Wealthsimple vs Qtrade: Now That Both Charge $0, What Actually Decides It

Disclosure: LoonieWallet earns a referral reward if you open a Wealthsimple account through our link. It does not affect the comparison below, which is built from both brokers’ published pricing as of 2026-09-18.

For years the Wealthsimple-versus-Qtrade decision was “free trades and a thin platform, or $8.75 trades and a full one.” On 2025-10-28 Qtrade moved to $0 commissions on stocks, ETFs and mutual funds and dropped its quarterly administration fee, so that comparison no longer exists. Most older reviews, including ours, still describe the old pricing.

What is left is a set of smaller differences that matter a lot to some investors and not at all to others. This guide lists them, then walks through four kinds of investor to show which ones apply to you.

The short version

• Buying Canadian-listed ETFs in a TFSA, RRSP or FHSA: free at both. Pick on platform preference; there is no cost difference for this investor.
• Buying U.S.-listed stocks or ETFs: Wealthsimple charges 1.5% to convert on every trade unless you pay $10/month for a USD account (free at $100,000 in assets). Qtrade offers USD registered accounts for US$15 a quarter and does not publish its conversion spread. The calculator below compares them.
• Options: $0 per contract at Wealthsimple; $0.75 per contract at Qtrade.
• Leaving: Wealthsimple charges nothing to transfer out; Qtrade charges $150.
• Arriving: both reimburse your old broker’s transfer-out fee, Wealthsimple on transfers of $25,000 or more, Qtrade up to $150 on $15,000 or more.
• Protection: both are CIRO investment dealers and CIPF members, so client property is covered up to $1 million per account category if the firm fails. CIPF does not cover investment losses.

Fees, side by side

Wealthsimple tiers: Core from $1, Premium at $100,000 in assets, Generation at $500,000. Qtrade Investor Plus requires $500,000 in assets or 150 trades in the prior quarter. Both brokers change pricing without notice; the dates above are when we checked.

The U.S.-dollar question

This is where the money is now. If you only ever buy Canadian-listed funds (XEQT, VEQT, VFV and the rest trade in Canadian dollars), skip this section: you pay nothing at either broker.

If you buy U.S.-listed securities, Wealthsimple’s default is to convert on every trade at 1.5%, in and out. On $12,000 a year of purchases that is $180 going in, and the same again when you eventually sell. A USD account removes the per-trade conversion: you convert once, at 1.5% below $10,000 and falling to 1.0%, 0.5% and 0% at $10,000, $25,000 and $100,000 per conversion, then trade in U.S. dollars. On Core that account costs $10/month; at Premium and above it is included. Wealthsimple also now offers a built-in Norbert’s gambit (journaling a dual-listed ETF between currencies) for a flat fee, which the help centre describes as a beta, web-only feature; if you convert large sums it is the cheapest route.

Qtrade has offered USD registered accounts for years, at US$15 a quarter each, and supports Norbert’s gambit by journaling. What it does not publish is the spread on ordinary conversions. That makes a precise comparison impossible from public documents, which is why the calculator lets you set the Qtrade assumption yourself. Independent testers generally place big-broker spreads in the same range as Wealthsimple’s 1.5%; treat that as a guess, not a fact.

Two conclusions from the arithmetic. On Core, the USD account only pays for itself if you convert in large lots (the conversion rate drops at $10,000 and $25,000 per conversion) or you plan to keep the proceeds in U.S. dollars and skip the conversion when you sell; someone buying $1,000 of U.S. stock a month pays 1.5% either way and is better off without the $10/month account. At Premium the account is free, so it always wins, which removes most of Qtrade’s historical advantage for U.S.-dollar investors.

Questrade, for reference, charges 1.5% to convert, has offered $0 stock and ETF trades since 2025-02-10, and lets you hold U.S. dollars in registered accounts without a fee.

Platform and tools

Pricing is verifiable; platform quality is a judgment. Ours, stated as such:

• Wealthsimple is built around the app. Recurring buys, fractional shares, cash and crypto in the same place, and almost no friction for a monthly ETF buyer. Research is thin, charting is basic, and there is no phone trading desk. Options trading exists and is free per contract, but the tooling is aimed at simple strategies.
• Qtrade is a conventional brokerage: screeners, analyst research, portfolio analytics, a full set of account types (including RESP, RDSP, LIRA, corporate and trust accounts), phone support that can place trades, and paper documents if you want them. The web platform is where it shines; the mobile app is adequate.

If you value research tools and account breadth, that is Qtrade’s case. If you value simplicity and fractional recurring buys, that is Wealthsimple’s. Neither is objectively better; they are built for different people.

Four investors, four answers

The monthly XEQT buyer, registered accounts only. Costs are identical: $0 to buy, $0 to hold, no conversion. Wealthsimple’s fractional shares mean every dollar of a $300 contribution gets invested rather than leaving a partial unit’s worth in cash, and the recurring-buy setup is simpler. Qtrade’s extra tools go unused. Wealthsimple, unless you already have an account elsewhere.

The U.S. stock picker with under $100,000. At Wealthsimple Core, the choice is 1.5% per trade or $10/month for the USD account; run the calculator with your own volume. At Qtrade the USD registered account is US$15 a quarter and the spread is unknown. For someone converting a few thousand dollars a year the difference is tens of dollars either way, so choose on platform. For someone converting tens of thousands, do Norbert’s gambit at whichever broker you are at and the FX question disappears.

The options trader. Wealthsimple’s $0 per contract versus Qtrade’s $0.75 is a real gap for anyone trading contracts in volume: 50 contracts a month is $450 a year at Qtrade. Qtrade offers the better option chain tooling and phone support. Cost says Wealthsimple; workflow may say Qtrade.

The investor with a large, complex portfolio. Someone with a corporate account, an RDSP, or a LIRA needs Qtrade, because Wealthsimple does not offer all of those. Someone at $100,000 or more gets the USD account free at Wealthsimple, which closes the U.S.-dollar gap, and at $500,000 gets a dedicated advisor tier. At Qtrade, Investor Plus waives the USD account fee at $500,000. Here account types decide, then tools.

Switching between them

Moving a registered account between brokers is a transfer, not a withdrawal: your TFSA room and RRSP status are untouched as long as you transfer to the same account type. Both brokers will pay the transfer-out fee your old broker charges, subject to their minimums above. Wealthsimple charges nothing to leave; Qtrade charges $150, which the receiving broker will usually reimburse. Fractional shares cannot be transferred and must be sold first.

If you are transferring a taxable account, a transfer in kind (moving the securities rather than selling them) avoids realizing capital gains. Ask for it explicitly.

Where this fits

The brokerage is the last decision, not the first. Decide the account (TFSA vs RRSP, FHSA), then what to hold (all-in-one ETFs), then where. Our Qtrade review covers the platform in depth; note that it predates the October 2025 pricing change.

Pricing on this page was checked against both brokers’ published schedules on 2026-09-18 and can change without notice. This is education, not a recommendation; the right broker depends on what you trade and which accounts you need.