz Wealthsimple gold coin | 11% | wealthsimple.com Verified October 7, 2026 |
| Gold trading hours on Wealthsimple | 24/7 | wealthsimple.com Verified October 7, 2026 |
| Accounts that can trade gold | all Wealthsimple self-directed (Trade) accounts, registered (such as a TFSA or RRSP) and non-registered | wealthsimple.com Verified October 7, 2026 |
| Accounts that can redeem gold for coins | available in non-registered accounts only (not TFSAs or RRSPs) | wealthsimple.com Verified October 7, 2026 |
| Gold coin delivery time after a redemption request | 7–10 business days for most deliveries | wealthsimple.com Verified October 7, 2026 |
In sentences: the trading fee is 1% on top of the spot price, and it is 1% on Core, Premium and Generation alike, so moving up to Premium or Generation does not reduce it. Purchases start at $1, storage costs $0, and orders can be placed 24/7. You can hold gold in all Wealthsimple self-directed (Trade) accounts, registered (such as a TFSA or RRSP) and non-registered. Turning it into coins costs 2.25% for a 1 oz coin or 11% for a 1/10 oz coin, redemption is available in non-registered accounts only (not TFSAs or RRSPs), and delivery takes 7–10 business days for most deliveries.
What does Wealthsimple actually offer for gold?
Wealthsimple offers four ways to get gold exposure: physical gold, gold ETFs, gold-mining stocks and gold futures, plus a small gold slice inside most of its Classic managed portfolios. The broader guide on how to buy gold in Canada covers bullion dealers, ETFs and storage beyond Wealthsimple.
- Physical gold (Wealthsimple’s “Gold” product). You buy a fractional share of pooled, 99.99% pure bullion, priced in Canadian dollars, which Wealthsimple sources through Silver Gold Bull, a Canadian precious metals dealer. It is the only route that can end with coins in your hand.
- Gold ETFs. Exchange-traded funds that hold gold bullion (or track its price) list on the TSX and US exchanges and trade like any other ETF, at $0 commission. A US-listed fund bought from a Canadian-dollar account adds the 1.5% conversion fee each way.
- Gold-mining stocks. Shares of companies that dig gold, or ETFs that hold a basket of them, also trade at $0 commission. Miners are businesses, so they can rise or fall far more than the metal itself.
- Gold futures. Wealthsimple’s futures page lists major stock indices such as the S&P 500 and commodities such as gold and oil, charged at US$1 per contract, plus exchange and regulatory fees, and they are available in individual margin accounts only (not TFSAs, RRSPs or other registered accounts, and not joint or corporate margin accounts). These are leveraged, expiring contracts for experienced traders, not a way to own gold.
- Managed portfolios. Per Wealthsimple’s help centre, the gold weight in its Classic portfolios is 2.5% (Conservative), 2.9% (Balanced), 2.5% (Growth) and 0% (Aggressive). Wealthsimple chooses that weight, not you.
What Wealthsimple does not offer, as of September 30, 2026: silver, platinum or other precious metals as physical holdings (its help centre says only gold is available so far); gold bars shipped to you (only coins); recurring purchases or limit orders for gold; and any current promotion involving gold or gold coins. The gold-backed crypto token Pax Gold is also off the menu: it is no longer available to buy or deposit on Wealthsimple (since December 22, 2023; selling and withdrawing are still supported). Wealthsimple’s gold page calls Wealthsimple the only Canadian brokerage offering online trading in physically backed gold, based on an August 2025 comparison with the CIRO-regulated order-execution-only dealers that offer gold trading. That is Wealthsimple’s claim; YieldMaple has not verified it independently.
How much does gold trading cost on Wealthsimple?
Each gold buy and each sell costs 1% on top of the spot price, so a round trip at an unchanged price costs about 2%, with no storage or conversion fee.
