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Questrade Review 2023: What matters to Canadian investors

June 28, 2023

For over 20 years, Questrade has provided Canadian investors with its attractive fees on a full range of assets—including stocks, mutual funds,  ETFs, initial public offerings (IPOs), bonds, and even gold and silver. If you’re shopping around for a discount brokerage, you’ve likely come across Questrade, especially since it’s  among the most popular online brokerages,  and competes with Wealthsimple.

Questrade has a few different offerings aimed at different types of investors in Canada. Questwealth Portfolios—its robo-advisor—caters to first-time investors, those with limited experience or those who simply don’t want to actively manage their investments.  The brokerage service is meant for do-it-yourself (DIY) investors and traders, and it is best suited to those with more investing knowledge and confidence. Among its latest offerings, Questrade also offers mortgages—making its inroad into another sector of the financial services landscape. Whatever the reason, if you’re not yet familiar with this financial services provider, here’s what you need to know to decide whether it’s the right fit for you.

Learn more about Questrade Accounts* >

What’s the backstory on Questrade?

In 1999, at the dawn of online stock trading, entrepreneur Edward Kholodenko co-founded Questrade with three partners. Based in Toronto, their aim was, to offer DIY investors a low-cost alternative to Canada’s large banks and brokerages. Weathering the dot-com crash that soon followed, Questrade emerged to become the country’s fastest growing online brokerage.

In 2014, the platform entered the robo-advisor market by adding pre-fab portfolios of low-fee investments to its product line—for those who lack the knowledge or inclination to go the self-directed route. Today, Kholodenko (who immigrated to Canada from the Ukraine with his family when he was five) still heads up the company, which has $30 billion in assets under administration, sees about 250,000 new accounts opened each year.

Who is its target market?

Because Questrade has offerings for self-directed investors as well as hands-off investors who prefer to leave those decisions to a team of experts, it is popular with newbie and seasoned investors alike. The common thread among clients is cost-consciousness, as Questrade’s investment fees* are among the lowest in Canada. Its new app—Questrade Edge—is aimed at attracting active traders with a thirst for lots of data, advanced customization and real-time research at their fingertips.

What can I do with my money at Questrade?

Questrade’s user-friendly trading platforms allow DIY investors to open almost any type of investment account online:

Once you have at least $1,000 in an account, you can start buying, selling and trading investments. For the FHSA, the minimum amount required to fund and activate your account is just $250. Questrade offers trading in stocks, bonds, all North American exchange-traded funds (ETFs), mutual funds (including low-cost Series F funds), guaranteed income certificates (GICs), options, IPOs, and alternative assets, such as precious metals, FX (foreign currency) and CFDs (contract for differences).

If DIYing is not your thing, Questrade’s low-cost robo-advisor, Questwealth Portfolios*, might be of interest. After opening your account and funding it with the required $1,000 minimum, instead of choosing your own investments, you’ll be asked a series of questions to determine your risk tolerance, investment goals and overall approach to money. Based on your answers, Questwealth’s algorithm will choose a portfolio for you—aggressive, growth, balanced, income or conservative. Each portfolio is composed of a diversified mix of low-cost ETFs. If you prefer socially responsible investing (SRI), you can get SRI versions of the Questwealth Portfolios. The SRI portfolios hold securities classified as environmentally and socially responsible, including having a positive record regarding human rights and corruption.

The difference between each of portfolios is the asset allocation—the ratio between higher-risk investments such as Canadian, U.S. and international equity ETFs, and lower-risk fixed-income ETFs, which may hold bonds and GICs. An aggressive portfolio would be overweight with riskier investments (which also offer the possibility of greater returns in the long run), while a conservative one would include a higher percentage of lower-risk investments.

How much does it cost?

What you will pay in Questrade fees depend on the service or product you choose—DIY or pre-fab Questwealth Portfolios—as well as the specific investments that you choose; for example stocks, mutual funds, ETFs and/or options. Regardless of what you go buy, there is no cost to opening or closing an account, and it charges no fees to transfer your account(s) to Questrade from another financial institution. What’s more, Questrade’s commissions and management fees are very competitive—among the lowest in the market, as detailed below:

Fees for Questrade self-directed investing*

  • ETFs: No commission on purchases; selling an ETF can cost between $4.95 to $9.95 per transaction; traders would have to pay the ETF’s management expense ratio (MER), which is set and collected by the funds themselves, not by Questrade); management expense ratios (MERs) for Canadian ETFs could range from about 0.05% to well over 0.25%.
  • Mutual Funds: $9.95 per trade
  • Stocks: purchase and sell commissions are $4.95 to $9.95 per transaction
  • Bonds and GICs: minimum purchase $5,000; fees may apply if withdrawn early
  • International equities: 1% of the trade value; $195 minimum
  • IPOs and new issues: free to purchase; $5000 minimum
  • Precious metals: US$19.95 per trade 
  • Options: $9.95, plus $1 per contract traded

Traders get access to lower trading fees (known as active trader pricing) on stocks, ETFs and options when they buy a premium data package. More on that below.

Fees for Questwealth Porfolios*

  • Management fees: This charge is calculated as a percentage of the total amount of money you have invested. Clients with balances less than $100,000 in total pay 0.25% annually; those with balances of $100,000 or more pay 0.20% annually.
  • ETF fees: Each individual ETF in a Questwealth Portfolio has its own embedded fee, referred to as the MER, or management expense ratio, which is set and charged by the ETF provider and not by Questrade. These fees range from 0.17% to 0.22% (and 0.21% to 0.35% for socially responsible investments, or SRIs).

