Purchasing, selling, and maintaining individual stocks in your portfolio is made easier with the top stock trading applications available in Canada.
Although I don’t advise investors to buy stocks at random, it’s encouraging to see that Canadians now have more options when it comes to the assets they include in their portfolios thanks to rising access to cheap brokerages.
Online buying of stocks or ETFs is simple, and you can even trade for free with a commission-free broker.
Best Stock Trading App of May 2024
For both novice and seasoned investors, Questrade is the greatest stock trading app available in Canada overall.
Stock Trading Platforms in Canada
Online software applications called stock trading platforms allow you to purchase and sell stocks and other financial assets in Canada.
A stock app or brokerage account links you directly to an online broker and real-time prices from a stock exchange rather than requiring you to visit a broker’s office.
Canadians wishing to reduce their investing costs can start a trading account with one of the following independent discount brokerages:
- Questrade
- Moomoo
- Qtrade
- Webull
- Wealthsimple
- Interactive Brokers
You can also open a brokerage account at your bank, with options including;
- BMO InvestorLine
- CIBC Investor’s Edge
- TD Direct Investing
- RBC Direct Investing
- Scotia iTrade
- National Bank Direct Brokerage
Best Stock Trading Apps in Canada
I go over some of the greatest trading applications available in Canada below, including Wealthsimple Trade, Moomoo, Questrade, and Qtrade, which enables you to buy stocks online for free.
Since every one of them offers advantages and places for development, I also consider its disadvantages.
Finally, I provide four more investment apps so you can use 11 investing platforms in all.
Investors of all skill levels will find Questrade to be excellent. With roots in 1999, it bills itself as “Canada’s fastest-growing online brokerage”. It is among the top investment applications available in Canada as well.
You may access more investment products and different accounts on this site, including corporate investment accounts.
Additionally, it is cross-platform, offering a desktop, mobile, and web interface.
- Account minimum: $1,000
- Trading commission: $4.95 minimum to $9.95 maximum per trade (1 cent per stock)
- Securities offered: Stocks, ETFs, options, bonds, FX, GICs, mutual funds, CFDs, and precious metals
- Accounts offered: TFSA, RRSP, RESP, RRIF, margin, corporate, trusts
- Promotion: Get $50 in free trades when you open an account and deposit at least $1,000
I. Top Lv2 Data Stock Trading App: Moomoo
Reputable for offering minimal trading fees for stocks, ETFs, options, and futures, Moomoo is a top stock trading app.
Among Moomoo’s other best features include free paper trading, low margin rates, sophisticated trading tools, and free real-time level 2 market data.
Account Minimum: $0
Trading commissions are $0.014/share or a minimum cost of $1.49 per trade on Canadian stocks & ETFs and $0.0099/share or a minimum fee of $1.99 per trade on US stocks & ETFs.
Securities offered: Stocks, ETFs, options, and bonds.
Accounts available in Canada: TFSA, RRSP, Individual Cash & Margin Accounts.
Promotions: Register an account and deposit $100 or more to test your trading strategy risk-free with up to $2,400 in cash incentives, free Lv2 market data, and $1,000,000+ in virtual funds.
Cons: Limited products and account types.
Best for: Serious, active traders seeking cutting-edge research and stock trading resources.
Credit unions love the stock trading app Qtrade.
Active traders receive a discount and there is free trading on 100 ETFs, even if its usual trading fees are higher than Wealthsimple Trade.
Computers and cellphones can access Qtrade.
Minimum balance of an account: $0
$8.75 per deal is the trading commission.
Offers of securities include stocks, ETFs, options, mutual funds, bonds, and GICs.
Available accounts are margin accounts, RRIF, RESP, TFSA, and RRSP.
Promotion: Fund your new account to receive up to $150 in cash bonus (larger deposits will result in more cash back).
Top Canadian online broker Qtrade has been well-rated for years for its outstanding customer service.
Cons: Should your balance drop below $25,000, there is a $25 quarterly maintenance charge.
4. Webull Canada: Best for Cash Management
Webull is one of the least expensive stock trading applications in Canada, having debuted there in January 2024 with an initial offer of 90 days of commission-free trading and $2.99 per trade thereafter.
The site allows Canadians to trade more than 10,000 stocks and ETFs; options trading is set to begin shortly. To help investors grow their uninvested capital, there is also a cash management option. Your US currency balance earns 3% annual percentage yield, and your Canadian dollar balance earns 4%.
Minimum balance in account: $0
Trade commission is $2.99 each trade.
Offerings include cash management services, ETFs, and US and CND stocks.
Available accounts are cash, margin, and regular, rollover, and Roth IRA retirement accounts.