The fee comes out of the amount you trade. Wealthsimple’s help centre example works out to $1 on a $100 purchase, leaving $99 to buy gold, and it describes the charge as 1% per gold transaction, buys and sells alike. That is why your average price in the app sits slightly above the fill price: the average includes the fee, the fill price is the market price when the order filled. There is no commission on top, no storage charge while you hold, and no MER. Storage is not free to provide, though: Wealthsimple’s help centre says the spread charged on gold orders covers trading, storage and operational costs, so the trading fee is what pays for the vault. Because gold is priced in Canadian dollars, you avoid the 1.5% conversion fee that applies when you buy a US-listed fund from a Canadian-dollar account.
Worked example: a round trip on Wealthsimple gold
Here is what the published fee means on an $1,000 order, assuming the gold price does not move:
- Buying. The fee is $10, so $990 goes into gold at the market price.
- Selling right away. Selling that $990 of gold costs another $9.90 and returns $980.10.
- Total cost of the round trip. $19.90, or about 2% of what you put in.
- Break-even. Gold has to rise by about 2% between your buy and your sell before you come out ahead.
That makes Wealthsimple gold a poor fit for quick in-and-out trades, even though orders can be placed 24/7. The longer you hold, the less that one-time cost matters, because there is nothing to pay while the gold sits in the account.
How do you buy gold on Wealthsimple?
Use a self-directed Wealthsimple account with Canadian dollars in it, search for Gold, pick GOLD under Metals and enter an amount from $1; per the help centre, gold trades in the Wealthsimple app or on the Wealthsimple website.
- Pick the account. Gold can go in all Wealthsimple self-directed (Trade) accounts, registered (such as a TFSA or RRSP) and non-registered. Coins can only come out of a non-registered account, because redemption is available in non-registered accounts only (not TFSAs or RRSPs); gold bought in a TFSA or RRSP stays in the account. Opening an account costs $0.
- Fund it in Canadian dollars. Gold is priced in CAD, so there is nothing to convert.
- Find gold. In the Wealthsimple app, tap the Search icon, type “Gold” and select GOLD under Metals. Wealthsimple’s help centre (checked September 30, 2026) gives the same steps on the website, although its gold product page still says web trading isn’t available, so the app is the dependable route.
- Enter the order. Choose the account, tap Trade, choose Buy, and enter a dollar amount or a weight of gold, from $1. All gold orders are market orders, filled instantly at real-time prices and not cancellable once filled.
- Review and submit. The 1% on top of the spot price fee comes out of the amount you spend. After the order fills, the gold appears in the account’s holdings as GOLD.
One timing detail: orders can be placed 24/7, but the global gold market pauses over the weekend, so orders placed between 5:00 pm ET Friday and 6:00 pm ET Sunday receive an indicative price.
How do Wealthsimple gold coins work?
Gold in a non-registered account can be redeemed for 1/10 oz or 1 oz limited-edition Wealthsimple coins made by the Royal Canadian Mint, for a fee of 2.25% (1 oz) or 11% (1/10 oz), delivered in 7–10 business days for most deliveries.
Per Wealthsimple’s help centre, you request coins in the app: open the non-registered account holding your gold, tap the GOLD holding, tap Get gold coins, choose the quantity and coin size, review, confirm the delivery address and place the order. The gold is sold to fill the request. The redemption fee covers minting, insurance and insured delivery, and it is built into the redemption price the app shows you. Coins go only to the residential address on your Wealthsimple profile, an adult has to sign and show ID, and you can track the parcel from the gold redemption entry in the app’s Activity tab. Each request is capped at 5 oz per transaction, and Wealthsimple measures gold in troy ounces (about 31.1035 grams each).
Coin size matters far more than it looks. Per $1,000 of gold value redeemed, the fee is about $22.50 in 1 oz coins but about $110 in 1/10 oz coins, almost five times as much. Add the purchase fee, and gold bought on Wealthsimple and redeemed as 1 oz coins costs roughly 3.2% of the money put in to get into your hands.
