Investing

The Best Investment Apps in Canada for 2023

Canadians have more control over their money now than at any point in history. This is primarily due to technological advances that allow you to manage your money right from your mobile device. But mobile banking goes far beyond checking your bank account balance or paying bills on the go.

Today, Canada’s best stock trading apps allow you to manage your entire investment portfolio from your phone. 

Best Investment Apps for Canadian Investors

If you’re searching for an investing app, here are five I believe to be the best. 

There are many solid investment apps in Canada, but the following apps stand out because they do one (or more) things exceptionally well. 

While only some apps will be right for you, I’m confident there’s something here for almost every Canadian investor.

Investing AppBest For
Wealthsimple InvestBest Robo-Advisor App
Wealthsimple TradeBest for Beginners
QuestradeBest for ETFs
TD Direct InvestingBest of the Big Banks
EQ BankBest for Savings

Wealthsimple Invest: Best Robo-Advisor App

  • Available Products: RRSPs, TFSAs, RESPs, non-registered accounts
  • Fees: 0.40%-0.50% annual management fee
  • Platform: iOS and Android

Wealthsimple Invest is Canada’s largest robo-advisor and my top pick at Retire Happy. While the company has been adding products to its stable – you can now trade stocks and crypto and file your taxes with Wealthsimple – their robo-advisor platform continues to be its crown jewel.

Wealthsimple’s mobile app, available for download on both iOS and Android devices, lets you open an account, choose a portfolio, and move money with a few clicks of a button. No minimum balance requirement exists, so you can start investing with only a few dollars. And the management fee is reasonable: 0.50% annually for balances up to $99,999 and 0.40% for $100,000 and above.

Wealthsimple Invest portfolios consist of low-cost exchange-traded funds, which you can easily track within the app.

If you’re transferring funds from another investment company, Wealthsimple will reimburse your outgoing transfer fees up to $150 if the transfer amount is $5000 or more.

And if you open a Wealthsimple account using our exclusive link, you’ll receive a $25 bonus with an initial deposit of $500. For more information, check out my full Wealthsimple review.

Click here to get started with Wealthsimple today

Wealthsimple Trade: Best App for Beginners

  • Available Products:
  • Fees: Free trades for stocks and ETFs; $10/month for the Plus plan (optional)
  • Platform: iOS and Android

Trade is Wealthsimple’s free stock trading app that allows you to buy and sell Canadian stocks and ETFs commission-free from your mobile device. While it lacks the advanced tools of other stock trading apps (see Questrade and TD Direct Investing below), it’s ideal for beginners and fee-conscious traders.

There is no account minimum, and the app supports fractional investing. This means you can purchase partial shares in stock if you set up a recurring investment plan.

To unlock additional features, such as Instant Trades up to $5000, unlimited US Stocks, and no FX fees on US trades, you can upgrade to the Plus plan for $10/month.

While Wealthsimple Trade is perfect for beginners, its limitations may turn away more sophisticated traders. Accounts are limited to RRSP, TFSA, and cash trading – no RESP or RRIF accounts – and the app doesn’t support margin trading.

Click here to get started with Wealthsimple today

Questrade: Best App for ETF Trading

  • Available Products: RRSPs, TFSAs, RESP, LIRA, RIF, Margin, non-registered, and Corporate Accounts available
  • Fees: Stock trades start at $4.95, and free ETF purchases
  • Platform: iOS and Android

Questrade is one of Canada’s largest independent online brokerages, known for its commission-free ETF purchases. You can manage your investments from your desktop computer or via QuestMobile, Questrade’s investment app.

QuestMobile has enough features to satisfy most traders, including real-time snap quotes for the major North American stock exchanges, consolidated charts to view your investment accounts, and customizable alerts to track price changes and trading activity.

But QuestMobile’s most significant advantage is its competitive pricing, especially its free ETF purchases. Most online brokerages in Canada charge up to $9.99 per trade (there are a couple of exceptions), but with Questrade, you can choose from thousands of free ETFs. Note that there is a fee when you sell.

Stock trades are also well-priced. You can buy and sell stocks for as low as $4.95, up to a maximum of $9.95. Competing investment apps can charge as high as $9.99 per trade.

Unfortunately, QuestMobile doesn’t support some advanced transactions, such as options contracts, so traders would need to use one of the Questrade Edge desktop platforms. 

However, according to Questrade, a mobile app designed for advanced traders is coming soon.

QuestMobile’s OS requirements include Android devices running Android 9+ or higher and Apple devices running iOS 12+ or higher. For more details, read our full Questrade review.

Click here to get started with Questrade

TD Direct Investing: Best Big Bank App

  • Available Products: RRSPs, TFSAs, RESP, LIRA, RIF, