Questrade Review 2023

How we ranked fees

We ranked Questrade's fee levels as low, average or high based on how they compare to those of all reviewed brokers.

First, let's go over some basic terms related to broker fees. What you need to keep an eye on are trading fees and non-trading fees.

• Trading fees occur when you trade. These can be commissions, spreads, financing rates and conversion fees.
• Non-trading fees include charges not directly related to trading, like withdrawal fees or inactivity fees.

In the sections below, you will find the most relevant fees of Questrade for each asset class. For example, in the case of stock investing the most important fees are commissions.

We also compared Questrade's fees with those of two similar brokers we selected, Qtrade and RBC Direct Investing. This selection is based on objective factors such as products offered, client profile, fee structure, etc. See a more detailed rundown of Questrade alternatives.

To have a clear overview of Questrade, let's start with trading fees.

Questrade trading fees

Questrade trading fees are average. The fee structure is transparent and easy to understand.

Stock fees and ETF fees

Questrade has generally low stock and ETF fees.

Questrade charges $0.01 per share for a trade, with a minimum fee of $4.95 and a maximum of $9.95. When trading ETFs, you will be charged only for selling, otherwise the fee structure is the same as for stock trading.

If you prefer stock trading on margin, you should check Questrade's margin rates.

Trading on margin basically means that you borrow money from your broker and can purchase more shares than you could with just the available cash in your account. You have to pay interest on this borrowed money – the interest rate is called the margin rate. It can account for a significant portion of your trading costs.

Questrade margin rates are high.

Questrade charges a base rate and a markup for trading on margin. The markup depends on your debit balance. It is 3.75% for a debit balance below $100,000 and 2.75% if it is higher.

Forex fees

Questrade forex fees are average.

To have a clear picture of forex fees, we calculated a forex benchmark fee for major currency pairs. This catch-all benchmark includes commissions, spreads and financing costs for all brokers.

Fund fees

Questrade fund fees are low compared with other brokers around the world, but high compared to other Canadian stockbrokers.

The standard fee for mutual funds is $9.95 per trade.

Bond fees

Questrade charges no bond fees, but you must buy a minimum of $5,000 per trade.

Options fees

Questrade options fees are average but stock index options fees are high.

Options fees are $9.95 per option, plus $1 per contract.

CFD fees

Questrade has average CFD trading fees.

To have a clear understanding of CFD fees, we calculated a CFD benchmark fee for the selected products. This catch-all benchmark includes commissions, spreads and financing costs for all brokers.

We calculated with 20:1 leverage for stock index CFDs and 5:1 leverage for single stock CFDs.

Questrade's stock CFD fees are commission-based and have a minimum as seen in the table below:

Non-trading fees

Questrade has generally low non-trading fees.

There is no account fee, and withdrawals via electronic transfer are also free up to CAD 50,000 or $25,000. However, wire transfers cost $20-40 depending on your residency. International clients can only use wire transfers.

Questrade charges no inactivity fee. 

Can you open an account?

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Questrade is a Canadian discount broker that primarily targets Canadian clients, although its services are available to clients all over the world.

What is the minimum deposit at Questrade?

The required Questrade minimum deposit is $1,000.

Account types

Questrade offers several types of accounts. When opening an account, the options are grouped based on the products available with that account (e.g. margin or forex & CFDs) and account ownership. It's worth keeping in mind that the main difference comes from who owns the account. This can be:

• an individual
• multiple individuals
• a legal entity

How to open your account

Opening an account as a Canadian resident is simple and fully digital:

1. Choose an account type. Opening multiple accounts at once is possible.
2. Provide your personal information, including country of residence, citizenship, Social Insurance Number and employment information.
3. Review and confirm the information.
4. Accept the terms and conditions.
5. Transfer funds.

The account opening process takes less than 30 minutes for Canadians.

For international customers, it's more complicated and time-consuming. After registering online and following the instructions above, you have to get in contact with a representative of Questrade to verify your documents, and then mail the documents. This whole process took us more than two weeks.

