Tuesday, December 19, 2023

Questrade Online Brokerage Introduction


Updated on Dec 19, 2023: If you want to open a new Questrade self-directed or a new Questwealth account, please email us: canadianrewards@gmail.com for our referral code. You will receive $50 bonus with this code.


You can input this referral code as "Offer code" during the online application process. Then you need to fill the online forms and upload the required documents for ID verification purpose. The entire process can be completed online. Once your account is open, you need to initiate an account transfer or transfer funds ($1000 fund is required to earn the $50 bonus). Questrade offers ten different ways to fund your account (click here). The method I like is online banking bill payment (the same way that you pay your utility bills with online banking bill payment).


Questrade is one of my favorite Canadian online trading platforms. I have my Self-directed Investing Account at Questrade. Questrade opened its doors in 1999 and it is one of Canada's fastest growing online brokerages. Questrade is based in Toronto, Canada. They support all types of accounts : TFSA, RRSP, Margin, RRIF, LIRA etc.


Just FYI, with self-directed investing, you're managing the investments yourself; with Questwealth Portfolios, your investments are managed by Questrade team of experts.


Questrade is a legitimate and reputable independent brokerage you can trust. Questrade, Inc. is a registered investment dealer, a member of the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC) and a member of the Canadian Investor Protection Fund (CIPF). For an individual holding an account or accounts with a member firm, the limits on CIPF protection are generally as follows:
  • $1 million for all general accounts combined (such as cash accounts, margin accounts and TFSAs), plus
  •  $1 million for all registered retirement accounts combined (such as RRSPs, RRIFs and LIFs), plus
  •  $1 million for all registered education savings plans (RESPs) combined where the client is the subscriber of the plan.

And, Questrade also protects your accounts (for both self-directed account and managed account) with an additional $10 million in private insurance. This insurance covers you in case Questrade goes out of business.


While there's many reasons to invest at Questrade, the biggest one is low fees: Transaction fees list & Administrative fees list. Questrade does not charge annual account fees for self-directed accounts. As of October 1, 2020, Questrade will no longer be charging inactivity fees on any accounts


One thing I like Questrade most is that you can buy any North American-listed ETF commission free. Here is the workflow to buy ETF in Questrade (we take Vanguard Growth ETF "VGRO" as an example here):

1) Log in your Questrade online account during normal trading hours, then click "TRADE"

2) Search for "VGRO" and Questrade will find this ETF for you. Then choose the order type "Limit"


3) Click the circle-arrow sign to see the updated price. Input the "Quantity" and "Limit price". You can put a "Limit price" that is one cent higher than the "Ask price". Set the price effective "Duration" as "Day". Then click "Buy".


4) Review your order details, make sure that you have enough fund in your account and click "Send Order".


As you can see abvoe, Questrade still charged $0.01 CAD fee, which is the ECN fee (Electronic Communication Networks):


ECN fees are charged when placing a buy or sell orders that are considered to be “removing liquidity” or in other words when placing orders that will likely to be executed right away. This includes market orders, where the trader accepts the current best available price in the market when buying or selling shares or when placing marketable limit orders where investors specify a limit price that is either above the ask (when buying) or below the bid (when selling) typically causing the order to fill immediately.

On the other hand, when placing non-marketable limit orders where the limit price is lower than the Ask (when buying) or higher than the Bid (when selling), your order is likely to be longer in the queue waiting for somebody to agree to the price being offered. By doing that, you’re considered to be “adding liquidity” to the market, and therefore ECN will not apply in that scenario.


And, you can transfer any account to Questrade from another financial institution (click "FUNDING" => "Transfer account to Questrade" => Fill in all the required information), regardless of the balance, and get your transfer fees rebated (maximum rebate $150/account). No limit to the number of accounts you bring over. For this transfer fees rebate, submit a statement from your financial institution displaying the transfer fees incurred within 60 days of the transfer request being submitted to Questrade (click "ACCOUNT MANAGEMENT" => Click "Upload documents" => Select "Rebate" as "Document Type" => Fill in all the required information => Click "Submit").

Thanks for reading. Please let us know if you have any comments on Questrade. We will update our post regularly.

Updated on Oct 8, 2020: As of October 1, 2020, Questrade will no longer be charging inactivity fees on any accounts. 

Updated on Mar 31, 2021: QuestMortgage is a new mortgage service. QuestMortgage is only available to existing Questrade customers. You can apply it easily online. The interest rate you receive during your application will be held for 120 days from the date your application is approved. If you want to know more about this mortgage service, please visit their website: https://www.questrade.com/questmortgage/home


Updated on Jun 1, 2021: You can use Questrade Instant deposit to instantly fund your Self-directed or Questwealth account using your Canadian Visa Debit card up to $3,500 per day (or your bank’s daily transaction limit). Making an instant deposit is easy and takes just a few minutes and then you can immediately start putting your money to work. To set up a Visa Debit instant deposit for the first time, follow these easy steps: Log in to your Questrade account. In the top navigation bar, hover over FUNDING, and click Instant deposit in the drop-down menu. Set up your instant deposit on the New deposit tab. On this page, you’ll see four main sections to complete:
  1. To Questrade Account: Select the Questrade account you want to transfer your funds into.
  2. From debit card: Select the Visa Debit card you wish to send your money from. If you have not added a card yet, you can add one by clicking ADD NEW DEBIT CARD.
  3. ADD NEW DEBIT CARD: Click here to link a new Visa Debit card to your account.
  4. Amount: Enter the dollar amount of your deposit.