Promotion: Get an extra $25 cash incentive if you keep funds for 30 days and sign up with this promo link and deposit between $100 and $999. A $100 cash incentive is yours if you deposit $1,000 or more and keep your balance up for a month.
Con: Webull Canada hasn’t yet added a complete range of account kinds and investment products, and it launched with a limited set of trading features and tools.
5. Wealthsimple Trade: Top Free Stock Trading App
Just a small number of Canadian stock trading apps provide commission-free trading for stocks and ETFs, including Wealthsimple Trade. It is therefore a great option for novices wishing to give self-directed investing a try.
You won’t have to stress about making numerous little trades and paying a large cost every time you acquire a stock because of the fee savings (up to $9.99/trade).
This is one of the greatest penny stock apps in Canada if you are investing little amounts to purchase penny stocks.
Use the platform on your phone or desktop by downloading the mobile app.
Owned by Wealthsimple, the most well-known online wealth manager in Canada, the company manages assets worth over $30 billion.
Minimum balance in account is $0.
Trading commission: $0; $10 monthly charge for access to real-time trading data and reduced foreign exchange costs
Stocks and ETFs are the securities offered.
Offern accounts include personal non-registered, RRSP, and TFSA.
Promotion: Open your new account and deposit $200 or more to receive a $25 cash incentive.
The Wealthsimple Trade app includes a cryptocurrency trading platform if that’s of interest to you.
Cons: No DRIP or margin account are available. A USD account and real-time market quotes will set you back $10 a month.
- Best Low Fee Bank Stock Trading App is CIBC Investor’s Edge
One section of CIBC Investor Services Inc., a CIBC affiliate, is this bank stock trading app.
Students receive a further discount and CIBC Investor’s Edge fees are less than those of other large banks like TD and RBC.
Minimum balance of an account: $0
Trade commission is $6.95 per transaction ($5.95 for students).
Offers of securities include mutual funds, fixed income, precious metals, options, GICs, and stocks.
Available accounts include trust, corporate, TFSA, RRSP, RESP, RRIF, and margin accounts.
Cons: Accounts less $10,000 or $25,000 (registered/non-registered) are subject to an annual maintenance charge of $100.
- Best Stock Trading App for Options: TD Direct Investing.
Among the first trading platforms to launch in Canada was TD Direct Investing.
Experienced traders will find it to be a wealth of market information, data, and investment tools, including sophisticated order kinds.
Minimum balance of an account: $0
9.99 each trade is the trading commission.
Available securities include bonds, precious metals, mutual funds, stocks, options, and ETFs.
Offerred accounts include margin accounts, RRIF, RDSP, RESP, TFSA, and RRSP.
TD also just unveiled its TD Easy Trade app, which provides 50 commission-free trades annually.
Cons: Among the priciest trading fees in Canada are found on this site. A $25 quarterly maintenance fee will apply if your balance is less than $15,000. None of its ETFs are free.
- Best for Active Traders are Interactive Brokers
One of the top stock trading platforms that provides chances for international trading is Interactive Brokers (IBKR). Users of IBKR can trade assets in 27 currencies and have access to over 150 markets spread across 34 countries.
The multi-award winning site is well-known for its strong trading platforms, low-to-zero trading commission, cheap margin rates (49% lower than the industry), and up to 4.83% APY on uninvested capital.
Minimum amount in account: $0.
Trading commissions range from $0.0005 per share ($1 min per trade) to $0.0035 per share ($0.35 min per trade). ^
Securities available include stocks, ETFs, options, futures and FOPs, FX, cryptocurrencies, metals, bonds, mutual funds and event contracts.
Offered accounts include institutional, joint or trust, IRA, and non-professional advisor accounts.
Promotion: Open an account and keep $10,000 in balance annually to receive up to $1,000 in IBKR shares.
Con: Difficult pricing structure; some features have fees; novices may find it overwhelming.
How To Choose The Best Stock Trading App
Depending on your demands, you want to be sure a stock trading app or platform satisfies these fundamental standards.
App: The site ought to provide downloadable, easily navigable iPhone and Android apps. View what other people are saying by reading the user reviews on the App Stores. They should also be available through a web interface in case you need to use a laptop for enhanced viewing or to access sophisticated trading tools.
Commissions and Fees: Over time, trading costs reduce the returns on your portfolio. When placing trades, take into account the transaction cost as well as any applicable administrative and other costs. Beware of inactivity penalties, which penalize you for having a smaller account or trading seldom. Top stock trading apps on our list either completely waive trading commissions or offer you a discount on fees.
Investment products: Apart from equities, there are a plethora of securities in which to invest. Assuming the trading platform offers ETFs, bonds, mutual funds, GICs, options, precious metals, etc., buy them. To access your preferred securities, you might have to open several trading accounts elsewhere.