If you are opening your first account with Questrade, you can do it via Questrade Trading's mobile app as well. You can open a self-directed TFSA, RRSP, or Margin account.

Account base currencies

At Questrade, you can choose from 2 base currencies: USD, CAD. This is in line with the offer of other Canadian competitors.

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 don'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.

Compare digital banks

Deposit fees and options

Questrade does not charge a deposit fee. International clients can use only wire transfer to fund their account. 

If you are from Canada, you can use several options, many of which are free:

• Electronic fund transfer
• Electronic wallets (Interac Online)
• Certified cheques
• Visa debit card / Questrade's instant deposit up to CAD 3,500

A bank transfer can take several business days, while payment with a credit/debit card would be instant.

You can only deposit money from accounts that are in your name.

Questrade withdrawal fees and options

Questrade does not charge withdrawal fees for electronic fund transfers of less than CAD 50,000 or $25,000. On the other hand, wire transfers cost $20-40 (depending on your residency). For non-Canadians, only wire transfers are available.

How long does it take to withdraw money from Questrade? We tested the bank transfer withdrawal and it took more than 3 business days.

How do you withdraw money from Questrade?

1. Log in to your account.
2. Move your cursor over 'Accounts' to open the drop-down menu.
3. Click on 'Accounts'.
4. Move your cursor over 'Requests'.
5. Click on 'Withdraw funds'.
6. Choose the account to withdraw from, the amount, currency and method.
7. Initiate the withdrawal.

Questrade offers three trading platforms that differ in the products available and the devices they are offered for. See the table below for details.

We reviewed Questrade Trading in this section. 

Look and feel

Available in English only, Questrade's web trading platform is user-friendly and has a simple yet elegant design. Maybe as a result of its simplicity, it offers limited customizability, especially compared to Questrade's highly customizable desktop trading platform.

Login and security

Questrade provides a secure two-step login process. It doesn't require you to enter the security code every time, which is convenient, but if you log in from a new computer you need to enter a generated code sent to your phone or by email.

When you log in to a device for the first time, you have to answer a security question. On successive logins, the accounts can be accessed with the basic login ID and password combination.

Search functions

The search function is basic. You can search by using a company name or an asset ticker.

Search results are not always relevant: when searching for Apple stocks, they only appeared lower on the list of results.

Placing orders

You can use the following order types:

• Market
• Limit
• Stop-loss
• Stop-limit
• Trailing stop
• Trailing stop-limit
• Limit on open order
• Limit on close order

If you are not familiar with the basic order types, read this overview.

There are also order time limits you can use:

• Good ‘till date (GTD)
• Good ‘till canceled (GTC)
• Day
• Good ‘till extended market (GTEM)
• Fill or kill (FOK)
• Immediate or cancel (IOC)

Alerts and notifications

Setting alerts at Questrade Trading is extremely user-friendly and there are several advanced options: you can set price and trading volume alerts and combine them with various equations. The alerts can be received on multiple email addresses and SMS as well.

Portfolio and fee reports

Questrade provides a clear, easy-to-read portfolio report. However, there is no clear fee report showing how much commission you paid to the broker.

The reports can be found in the 'Account' section on the opening page. It's unclear whether they can be downloaded.

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This table shows the mobile trading platforms that are available at Questrade. If you want to open a self-directed TFSA, RRSP or Margin account, you can do it through the app, provided it is your first account at Questrade.

In this review, we tested Questrade Trading's mobile app. It is available both for iOS and Android. We tested it on Android.

In functionality and design it is the same as the web trading platform. It offers the same order types and has similar search functions. Price alerts are shared across devices, so if you create an alert on the web platform you can see and edit it in the app as well, which is very convenient. One small negative is the lack of push notifications, as even from the app you can only set email and text message alerts.

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Questrade's desktop trading platform, IQ Edge is recommended for more advanced traders. It offers more complex order types, a highly customizable interface and a wider variety of features overall than Questrade's other platforms.

The desktop trading platform is available for both Windows and macOS in English.

Look and feel

The Questrade desktop trading platform is well-designed and highly customizable. It is easy to change the tab sizes and positions.

