Canada’s self-directed investing market is undergoing a sweeping transition as brokerage firms move away from traditional trade-fees and toward broadly accessible commission-free trading.
The strategy, long championed by digital disruptors, is now being embraced by major bank-owned brokerages as well — signalling a structural shift in how Canadians access equities and exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
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Qtrade the latest to offer no-commission-fee trading
The latest online brokerage brand to announce $0 commission trading is Qtrade Direct Investing. This week, Qtrade Direct Investing announced it will offer $0 commission trading for eligible Canadian and U.S. stocks and ETFs, effective immediately. Firm representatives said the move “reinforces its commitment to empower investors across Canada” by eliminating trading fees and even quarterly administration fees.
**Open a Qtrade Direct Investing account to get 5% cash back on the first $15K you invest and an additional 1% on every dollar after. Terms and conditions apply."
Qtrade is not alone
Earlier this year, discount-brokerage Questrade announced that it would adopt zero-commission pricing for online trades of Canadian and U.S. listed equities and ETFs, while simultaneously adding real-time fractional-share trading. In its press release, Questrade stated that “while some competitors offer fractional trading in batch orders or with commission fees, Questrade provides customers … real-time, $0 commission trades in increments as low as a dollar” via its self-directed platform.
Wealthsimple has long championed no-commission trading for stocks and ETFs — on its self-directed platform, the pricing section states: “Stocks & ETFs — $0 commission trading (1).”
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Big bank brokerages also moving to zero commission trades
Meanwhile, large bank-owned brokerages are also adapting to this low or no-fee trading environment.
RBC Direct Investing, a division of Royal Bank of Canada, rolled out a commission-free trade offer for a selection of more than 50 iShares ETFs this past June (2). On its website, RBC Direct Investing states that “buy and sell select ETFs … commission-free” with “no account maintenance fee, no matter your balance (3).”
Why is the industry doing this now?
Several forces are converging to push online brokers toward a no or low-fee trading model. These pressures include:
Increased competition: Newer online brokers, such as WeBull, and fintech firms have made zero-commission trading a selling point. Brokers responding to this environment must move to stay relevant.
Scale and efficiency: With electronic platforms, trade execution costs for online individual trades are relatively low. Brokerages increasingly pass those savings on to attract more customers or trading volume. For example, on Questrade’s site the firm answers the question "How do you keep your fees so low?" by stating: "By bringing investing online, we reduce overhead and fees, and pass the savings onto you (4).”
Investor expectations: Retail investors today expect low or no commissions, better UX (aka: user experience) and digital-first tools. Wealthsimple noted in a recent survey that 92% of clients feel confident managing their own investments, and 67% believe taking control of their own investment decisions is the best approach (5).
Bank-brokerage strategy realignment: Bank-owned discount brokers face margin pressure, competition from fintechs and must find new ways to retain client assets. Offering zero-commission trades is one lever.
What these changes mean for investors
For Canadian retail do-it-yourself (DIY) investors this is good news since fewer trade fees means more money stays invested rather than paid out to the broker. Plus, with zero commissions, portfolios built via systematic dollar-cost averaging (DCA) or frequent trades become more cost-efficient.
But there are still caveats investors must heed:
- Zero commissions usually apply only to Canadian and U.S. listed stocks and ETFs. Additional costs may arise via currency conversion (for U.S.-listed trades), ECN/market fees, spreads and foreign-listing costs.
- At bank-based brokers there may be a limit on how many zero-commission stocks and ETFs are available to investors. For instance, RBC Direct Investing offers “a selection of over 50 Commission-Free ETFs” — meaning the zero-commission listing is narrower and not universal across all trades.
- The war on commissions may lead brokers to push other revenue streams (margin rates, platform fees, premium services), so investors still need to review the full cost-structure.
The future of commission fees
The move toward zero-commission trading in Canada suggests the lowest-cost barrier for DIY investing is now gone. For brokers, it means competition will shift away from simply “who charges less per trade” toward service quality, platform tools, research, offering fractional shares, alternative asset access and managing FX/foreign exposure better. As Qtrade states: “Zero never looked more like an opportunity (6).”
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Article sources
We rely only on vetted sources and credible third-party reporting. For details, see our editorial ethics and guidelines.
Wealthsimple (1); MoneySense (2; RBC Direct Investing (3); Questrade (4); Wealthsimple (5); Qtrade (6)
This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.