Qtrade Direct Investing Review 2024

Is Qtrade Direct Investing regulated?

Yes, it is regulated by the Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization (CIRO) and is a member of the Canadian Investor Protection Fund (CIPF).

Is Qtrade Direct Investing safe?

To be certain that a brokerage is safe, we highly advise that you check two facts:

• how you are protected if something goes wrong
• the background of the broker.

How you are protected

This is important for you because the investor protection amount and the regulator may differ from entity to entity. With Qtrade Direct Investing, this is not an issue because all customers are serviced by Credential Qtrade Securities Inc.
Credential Qtrade Securities Inc. is a member of the CIPF. Therefore, Qtrade Direct Investing clients are eligible for the CAD 1 million coverage offered by the CIPF.
It is also worth noting that Qtrade Direct Investing does not provide negative balance protection.

Our brokerage experts put together a comprehensive guide on the safety profile of Qtrade Direct Investing.

Background

Qtrade Direct Investing was established in 2000 in Canada. The longer track record a broker has, the more proof we have that it has successfully survived previous financial crises.
Qtrade Direct Investing is a subsidiary of Aviso Wealth Inc, which offers many types of financial services from online brokerage to insurance.
It's also a great plus that Aviso Wealth Inc. is backed by the Desjardins Group, which is one of the biggest financial groups in the world.
Enjoying top-tier regulation, offering a high investor protection amount and having a solid parent company are all great signs for Qtrade Direct Investing's safety.

Find your safe broker

Account base currencies

At Qtrade Direct Investing, you can choose from the following 2 base currencies: USD, CAD.

This selection is average compared to competing brokers.

Why does this matter? For two reasons. If you fund your trading account in the same currency as your bank account or you trade assets in the same currency as your trading account base currency, you won't have to pay a conversion fee.

A convenient way to save on currency conversion fees is by opening a multi-currency bank account at a digital bank. These usually offer bank accounts in several currencies with great currency exchange rates, as well as free or cheap international bank transfers. Opening an account only takes a few minutes on your phone.

Deposit fees and options

Qtrade Direct Investing charges no deposit fees.

You have the following options to deposit funds:

• Electronic transfer from a bank account
• Using the "bill payee" function through online banking

Here's all you need to know about depositing money at Qtrade Direct Investing and key info on minimum deposit requirements.

A bank transfer can take several business days. You can only deposit money from accounts that are in your name.

Qtrade Direct Investing withdrawal fees and options

Qtrade Direct Investing doesn't charge a withdrawal fee. You can use the same withdrawal options as for deposit.

Read this guide with all key info on available withdrawal methods and related fees.

You can only withdraw money to accounts in your name.

How long does it take to withdraw money from Qtrade Direct Investing? We tested the bank transfer withdrawal and it took 2 business days.

How do you withdraw money from Qtrade Direct Investing? You can withdraw money from Qtrade Direct Investing by following these steps:

1. Log into your account
2. Move your cursor over 'My Accounts' to open the drop-down menu
3. Click 'Transfer Funds'
4. Choose your method of transfer
5. Choose the account to withdraw from, then set the amount and currency
6. Choose which account to transfer to
7. Initiate withdrawal

Can you open an account?

Visit broker

Read this article on how to get your account started with Qtrade Direct Investing.

What is the minimum deposit at Qtrade Direct Investing?

The required Qtrade Direct Investing minimum deposit is $0.

Account types

You can choose among different account types based on ownership:

• Individual account: owned by an individual
• Joint account: owned by two or more individuals
• Non-personal accounts (corporate, organization, trust): owned by a legal entity

Within individual accounts, Qtrade Direct Investing offers several account types:

*When you trade with money borrowed from the broker

How to open your account

Qtrade Direct Investing's account opening process is fully digital and the entire process takes 2-3 business days. Qtrade Direct Investing also has instant account openingfor certain clients who meet the necessary parameters. Our account was verified within 3 business days. You must have a valid Canadian Social Insurance Number (SIN) to be able to open an account at Qtrade Direct Investing.
To open an account, you must complete the following steps:

1. Add your email address and set a password
2. Select your account type and account base currency
3. Add personal information, like date of birth or residency
4. Answer a few questions relating to your financial knowledge
5. Choose your funding options (funding is not mandatory)
6. Sign and submit. Wait for an email response whether you've been approved or whether you must supply more information

Qtrade Direct Investing has an in-house developed mobile trading platform. It is available on both iOS and Android. We tested the iOS version.

Look and feel

The app's design is very basic, and we ran into a few glitches and crashes when tested it.

Login and security

Qtrade Direct Investing provides a safer, two-step login for its mobile platform.

You can log in using biometric authentication, which is a convenient feature.

Search functions

The search functions are good.