Updated on Aug 30, 2021: One of the biggest questions that most traders have is how do you find the right stocks for your portfolio? This can take time and consideration. That’s why Questrade has integrated TipRanks, a stock research tool that gives customers in-depth information they can use to make educated trading decisions, directly into our trading platform. No matter how experienced the trader, the different tools now offered in the platform may provide them with helpful information and ideas that could be valuable at any level. 

What can your audience expect with TipRanks? A variety of features, all designed to help them make more informed trading decisions:

1) Trending Stocks: A simple screener, and the go-to area for fresh trading ideas and opportunities. It offers a number of filtering tools allowing them to focus on Buy, Hold or Sell recommendations.


2) Analyst Ratings: Consists of analyst consensus, which aggregates all of the analyst ratings from the last 3 months, and average analyst price target, shown both as a dollar and percentage value. Also includes the analyst ratings window, which shows a small sample of the most recent analysts that made a recommendation.

3) News Analysis: Made up of news sentiment, media buzz and media coverage analysis. Sentiment is based on the last seven days of news stories analyzed by TipRanks’ natural language processing technology. Media buzz shows how many recent news articles have been published mentioning this company. Meanwhile, media coverage analysis shows a breakdown of news articles compared against the stock price over time.

4) Smart Score: A proprietary quantitative stock scoring system created by TipRanks. It rates stocks from one to ten, based on 8 key market factors. These factors are Analyst Ratings, News Sentiment, Hedge Fund Activity, Investor Sentiment, Blogger Sentiment, Insider Activity, Technicals, and Fundamentals. The score is data-driven and does not involve any human intervention. 


All of these helpful tools can be found on Questrade Trading platform for FREE, under the Research and Stocks tabs respectively in the left-hand navigation.

Updated on Sep 29, 2021: The time has come for your new and improved investment experience, both on your phone and on the web. Questrade just announced the official launch of QuestMobile, their brand new mobile app, as well as new web platform. Here’s a detailed rundown on some of the key benefits about QuestMobile and the improved Questrade web platform:
  • With just a few taps on QuestMobile, access all-new Learning Mode to get a better understanding of investing terms, equity charts, asset allocations and more.
  • New design allows you to go from your account balance to researching a stock to placing a trade faster than ever before.
  • Fast biometric log in and improved navigation flow that leverages all of your phone’s capabilities.
  • Click and own any stock or ETF you’re interested in with market orders that execute in real-time. You can also trade with limit orders that give you the flexibility to set the exact price you want to pay.
  • Instantly know how well your portfolio is performing with a single-screen view of all your accounts (RRSP, TFSA, Margin, etc.). Whether you have a self-directed account, a Questwealth Portfolio or both, you can see your money all on one page. You can also dive into the details of a specific account with a swipe.
  • You can get real-time snap quotes as soon as the market opens. Plus, you can swipe down to refresh your feed and get the latest price.
  • Easily track the stocks and ETFs you want to keep an eye on with customizable watchlists that sync across devices.
Receive instant notifications with customizable alerts and notifications on stocks you are interested in so you don’t miss out on market opportunities.


Updated on Oct 25, 2021: As we mentioned before, Questrade launched their as new desktop web platform in Sep 2021. But some readers told me that they don't like the new User Interface (UI). After I tried it for a few days, I also feel the same way. So, I contacted Questrade on how to switch back to the old UI. This is the workflow:

1) Log in your online Questrade account. Click the sign near "ACCOUNTS". Then click "ALL PLATFORMS"


2) Click "QUESTRADE EDGE"


3) Click "Add Questrade Edge"


Now, you can see the old Questrade Trade UI. You only need to do this workflow once, and Questrade will remember your option. Of course, this is just my personal preference. If you like the new UI, you can still use it.

Updated on Oct 30, 2021: The markets can move pretty fast. Opportunities can pass by in a matter of hours, or even minutes. Being able to quickly deposit funds can be the difference between taking advantage of a timely investment opportunity or just barely missing out. Questrade just released instant deposit, the new way to deposit money instantly from your bank account into your Questrade account.


Anyone with an Interac or Visa Debit card can now deposit up to $3500 instantly into their Questrade account. (The exact amount may vary depending on your card’s daily transfer limit.) You can tell if you have Interac or Visa Debit by looking for the symbol on your debit card:


It is pretty easy to use Instant deposit in Questrade.


Questrade is working to support instant deposit for Debit Mastercard in the future.

Updated on Sep 7, 2022: Questrade has extended their trading hours on U.S. exchanges to 8:00 pm ET on weekdays (excluding holidays). Since most U.S. markets formally close at 4 pm ET, there are a few things to keep in mind if you’re looking to trade later. To take advantage of these extra hours, you’ll need to use either the Edge Web or Edge Desktop platforms, or the Questrade mobile app, and follow these steps:
  • The order must be placed as a Limit order
  • Choose AUTO or your preferred ECN (ARCA or NSDQ) - ECN fees may apply
  • Choose GTEM (good ‘til extended market) as the duration
BTW, Questrade Pre-market trading on U.S. exchanges is also available between 7 am and 9:30 am ET—please note the steps listed above are also required for pre-market trades.