As an example, a $50,000 managed portfolio would cost you about $185 to $235 in annual fees, if you’re invested in one of the five core Questrade portfolios. Or you’d pay $205 to $300 for the same amount invested in an SRI portfolio.

Questrade’s market data

To help traders make data-driven decisions, Questrade offers self-directed clients with access to a variety of free and paid data packages. Here’s a basic rundown of what you can expect:

Every account holder gets free snap quotes on options, indexes, stocks and ETFs. This means that Canadian traders get to see real-time bid and ask prices for securities listed on the major North American exchanges.  When looking up stock or ETF quotes, all traders have free, immediate access to:

  • Price data, including a basic, but dynamic chart
  • Key statistics, such as previous closing price, lows, highs, dividends, market capitalization and more
  • Ticker analysis powered by TipRanks
  • News feed powered by Benzinga on the stock or ETF being looked up.

On the Questrade Edge platform—the one that’s built for active traders—you can get real-time streaming data for stocks and ETFs in addition to snap quotes. That means you don’t have to keep clicking refresh to get real-time info.  It’s all done automatically for you, which is great for traders who want more granular data.

There are three premium packages to choose from:

  • Real-time options, $19.95 a month, for streaming level 1 data on Canadian and U.S. options
  • Advanced Canadian streaming, $89.95 a month, for additional level 1 and level 2 data for Canadian exchanges, as well as indices data.
  • Advanced U.S. streaming, USD$89.95 a month, for additional level 1 and level 2 data for U.S. exchanges, as well as indices data.

The advanced streaming packages also give you access to lower trading fees on stocks, ETFs and options. You can also choose a la carte live streaming data add-ons.

It’s worth noting that the paid market data subscriptions are refundable. And, if your total commissions for the month total $48.95 or more, you’ll receive a $19.95 rebate. Similarly, if you are on the pricier plan (which also provides access to “active trader pricing” that could save you on fees) the full $89.95 fee will be waived once you generate commissions of $399.95 or more.

What research tools are provided?

Questrade was named MoneySense’s best online broker for 2023, and part of that reasoning is its ability to help Canadian investors make more informed decisions.

1. Mutual Funds Centre, powered by Morningstar

This research tool, available for free under the market research tab on Questrade’s online trading platform, allows you to search for and analyse mutual funds based on several parameters including historical performance, fees and risk factors. If you want to invest in mutual funds, but aren’t sure which one to pick, you can narrow in on the right one using fund filters such as fund class, fund providers, currency, Morningstar category, and others.

2. Intraday Trader, powered by Recognia

Intraday Trader, also available under the market research tab on the platform, uses pattern recognition (technical analysis) to keep an eye on trading opportunities in Canadian and U.S. equities. The algorithm flags trading ideas and events for you based on your chosen technical patterns, signals or stocks. When one of your target trades is triggered, Intraday Trader will send you notifications with annotated charts and a description of what’s happening and why.

3. IPO Centre

This tool provides information on (and lets you buy) the latest IPOs, secondary offerings and structured products.

4. Newsletters

All Questrade account holders have access to two daily newsletters:

  • Bonds Bulletin: This list of liquid bonds and other fixed income products is sent daily. Investors who want to diversify their holdings can scan the bonds and GICs on offer and then call Questrade’s trade desk to place their trade orders—minimum $5,000.
  • The Morning Brief: This daily newsletter covers news, views, analysis and technical predictions on the markets for the day. It also includes overnight news from Asia and Europe, and a synopsis of the expected direction that major market indices could take on that trading day.
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Are there any drawbacks to Questrade?

Let’s look at the pros and cons of using Questrade.

Pros:

  • Low trading and admin fees: Questrade has some of the lowesttrading and administration fees among Canadian online brokers and robo-advisors—with free ETF purchases being a clear competitive differentiator.
  • Variety of account types: Questrade offers a wide variety of account types—including margin accounts—and it was the first financial institution to offer FHSA accounts in Canada, launching this year.
  • Selection of investment products: While investors may begin their journey with stocks and ETFs, Questrade offers a full suite of investment products including bonds, GICs and IPOs.
  • Instant deposit options: Questrade offers a slew of free and paid deposit and withdrawal options, including instant deposits from your bank account and debit card.
  • Paperless account opening: While this may not seem like a big deal in 2023, Canadian financial institutions are notorious for insisting on paper submissions.
  • Effective customer service: Reviews of its customer service quality varies, but the general consensus is that it’s better than it used to be—and in testing the service we had a positive experience with its chat.Questrade can be reached through online chat, phone or email.
  • Five ETF portfolios to choose from: Questwealth Portfolios—the robo-advisor—offers five done-for-you ETF portfolios, plus an SRI option for each of the five. So, there’s a portfolio to suit pretty much every risk profile.

Cons:

  • Relatively high minimum funding amount: $1,000 minimum funding amount to activate your account (except for the FHSA—which is $250).
  • Multiple platforms or apps: While this may be a plus for some Canadian traders—it may be too much for novice investors with its multiple apps and platforms that Questrade has to offer. Since it has a lot to offer on its platforms, it could take a while to get comfortable with all of them.

Bottom line: Should you use Questrade?

Investors looking for a discount brokerage with a full suite of investment products combined with low fees and an entirely online experience would be well-served by Questrade. Whether DIY or done-for-you, Questrade’s products and services cater to novice and experienced investors and traders alike. As a one-stop shop for your investments, it’s tough to beat on price, easy-of-use and product offerings.

Learn more about Questrade Accounts* >

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