Login and security

Questrade's desktop platform requires two-step verification.

Search functions

The search functions are OK. On the plus side, you can find the assets by typing the company name or the asset ticker, but the search results are not always the most relevant.

Placing orders

Besides the order types and order time limits available on the web trading platform, you can add conditional orders and bracket order.

Placing orders on IQ Edge is simple and quick as the 'Order' button is readily available on the front page.

Alerts and notifications

You can easily set alerts by clicking on 'Alerts'.

Similar to the web trading platform, you can set price and trading volume alerts. You can choose if you want to get a notification as a pop-up message, audio alert, or via SMS or email.

Portfolio and fee reports

Questrade's desktop trading platform does not have any portfolio and fee reports: these can only be accessed in the mobile app or on the web platform.

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Questrade's list of available asset classes is impressive. However, the variety of specific products within some asset classes is more limited.

Stocks and ETFs

Even though Questrade is a Canadian broker, it gives access to all major North American exchanges. It is perfect if you focus exclusively on the North American market, as you can trade on the following stock exchanges:

Forex

Questrade's forex selection includes all of the most common currency pairs, plus a few exotic pairs as well.

Funds

Questrade offers a competitive number of mutual funds compared with its peers.

Bonds

Questrade offers bonds in various categories, such as municipal bonds, corporate bonds and provincial bonds. It is an ideal selection for investors looking for Canadian fixed-income securities.

Options

The number of available options markets at Questrade is below average compared with most brokers, but relatively competitive compared with other Canadian brokers.

In Canada, you can buy and sell options on the Toronto Stock Exchange. In the US, the following options markets are available: BATS, NASDAQ, NYSE AM (AMEX) and NYSE ARCA (ARCA). It's also possible to trade OTC options in the US.

CFDs

Disclaimer: CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 74-89% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.

Robo-advisory

If you are Canadian, can also invest in Questwealth Portfolios. This is a robo-advisory service that automatically manages your investments based on your investment goals. The pricing of Questwealth Portfolios are based on the asset value:

• 0.25% annual fees for balance between CAD 1,000 and CAD 99,000
• 0.20% annual fees for balance above CAD 100,000

We liked that you can choose among Socially Responsible portfolios as well.

We think Questwealth Portfolios are great for you if you don’t want to manage your investments yourself. There are some other robos on the market, if you are interested check out our reviews here.

Questrade offers the following in-depth research tools: 

• Questrade Trading: the web trading platform 
• IQ Edge: the desktop trading platform
• Market Intelligence: a fundamental research tool
• Intraday Trader: a pattern recognition tool

Trading ideas

On the web trading platform (Questrade Trading) you will find a wide range of analyses, powered by Morningstar.

Fundamental data

There's a separate section for fundamental data under the 'Research' menu. Here you can find information on daily events, although it would be better if we could access the reports directly on the platform. Market Intelligence is a fundamental research tool that delivers a lot of information. You will find company and sector analyses, annual and quarterly financial statements, filings and an insider trading overview.

Questrade offers four Market Data Packages that provide information on the North American markets. The following packages are available for purchase at Questrade: Basic, Enhanced, Advanced US and Advanced Canadian.

At the IPO Centre, Questrade clients can subscribe to the firm's IPO Bulletin for information on the latest IPOs and secondary offerings.

Charting

Even though every Questrade platform (web, mobile, desktop) offers a charting tool, we tested the charting tools on the desktop trading platform because it is the most advanced. 

We found that the charting tools are simple, elegant and highly customizable. There are 30 technical indicators that you can, which might be enough for an average trader but is lower than what you can find at other competitors.

Questrade also offers Intraday Trader, a pattern recognition tool that is available if you are a subscriber of the Enhanced or Advanced Data packages.

News feed

News feeds are available and customizable on every Questrade trading platform.

They are updated in real-time and easy to read on the front page of each application. Additionally, there is an option to watch videos on the desktop platform, which is a very unique feature.