Investment accounts: Certain trading applications exclusively allow personal non-registered accounts and well-known registered accounts like RRSPs and TFSAs. And might not be compatible with other accounts such corporate investments, RRIF, RESP, LIRA, or LIF. Verify the support of your chosen accounts.
Trading Tools: A free stock trading platform’s drawback is that it might not provide charts, research, or sophisticated trading tools. Questrade offers the greatest mix of tools and fees. Verify whether the site offers technical and fundamental information as well as real-time stock market quotes to support your trades.
Can you readily contact customer service? Verify that you may ask questions of a customer representative by phone, chat, or email.
Account minimum: This used to be a problem, but most trading applications now let you start trading with $1,000 or less.
Security: To what extent is your account protected by security measures? Better trading applications use bank-level encryption and two-factor authentication (2FA). Verify whether the financial institution is a member of the Canadian Investor Protection Fund (CIPF) and the Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization (CIRO). Having CIPF membership protects your assets up to $1 million against company bankruptcy.
Are Stock Trading Apps Safe?
Every stock trading company listed here is a member of IIROC and has to adhere to strict industry regulations. As they are also CIPF members, you have some protection (up to $1 million) if the investment company files for bankruptcy.
Using a stock app carries some risk; unauthorised people may access your account and disclose your information. You should so take necessary measures, such enabling 2FA and creating strong passwords.
Best Stock Tracking Apps
You could find it easier to manage your investments as a self-directed investor if you integrate your portfolio with one of these stock tracking applications below.
Passiv
Passiv is a rebalancing program that makes maintaining your portfolio within your risk tolerance simple.
It links with your brokerage account, notifies you when your asset allocation is off course, and with a single click, rebalances your portfolio.
Passiv provides a free community user account as well as a premium account (Elite Member – $99/year). You receive the Elite membership free of charge if you are a Questrade client.
Passiv may presently link with investment accounts on Alpaca, Tradier, Interactive Brokers, Ameritrade, and Questrade.
Wealthica
One portfolio tracker called Wealthica brings all of your investing accounts together.
RBC, Wealthsimple, Questrade, Tangerine, National Bank, Desjardins, and others are among the more than 200 financial institutions with whom it interfaces as of this writing.
Link your accounts and register to get started.
Wealthica provides a daily sync of your assets together with an overview of your investments, fees, performance, and net worth. It also lets you make monthly budgets and monitor your spending.
Utilising several add-ons, Wealthica customers can expand their accounts:
Create and Sync Google Sheets
Sync and Export to Excel
Wealthscope plugin: a retirement planning, evaluation, comparison, and portfolio rebalancing tool
Wealthica is offered as a membership service. I go into greater into on its features in this Wealthica review.
Guidelines for Canadian Stock Purchases
You must open a brokerage account with one of Canada’s discount broker companies in order to purchase stocks in that country. It depends on your requirements whether this is a registered or non-registered account.
Put money into your brokerage account by linking a bank account, then you can order your favorite stocks and other assets.
Check the technical and fundamental (financial) information of stocks. Several order kinds are available once you have chosen the stocks to purchase. Limit and market orders are the most often traded kinds.
You can decide to hang onto a stock for the long run and take advantage of dividend payments and unrealized capital gains as its value rises. If day trading, you might sell equities in less than a day.
Best Free Stock Trading App?
You may acquire ETFs such VGRO, XBAL, and VEQT without having to pay trading fees thanks to the free ETF purchases offered by Questrade and Wealthsimpe Trade. You pay incredibly cheap fees all around with Moomoo.
Which Internet Broker Works Well for Seasoned Traders?
TD Direct Investing, Moomoo, and Questrade provide charting, order types, and sophisticated trading tools. Accessing stock screeners and Level 2 data are also paid for services. On Questrade, you pay a minimum of $4.95 per trade and ETF purchases are free, compared to TD’s $9.99 flat charge. Moomoo offers free Level 2 data, and trading costs start at $1.49 each transaction.
How Do Canadian Brokerage Accounts Get Opened?
Once you have decided which brokerage company best suits your requirements, go to their website and register. Your Social Insurance number (SIN), some financial information, and a copy of your government-issued ID will all be required. Set up your brokerage, add money by linking your bank account, and you may begin trading stocks.
How Do I Open a Brokerage Account in Canada?
For novices, I think the top brokers are Questrade, Qtrade, and Wealthsimple Trade. They provide reasonable trading costs, easy-to-use stock trading apps, and modest account investment starting.
What Is the Best Day Trading App?
Moomoo is the top day trading app in Canada, followed by TD Direct Investing and Questrade, if you want to day trade equities.
What Is the Best Canadian Stock Trading App?
Questrade is the outstanding Canadian stock trading platform overall. Wealthsimple Trade is the top app for novices trading Canadian stocks.