Four things change once coins leave the account:
- CIPF protection ends. Gold in your Wealthsimple account is covered by CIPF; coins at home are not, so storage and insurance are up to you.
- It is a taxable event. Wealthsimple treats a redemption as a withdrawal and a taxable event (report any capital gain or loss).
- There is no buyback. Wealthsimple doesn't buy back physical gold once it has been withdrawn, so selling later means a coin dealer’s bid price.
- No certificate comes with the coin. Wealthsimple says dealers authenticate its Royal Canadian Mint coins by mint origin, purity and packaging instead.
Is Wealthsimple gold physically backed and safe?
Yes: Wealthsimple says its gold is physical, 99.99% pure bullion stored with the Royal Canadian Mint and Brinks, in segregated program-level storage, and covered by CIPF while it stays in your account.
Wealthsimple describes the storage as segregated program-level storage: every client’s gold sits in the same pool, held in trust and kept apart from the assets of Wealthsimple and its storage partners, while Wealthsimple’s records track each client’s exact share. That means you own a fraction of pooled bullion, not a numbered bar. The gold is sourced from Canadian mines only, per the help centre, and the storage facilities are in Canada and approved by CIRO.
Two risks remain. The first is price: a Wealthsimple Advisor Insights article from April 2025 called gold “quite volatile and riskier than stocks”, and CIPF, which covers securities eligible for CIPF coverage up to $1M per defined account, protects against a dealer’s insolvency, not a falling gold price. The second is currency: the price is not hedged against currency moves, so it follows both the gold spot price and the USD/CAD exchange rate, because gold is priced globally in US dollars. A rising loonie can pull your Canadian-dollar value down even when gold itself is flat. CDIC deposit insurance does not cover gold or other investments at any institution. For how the rest of the platform is protected, see whether Wealthsimple is safe.
Can you hold Wealthsimple gold in a TFSA or RRSP?
Yes, you can buy and sell Wealthsimple gold in a TFSA, RRSP or other registered account, but you can only redeem coins from a non-registered account.
Wealthsimple’s gold page says gold trades in all Wealthsimple self-directed (Trade) accounts, registered (such as a TFSA or RRSP) and non-registered, while coin redemption is available in non-registered accounts only (not TFSAs or RRSPs). Wealthsimple’s help centre says it is focusing on gold trading for now and will consider coin redemption for other account types in the future, with no date given. Its Learn guide to investing in gold (checked September 30, 2026) adds that Canadian-listed gold ETFs are generally eligible for a TFSA or RRSP, while gold bars and coins you hold personally are not. In a TFSA, any rise in the gold price is tax-free; in an RRSP, tax waits until withdrawal. The account guides cover contribution room: how the Wealthsimple TFSA works and how the Wealthsimple RRSP works.
One practical point: gold pays no dividends or interest, so all of its return comes from the price. Inside a TFSA or RRSP, gold uses the same limited contribution room as holdings that also pay income.
Wealthsimple gold vs a gold ETF: which costs less?
Wealthsimple’s physical gold costs about 2% across a buy and a sell but nothing to hold, while a Canadian-listed gold ETF costs $0 to trade but charges an MER every year.
| Feature | Wealthsimple physical gold | Gold ETF (Canadian-listed) | Gold futures |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cost to buy or sell | 1% on top of the spot price (better on this row) | $0 commission plus the bid-ask spread | US$1 per contract, plus exchange and regulatory fees |
| Cost to hold | $0 storage, no MER (better on this row) | The fund's MER, every year | No holding fee, but contracts expire; rolling to a new one is another trade |
| Physical gold you can take home | Yes, as coins (available in non-registered accounts only (not TFSAs or RRSPs)) (better on this row) | No | No (cash-settled) |
| TFSA and RRSP | Trade: yes; coin redemption: no | Yes (better on this row) | No: individual margin accounts only (not TFSAs, RRSPs or other registered accounts, and not joint or corporate margin accounts) |
| Trading hours | 24/7 (better on this row) | Exchange hours | Futures market hours |
Sources: Wealthsimple gold page, pricing page and futures page; Wealthsimple help centre articles on buying gold, converting gold to coins and trading futures; Wealthsimple Learn guide to investing in gold. Checked September 30, 2026. ETF MERs vary by fund; check the fund's own page.