Placing orders

You can use the following order types on the mobile trading platform:

• Market
• limit
• stop limit
• stop market
• trailing stop market
• trailing stop limit

There is a single order time limit you can use: Good till time.

Alerts and notifications

You cannot set alerts and notifications on the Qtrade Direct Investing mobile platform.

Our analysts personally tested Qtrade Direct Investing's mobile app, check out their verdict.

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Qtrade Direct Investing offers an in-house developed web trading platform.

The web trading platform is available in the following languages:

• English
• French

Look and feel

The Qtrade Direct Investing web trading platform is OK. It's easy to use and has undergone a full rebranding to look more modern. Nevertheless, we found some bugs during testing. For example, the order panel didn't always work, and at one point we couldn't check the account summary.
It's not possible to customize the platform.

Login and security

Qtrade Direct Investing provides a safer, two-step login.

This is enabled once the account is approved and opened. An access code is sent by text to a clients mobile device upon attempted login. There is a 'trust this device' option to not require multi-factor authentication for 30 days.

Search functions

The search functions are good.

Search results appear as you type, giving relevant answers to your query.

Placing orders

You can use the following order types:

• Market
• Limit
• Stop limit
• Stop market
• Trailing stop market
• Trailing stop limit

If you are unfamiliar with some of these terms or want to learn more, read our overview of order types.

There is a single order time limit you can use: Good till time.

Alerts and notifications

You can set price alerts and notifications on the Qtrade Direct Investing web trading platform.

However, you can only set email notifications; we missed push notifications for mobile. Also, the process is a bit inconvenient as you have to use the asset's ticker when searching for an asset to set up alerts for. It would be much easier if you could search using the asset's name, just like on the main search panel.

Portfolio and fee reports

Qtrade Direct Investing has clear fee reports.

You can find your reports under 'My Accounts' > 'Service center' > 'View eDocuments'.

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This selection is average compared to competing brokers.

Stocks and ETFs

Qtrade Direct Investing gives access to North American stock exchanges only. This puts the company at a disadvantage compared with more globally-focused brokers operating in Canada, but Qtrade Direct Investing could still be a perfect fit for clients who focus exclusively on the Canadian and US markets.

You can trade on the following stock exchanges: NYSE, NASDAQ, S&P 500, TSX, TSXV, CSE and the Aequitas NEO Exchange.

Funds

Qtrade Direct Investing offers a sizable selection of mutual funds.

This selection is average compared to competing brokers.

Bonds

Qtrade Direct Investing offers bonds in various categories, such as municipal bonds, corporate bonds and provincial bonds.
The number of bonds is average, but it is an ideal selection if you're into Canadian fixed income securities.

This selection is great compared to competing brokers. Both RBC Direct Investing and Questrade list fewer bonds.

Options

Qtrade Direct Investing gives access to all CAD & US listed exchange traded options including weekly, monthy, quarterly and LEAPS (long-term).

This selection is average compared to competing brokers.

GICs

Guaranteed investment certificates (GICs) are financial products providing guaranteed returns when you agree to lend money to a financial institution for a fixed period.

We recommend Qtrade Direct Investing for investors, including beginners, who focus on the Canadian and US markets.

Below you can find links to all aspects of Qtrade Direct Investing in this comprehensive collection.

Lower fees, lower costs?

We detailed this in our Qtrade Direct Investing fees article.

What about the minimum deposit?

Our ultimate guide to the Qtrade Direct Investing minimum deposit is updated regularly.

How to start your Qtrade Direct Investing account?

Look no further than our evaluation of the Qtrade Direct Investing account opening.

How's their trading app?

Here's our expert view after checking the Qtrade Direct Investing trading app.

Is the quality of customer service satisfactory?

All you need to know about the Qtrade Direct Investing customer service.

Legit or scam?

Is Qtrade Direct Investing legit features all the key aspects you need to look at to see if a broker is safe and legit.

Free or premium? Or both?

A glance at actual costs and whether Qtrade Direct Investing is really free.

Is this broker good for beginners?

We checked it in Is Qtrade Direct Investing good for beginners.

Should you buy your silver bullets on Qtrade Direct Investing?

Research for silver bugs in the Silver buy on Qtrade Direct Investing guide

I want to trade options, are they available at Qtrade Direct Investing?

We explored the topic in Can you trade options on Qtrade Direct Investing?

What is the minimum account balance at Qtrade Direct Investing?

Check out the current account balance requirements at Qtrade Direct Investing in our What is the minimum account balance at Qtrade Direct Investing article.

Looking for commission and fees data for Qtrade Direct Investing?

We collected them in Qtrade Direct Investing commission and fees

How do you withdraw money from Qtrade Direct Investing?

We tested it and collected the options and costs in How to withdraw money on Qtrade Direct Investing.