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If you want to buy US and Canadian stocks and ETF free of commission, then wealthsimple trade is one the best option available for Canadians. It is online app only brokerage platform from Wealthsimple.

Types of Accounts offered

Wealthsimple Trade offers Personal, TFSA and RRSP accounts. Recently they announced that you can buy cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum from them.

Brokerage Fees

Big selling point of Wealthsimple Trade is that you can buy thousands of stocks and ETFs listed in US/Canadian markets. While number of other brokerages offer commission free ETF purchase, they charge anywhere between $5-$20 while selling ETFs.

Even though Wealthsimple Trade doesn’t charge fees while trading US Stocks and ETFs, You will still incur base conversion fee + 1.50%. while it is less than industry average it can still add up to a considerable amount as it is charged when you buy, sell or receive dividends. For example: If you buy $10K worth of Stocks/ETFS and Sell them, You would incur total conversion fee of $300.

If you are transfering your investments from another brokerage, Wealthsimple will reimburse you transfer fees charged by the other institution upto $150 if investments are worth atleast $5000. You can get it reimbursed by filling out this form.

How Safe it is

Wealthsimple Trade is a division of Canadian ShareOwner Investments Inc. which is a member of IIROC and the Canadian Investor Protection Fund (CIPF) which means that your funds are protected against insolvency up to $1,000,000.

Features

Wealthsimple Trade even though user friendly for first time investor , it is not feature rich if you are avid trader. It doesn’t offer market research, Investor guide or Real time quotes. It is available only via Mobile App and not available on Desktop.

Minimum Balance

While many brokerages in Canada requires you to put in minimum of $1000 while opening the account, Wealthsimple trade account can be opened no minimum balance.

Signup via this link and Deposit $100 to receive signup bonus of $10