Clicky

Get VIP Trading Signals 1
7 /10
Overall Rating
Questrade Review & Rating [yyyy]

Questrade Review & Rating 2024

Visit Questrade

Questrade is Canada’s online brokerage firm where you can buy and sell financial securities on the stock market. Is Questrade legit?

If you want to be sure of staying safe online, and avoiding any potential Questrade scam, you need to come and read our comprehensive Questrade review. 

From details of the trading opportunities on offer to information about the trading platforms and fees, we’ve got everything you need to know. Have a look at our overall Questrade broker review and rating!

Overview

Company
7/10
Trust
7/10
Trading Platform
7/10
Account Types
8/10
Costs
7/10
Customer Support
7/10
Regulation
8/10
Cryptocurrency
5/10

Company

7 /10

Founded back in 1999, Questrade is a Canadian online brokerage offering managed investment portfolios as well as self-trading with a variety of account options. Questrade Inc. In 22 years in the Canadian market, the award-winning broker has amassed $15 billion in assets, including Yahoo Finance.

Canada Broker - Questrade

This brokerage firm provides cutting edge and suitable financial market services in addition to diverse and modern trading platforms.

They represent major products of currency pairs, commodities, indices and stocks.

They provide fair and transparent services as well as ultra fast execution orders and low spreads. They allow hedging trades as well.

They offer profitable and absorbing affiliate deals and partnership programs.

Their clients can use complete and beneficial educational materials such as webinars and seminars as well as sound market analysis and news.

Questrade pros and cons

pros

  • Commissions from 4.95 CAD.
  • There are no annual fees for active traders and discounts are available on subscription payments.
  • Many of the ETFs are free to purchase.
  • Managed portfolios with commissions ranging from 0.17% to 0.25% - much lower than many other mutual funds.

Cons

  • An inactivity fee of CAD 24.95 per quarter is charged if no transactions are made on an account with a balance of less than CAD 5000.
  • Platform lacks a variety of order types, functions and screeners.

Trust

7 /10

Is Questrade good? Questrade provides complete security for all transactions and accounts. All clients require 2-Step Verification by email and phone, and trading platforms have a 256-bit digital SSL certificate that encrypts inbound and outbound transactions over a secure connection. Questrade may also include automatic alerts that inform you of the most recent attempts to log into customer accounts.

Trading Platform

7 /10

Our Questrade review discovered that Questrade's standard trading platform is designed for all levels and is the most popular choice among Questrade clients. No download is required; just register a real or demo account to get your login details.

The versatile trading platform offers smart design combined with intuitive features including historical data, custom watchlists, and charting tools. Users can choose between 3 types of charts (Candlestick, Mountain or Bar) and view data over 10 timeframes. There are also 30 ready-to-use technical indicators including Bollinger Bands and Moving Averages.

For the more professional and active trader, Questrade IQ Edge is the best option. Open multiple platform windows at once using a smart interface and use market filters to quickly track movements. Advanced types of trade orders are also available, including bracket, conditional and multi-element.

The Questrade Global web platform is ideal for those looking to trade the international forex and CFD markets. Built-in smart features include customizable indicators and charting tools, economic reports, and personalized watchlists. Clients can simultaneously open 4 chart windows in customizable time ranges and access 9 chart types and a variety of technical indicators and drawing tools.

Questrade Mobile App

The Questrade app is available for iOS and Android. It works well on smartphones or tablets.

Past reviews of the app have often been negative. However, Questrade has updated the app significantly. The user experience is now one of the best for online trading apps.

The app is intuitive to navigate and use. It has an interactive help tool although you probably won't need it.

The features in the app are basically the same as the Questrade Trading platform but optimized for mobile. You can do a variety of account activities like check your investments, make trades, and withdraw or transfer between accounts.

Account Types

8 /10

Our Questrade review also uncovered the distinct account types offered by this Canadian broker. Whether you opt for Self Investing or the Questwealth Portfolio, there are several account types to choose from. What's more, you can add and open as many as you like without an annual fee. An overview of the account categories is presented below.

Questrade review - account types

Traders should be aware that any account requires a minimum balance of $1,000 before you can start investing. This is quite a lot when compared to other competitors.

Self-investment

Self-employed investors can increase their purchasing power through margin trading or invest in ETFs for free with no commissions. Traders can also take advantage of discounted mutual funds and create a dividend reinvestment plan (DRIP) that automatically reinvests dividend income.

  • Registered Retirement Savings Accounts and Plans ( RRSA & RRSP )  - Offers tax deductions with annual contributions. A spousal account is also available.
  • Blocked Retirement Accounts (LIRA)  - Convert your employer sponsored pension and receive tax deferred income.
  • Income Funds  - Transfer your savings from registered retirement accounts to retirement accounts.
  • Registered Education Savings Plans ( RESP )  - Set up a college degree for your child (or recipient) and take advantage of government benefits and grants.
  • Legal and Trust Accounts  - Invest on behalf of your business or someone else.
  • Individual and Joint Margin Accounts  - Start buying stocks, options, US ETFs and more.
  • Forex & CFD Accounts  - Trade the global markets including currencies, commodities, global stocks and index funds.