The table comes down to one trade-off. Wealthsimple’s gold charges 1% on top of the spot price when you buy and again when you sell, then nothing while you hold it. A Canadian gold ETF trades for $0 commission but deducts its MER from the fund every year, and as Wealthsimple’s gold page puts it, an ETF gives you no entitlement to the underlying metal. Gold futures are cheap to trade at US$1 per contract, plus exchange and regulatory fees, but they are leveraged, cash-settled and limited to individual margin accounts only (not TFSAs, RRSPs or other registered accounts, and not joint or corporate margin accounts).
Worked example: how long before an ETF’s MER catches up?
Take a gold ETF with an MER of 0.25%; use your own fund’s figure, from its fund page. Wealthsimple’s round trip costs about 2%, so the ETF’s yearly MER takes about 8 years to add up to the same cost. On those numbers:
- Holding for a few years or less, or trading in and out: the Canadian-listed gold ETF costs less.
- Holding for many years, with no plan to trade: Wealthsimple’s physical gold can cost less, because nothing is charged while you hold.
- Wanting coins at home: only Wealthsimple’s physical gold does that, and 1 oz coins at 2.25% are far cheaper to redeem than 1/10 oz coins at 11%.
- Wanting gold inside a broad portfolio: a managed portfolio may already hold some. Wealthsimple’s Classic portfolios hold 2.5% (Conservative), 2.9% (Balanced), 2.5% (Growth) and 0% (Aggressive) in gold.
For the ETF side of the process, the step-by-step guide to buying VFV on Wealthsimple walks through placing an ETF order, and the VFV vs XEQT comparison shows what a US-only fund and a global all-in-one fund each hold.
Is there a Wealthsimple gold promotion?
No gold promotion was listed in Wealthsimple’s promotions help centre on September 30, 2026; a past offer, a 0% gold trading fee, ended on November 3, 2025.
That offer, the Gold 0% Spread Trading Fee Offer, started on October 22, 2025 for existing and past self-directed clients. Its capacity was $100M in gold trades (extended from $50M), and once that was used up, the fee went back to 1% per gold transaction. No current Wealthsimple offer gives away gold coins: getting a Wealthsimple coin means buying enough gold and paying the redemption fee. The spinning gold coin at the bottom of the app’s home screen is something else: per the rules of Wealthsimple’s Monthly Millionaire contest (checked September 30, 2026), spinning it earns contest entries, not gold. The same rules count a gold redemption as a withdrawal when tallying net deposits. The general sign-up offers are covered in the Wealthsimple bonus guide.
Who Wealthsimple gold suits (and who it doesn’t)
Wealthsimple’s physical gold fits you if:
- You plan to hold gold for years and want no ongoing fee: storage is $0 and there is no MER.
- You want the option of real coins later, and hold the gold in a non-registered account.
- You want to buy small amounts, from $1, in Canadian dollars.
A gold ETF fits you better if:
- You trade gold often or hold it briefly, where the 1% on top of the spot price on each side adds up fast.
- You want limit orders or automatic recurring purchases, which Wealthsimple does not support for its physical gold.
Gold in any form is a weaker fit if:
- You need income: gold pays no dividends or interest.
- You need the money soon: a Wealthsimple Advisor Insights article from April 2025 called gold volatile, and the price in Canadian dollars also moves with the exchange rate.
If Wealthsimple fits, you can open a Wealthsimple self-directed investing account and buy gold once it is funded.
This page is general education, not financial advice; whether gold belongs in your portfolio depends on your goals, timeline and other holdings. For everything else Wealthsimple offers, from account types to fees, see our complete Wealthsimple guide.