Questrade Review

Questrade at a Glance

About Questrade

Questrade has been trading for around 27 years, through at least one full market cycle. Longevity guarantees nothing on its own, but a firm that came through 2008 and 2015 has been tested in a way a recent entrant has not.

The contracting entity is Questrade, Inc.. This is the company you would actually have a relationship with, and it is worth checking that it is the same one named on the licence you are relying on: large brokers commonly operate several, and they are not equally protected.

Part of Questrade Financial Group Inc.. A parent adds resources, but the protections that apply to you are the ones attached to the entity that holds your account, not to the group.

Regulation and Safety

Questrade holds a tier-one authorisation from CIRO. That matters more than any headline spread: it determines your leverage cap, whether losses can exceed your deposit, and what happens to your money if the firm fails.

CIRO oversees Canadian investment dealers, and few international brokers hold the licence.

Client money is held separately from the firm's own money, at Canadian regulated financial institutions/custodial arrangements. That separation is what makes your balance recoverable if the company fails, rather than part of the pool its creditors divide up.

There is no negative balance protection. In a fast market a position can gap straight through your stop, and without this the resulting debt is legally yours - you can lose more than you deposited.

Covered by Canadian Investor Protection Fund (CIPF), generally up to CAD $1 million per eligible account category, which pays eligible clients up to its limit if the firm fails owing client money.

• Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization (CIRO), Canada: tier 1

Trading Costs

Spreads from 0.8 pips suggest an all-in account, where the broker's fee is built into the price rather than charged separately. There is usually no commission on top, which makes the cost easier to predict.

Quoted spreads are best-case figures on the most liquid pair, in normal conditions. What you actually pay widens around news and at the session open.

Questrade lists a minimum deposit of $0. Treat it as the cost of opening an account, not the cost of trading one - position sizing on a small balance is what tends to cause damage.

Spreads and Commissions

Compare the round-trip cost at your size with the profit and loss calculator. The lesson on spreads, commissions and financing explains how to add them up.

Account Types

Questrade runs 12 account types. More choice is not automatically better: the tightest headline spread almost always sits on the account that also charges a commission, so the comparison that matters is the two added together.

Base currencies: CAD, USD. Holding the account in the currency you fund it with avoids a conversion charge on every deposit and withdrawal - a cost that never shows up in a spread comparison.

The smallest position is 1,000 currency units / 0.01 standard lot. For anyone starting carefully this matters more than the minimum deposit, because it sets the least you can put at risk on a single trade.

A demo account is available. Worth using for the platform rather than the results: fills are simulated, so it tells you how the software behaves but very little about execution.

Minimum Deposit

The minimum deposit at Questrade is $0. The sensible starting deposit is the one that lets you size positions at one percent risk with a realistic stop, which the position size calculator works out.

Trading Platforms

Questrade offers Questrade Global. A proprietary platform can be excellent, but it means your setup does not transfer if you later change broker.

Markets

Leverage is capped at 1:50, which is the retail limit under tier-one regulation. It is a protection rather than a restriction: it caps how quickly a position can move against your balance.

Questrade covers forex, stock cfds, index cfds, commodity cfds, precious metals, stocks, etfs, options, bonds, gics, mutual funds. A wider range matters less than depth in the instruments you actually trade.

Funding options: interac, visa debit, online banking bill payment, pre-authorized deposit, bank transfer/wire and account transfer. Check withdrawal routes as well as deposit ones - they are often not the same, and the difference only becomes apparent when you try to take money out.

Forex Pairs

Questrade offers 110+ currency pairs. Other markets on offer: forex, stock cfds, index cfds, commodity cfds, precious metals, stocks, etfs, options, bonds, gics, mutual funds.

Leverage

Maximum leverage is 1:50. Retail leverage is capped at 1:30 on major pairs under FCA, ESMA and ASIC rules and higher leverage is available only from entities outside those regulators. The lesson on leverage explains why the number you can use is rarely the number you should.

Execution

Deposits and Withdrawals

Withdrawals are stated at Typically 1-5 business days depending on method, against Instant for eligible Visa Debit; bill payment 1-2 business days; FX/CFD PAD generally 5-10 business days for deposits. A gap between the two is normal and not in itself a warning sign - identity checks are a legal obligation, not obstruction. What is worth noticing is a withdrawal that keeps meeting new conditions after those checks are done.

Withdrawal routes: electronic funds transfer, wire transfer and account transfer. Money is usually returned by the route it arrived on, so the deposit method you pick is in effect the withdrawal method you are picking too.

The minimum withdrawal is $1 - relevant if you intend to fund the account lightly, since it sets the smallest amount you can take out at a time.

Customer Support

Support runs Extended weekday hours; online Help Centre available 24/7. Round-the-clock cover matters more than it sounds: a position held over a weekend or through an unexpected halt is exactly when you need somebody to answer.

Reachable by live chat, phone, email/contact form, in-person support. A published telephone number is the one channel that is hard to fake and hard to ignore, so whether there is one says more than the number of channels does.

Languages: English, French. Being able to raise a complaint in your own language is worth more than it appears, because complaints are where precision matters most.

Education: extensive: questrade learning, investing courses, fx/cfd guides, platform tutorials, options education and educational articles. Treat broker-published material as an introduction rather than as advice - it is produced by a firm whose revenue rises when you trade more.

Education and Research

Questrade offers Extensive: Questrade Learning, investing courses, FX/CFD guides, platform tutorials, options education and educational articles. Research: Market research, news, technical charting, economic releases, alerts and investment research tools. Whatever a broker provides, the courses on this site cover the fundamentals independently of any broker.

Demo Account

Questrade offers a free demo account (30-day FX & CFD practice account). Use it to test the platform, the spreads at your trading hours and the order types you rely on before depositing; the lesson on demo and live accounts explains what a demo can and cannot tell you.

Key Strengths

• Regulated by a tier-one authority, with the protections that brings for the entity concerned.
• A minimum deposit of $0, accessible for a first account.
• A free demo account to test before depositing.

Important Considerations

• Entity matters: the protections described here apply only to the licensed company named in your client agreement.
• One or more safety items is flagged in the regulation section above.

Who Is Questrade Suitable For?

Questrade suits traders who want tier-one regulatory protection, and beginners with small starting deposits. The considerations section below lists what to check first.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Trading forex and CFDs carries a high risk of losing money. Figures are the broker's published terms at the last check and can change. We may earn a commission when you open an account through a link. Affiliate disclosure.