Questwealth Portfolio

As a major part of our Questrade review we examined the fees and pricing structure. Questwealth Portfolios are accounts managed by a team of experts offering lower fees. As with self-investing, traders can also choose between retirement and education accounts, as well as short-term options such as individual and corporate cash accounts and tax-free savings accounts (TFSA). Users can also invest in a range of low and high risk socially responsible investment (SRI) portfolios, from conservative portfolios to aggressively growing portfolios.

How to open a Questrade account?

As a major part of our Questrade review we examined how to open a Questrade account. The account opening process on Questrade is simple and straightforward. All you have to do is complete an online application by choosing your preferred account – Questrade Self-Directed or Questwealth. It is essential to note that account opening on this platform is available for residents of Canada only.

Cryptocurrency

5 /10

Our Questrade review also answered the question, can you trade crypto with Questrade? Cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Dogecoin are not available to trade at Questrade. However, one way that you can get in on the crypto trading indirectly with Questrade is through the purchase of crypto ETFs. If you are interested in getting Bitcoin investment exposure through the Bitcoin ETF on Questrade, you will pay a fixed fee of $4.95 CAD.

Costs

7 /10

Questrade review - cost

The pricing structure for self-investing depends on whether you are a beginner or an active trader. All accounts come with a basic plan that is $0.01 per share, with a minimum of $4.95 and a maximum of $9.95 per share. ETFs can be bought for free, but a commission will apply when selling.

The Advanced Pricing Package is priced at $19.95/CAD per month and includes advanced live Tier 1 streaming data as well as a full discount if you spend over $ 48.95 on trading commissions.

You can also take advantage of Active Trader pricing by purchasing one of the Advanced Data Packages for $89.95/CAD per month. These include additional privileges such as Tier 1 and Tier 2 streaming, full and partial discounts, and other data add-ons.

Once you unlock Active Trader's pricing, you will be able to take advantage of the fixed or variable commission plans as listed below. Commodity and Index CFDs are priced based on spreads. Shares are priced based on commission plus a minimum payment.

There are some other fees to keep in mind. These include rollover fees for expiring and perpetual CFDs, fees for exchanging ECN and ATS for US and Canadian securities, and other administration fees. There is also a $24.95 quarterly inactivity fee that applies to accounts under $1,000.

Portfolio cost

If you choose the Questwealth portfolio, the commission is 0.25% for balances between $1,000 and $99,999, down to 0.20% for balances over $100,000. Other fees include ETF Management Expense Ratio (MER) fees, currency exchange fees, and administration fees.

The costs may seem daunting, but the broker is completely transparent and makes it clear that there are no hidden fees. Note that the GIC and lending rates for short sales can be found on the Questrade website.

Leverage overview

Leveraged products are only available on Questrade margin accounts and are capped at 1: 3.33.

Questrade has 4 levels of approval for options trading based on the minimum balance before the trade is placed; this ranges from the low for Tier 1 to CAD $25,000 for Tier 4.

Customer Support

7 /10

Our Questrade review discovered that customer support is available through email, real-time chat, and phone. Unfortunately, chat and phone support are only available Monday through Friday.

The email response time is generally quick. You'll usually have a reply within a few hours.

You can use the live chat feature Monday through Friday from 8:00 am to 8:00 pm ET, excluding holidays. If you have questions outside of service hours, you can leave a message and a representative will reply when they return. Online representatives are professional, well-informed, and generally quick to reply.

Phone support is available Monday through Friday from 7:30 am to 8:00 pm ET. Phone service is open extended hours for FX and CFD support. Hold times are generally short, and the representatives will take the time to address your situation.

Regulation

8 /10

Is Questrade safe? Yes! We honestly wanted to find a Questrade scam, but all we could find was a good deal.

Questrade is regulated by the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC) - the body that licenses all investment brokers and oversees business activity in the debt and equity markets in Canada. This national self-regulatory organization sets high-quality standards for the investment and regulatory industry, protects investors, and strengthens market integrity while maintaining efficient and competitive capital markets.

One of the biggest advantages of trading with a Canadian forex broker is the Canadian Investor Protection Fund (CIPF), which insures each trader's account for up to $1 million against losses incurred by an insolvent broker. Questrade, of course, is also a member of CIPF, thus making it safe.

Conclusion

This Questrade review left us with a good impression since the first thing we could see on their website is who they are and their regulatory endorsements.

Overall, Questrade has backed up its excellent industry reputation of more than 22-years by delivering one of the most popular trading services in Canada. Fees are low, particularly in the key area of stock and ETFs trading and when this is combined with their trusted history, and an excellent selection of available assets, you are on to a winner.

The low fees and great accessibility including a free demo account make the broker perfect for new traders to the industry, while the multiple trading platforms and depth of research tools appeal very much to the more experienced.

With that, Questrade has managed to capture two important segments of the market and will remain a top broker if they continue to develop and evolve in the same positive way they have to date.

Reviewed By

Our Broker Review methodology

Our mission is to provide online investors with the most unbiased, comprehensive reviews and ratings of self-directed brokers. Vetted by multiple industry experts - including a financial research firm with more than 20 years of experience in broker ratings - Our Broker Ratings and Reviews embody industry best practices for research design.

See how we conduct broker reviews