Brokerages
What a brokerage costs over a year
Every brokerage in this record whose published schedule supports it, priced over a full year at three stated patterns of investing. The headline commission has collapsed to zero at most of the field, so the comparison that matters is the sum of the quiet lines: the per-contract options fee, the currency conversion charged on United States securities, and the fee for leaving. This page adds them up at stated volumes, with the method and every parsed input printed.
The method, in full
Three profiles are modelled. The Canadian investor makes twelve online stock or ETF trades a year and nothing else. The United States investor makes the same twelve trades, six of them purchases of US-listed shares, converting $5,000 each time, $30,000 over the year. The options trader makes six stock trades and twenty-four options trades of two contracts each. Commissions are read at the standard published tier, never an active-trader tier the profile does not reach; a per-share schedule is modelled at 100 shares a trade with the schedule's printed minimum applied; an options figure applies the schedule's printed per-trade minimum where one is printed; a conversion tier is read at the tier containing a $5,000 conversion, and a published range is modelled at both ends and printed as a range. Figures a schedule prices in US dollars are modelled in US dollars and say so in their inputs. Admin fees, inactivity fees and margin interest are not in any total: their published wording turns on account types and balances that a stated pattern of trades does not fix, and the full schedules on each brokerage's page carry them. The transfer out fee is printed as its own column because it is paid once, on leaving, rather than yearly. A brokerage whose schedule does not reduce to single figures under these rules is listed under the model with the reason, rather than forced into it.
| Brokerage | Inputs as read from the published schedule | Canadian investor, per year | US investor, per year | Options trader, per year | Transfer out, once |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wealthsimple (self-directed / Wealthsimple Trade) | stock trades at $0.00 each ($0 as published); options trade of two contracts $0.08 (Canadian-listed, per contract as published); conversion of $30,000 in six $5,000 conversions $450.00 (1.5% as published) | $0.00 | $450.00 | $1.92 | $0.00 |
| Questrade | stock trades at $0.00 each ($0 as published); options trade of two contracts $1.98 (base plus per contract as published); conversion of $30,000 in six $5,000 conversions $450.00 (1.5% as published) | $0.00 | $450.00 | $47.52 | $150.00 |
| BMO InvestorLine (Self-Directed) | stock trades at $0.00 each ($0 as published); options trade of two contracts $1.80 ($0 base plus per contract as published); conversion of $30,000 in six $5,000 conversions not modelled (no conversion charge published in the capture) | $0.00 | not modelled | $43.20 | $0.00 |
| National Bank Direct Brokerage (NBDB) | stock trades at $0.00 each ($0 as published); options trade of two contracts $6.25 (per contract as published, printed minimum applied); conversion of $30,000 in six $5,000 conversions not modelled (no numeric conversion charge published in the capture) | $0.00 | not modelled | $150.00 | $150.00 |
| Desjardins Online Brokerage (Disnat) | stock trades at $0.00 each ($0 as published); options trade of two contracts $8.75 (per contract as published, printed minimum applied); conversion of $30,000 in six $5,000 conversions $45.00 to $570.00 (the published range, with both ends modelled) | $0.00 | $45.00 to $570.00 | $210.00 | $150.00 |
| Qtrade Direct Investing | stock trades at $0.00 each ($0 as published); options trade of two contracts $1.50 (base plus per contract as published); conversion of $30,000 in six $5,000 conversions not modelled (no numeric conversion charge published in the capture) | $0.00 | not modelled | $36.00 | $150.00 |
| MogoTrade | stock trades at $0.00 each ($0 as published); options trade of two contracts not modelled (no options schedule published in the capture); conversion of $30,000 in six $5,000 conversions not modelled (no numeric conversion charge published in the capture) | $0.00 | not modelled | not modelled | $0.00 |
| Interactive Brokers Canada | stock trades at $1.00 each (per share, modelled at 100 shares with the printed minimum); options trade of two contracts $1.30 (US options at the fixed tier, priced in US dollars as published); conversion of $30,000 in six $5,000 conversions $12.00 (per-order commission as published, in US dollars) | $12.00 | $24.00 | $37.20 | not in the capture |
| CIBC Investor's Edge | stock trades at $6.95 each (standard online tier as published); options trade of two contracts $9.45 (base plus per contract as published); conversion of $30,000 in six $5,000 conversions $480.00 (1.6% at the tier containing a $5,000 conversion, as published) | $83.40 | $563.40 | $268.50 | not in the capture |
| RBC Direct Investing | stock trades at $9.95 each (standard online tier as published); options trade of two contracts $12.45 (base plus per contract as published); conversion of $30,000 in six $5,000 conversions $480.00 (1.6% at the tier containing a $5,000 conversion, as published) | $119.40 | $599.40 | $358.50 | $150.00 |
| TD Direct Investing | stock trades at $9.99 each (standard online tier as published); options trade of two contracts $12.49 (base plus per contract as published); conversion of $30,000 in six $5,000 conversions not modelled (no conversion charge published in the capture) | $119.88 | not modelled | $359.70 | not in the capture |
| Scotia iTRADE | stock trades at $9.99 each (standard online tier as published); options trade of two contracts $12.49 (base plus per contract as published); conversion of $30,000 in six $5,000 conversions not modelled (no conversion charge published in the capture) | $119.88 | not modelled | $359.70 | not in the capture |
Brokerages the model does not price
| Brokerage | Why not |
|---|---|
| CI Direct Investing | Not modelled: no stock commission published in the capture |
The schedules themselves, in each brokerage's own wording, are on the brokerages pages. Figures are modelled from the captures of 2026-11-15 and are arithmetic on published charges, not quotes.