Other research tools you may enjoy

Questrade's desktop trading platform offers a wide range of other tools, of which here are some top picks:

• You can use a screener with an increased number of filters and products to choose from.
• There is also a tool called P&L calculator. This is for advanced traders, and calculates probabilities based on your inputs, like price, volatility, options strategy, etc.
• We also liked the integration of StockTwits, an app that is like Twitter for traders.

Lastly, if you prefer API trading, Questrade offers its API service in C++ and C#.

Compare research pros and cons

You can contact Questrade via:

• live chat
• phone
• email

The live chat service is very fast, they provide information almost immediately. When starting a chat you have to answer a few questions first, which is a minor inconvenience. However, note that you can only access the live chat if you give a Canadian phone number.

Questrade's phone support was fast and they gave useful answers. As no international phone numbers are available, you need to dial a Canadian number even if you are not from Canada. The waiting time was mixed: on some occasions we needed to wait longer, while at other times a representative answered almost immediately.

Questrade replied quickly to emails as well. The response time was only a few hours, which is great.

On the downside, customer service is not available 24/7: live chat and phone support is available on weekdays only.

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At Questrade you can learn in the following ways:

• Demo account
• Platform tutorial videos
• General educational videos
• Quality educational articles
• Webinars

By far the most useful educational tool Questrade offers is the demo account for each of its platforms. Using these, you can simulate investing and trading, even before depositing funds.

Educational materials are found in the 'Resources' section on the Questrade website. You can read blog posts on investing, register for on-demand webinars and search for information in the 'Help & How-to' section. Finding answers to generic questions using the search function is fairly simple. Information is available on various topics, such as order types, how to install IQ Edge, and funding.

Webinars are also available in the learning center. You can register and watch them in 8 topics on various investment themes (e.g. dividend investing).

Questrade's YouTube channel is another useful source of educational content. It provides videos on basics like products and services or specific topics, such as single and multi-leg orders. The quality of the videos is good but it would be great if more content was available on different assets and strategies.

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Is Questrade regulated?

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

Questrade is based in Canada and was founded in 1999.

Is Questrade safe?

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

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

How you are protected

This is important for you, because the investor protection amount and the regulator differ according to the legal entity you belong to. However, this is not an issue with Questrade, as all customers are covered by Questrade, Inc., which is a member of CIPF. This means that you are eligible for the CAD 1 million coverage offered by CIPF. 

On top of this, each account is covered by additional insurance up to CAD 10 million. This is a great service, as most other brokers don't provide such a high level of insurance.

Questrade does not provide negative balance protection.

Background

Questrade is a Canadian private company established in 1999. The longer track record a broker has, the more proof we have that it has successfully survived previous financial crises.

On the negative side, the amount of financial information available on Questrade is quite limited compared with other brokers.

Being regulated by a top-tier authority, offering high investor protection and insurance, and having been in operation for a long time are all great signs for Questrade's safety.

Find your safe broker

We recommend Questrade for traders and investors focusing on the canadian and us markets.

Below you can find links to all aspects of Questrade in this comprehensive collection.

Lower fees, lower costs?

We detailed this in our Questrade fees article.

What about the minimum deposit?

Our ultimate guide to the Questrade minimum deposit is updated regularly.

How to start your Questrade account?

Look no further than our evaluation of the Questrade account opening.

How's their trading app?

Here's our expert view after checking the Questrade trading app.

Is the quality of customer service satisfactory?

All you need to know about the Questrade customer service.

Legit or scam?

Is Questrade 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 Questrade is really free.

Is this broker good for beginners?

We checked it in Is Questrade good for beginners.

Should you buy your silver bullets on Questrade?

Research for silver bugs in the Silver buy on Questrade guide

I want to trade options, are they available at Questrade?

We explored the topic in Can you trade options on Questrade?

What is the minimum account balance at Questrade?

Check out the current account balance requirements at Questrade in our What is the minimum account balance at Questrade article.

Looking for commission and fees data for Questrade?

We collected them in Questrade commission and fees.

How do you withdraw money from Questrade?

We tested it and collected the options and costs in How to withdraw money on Questrade.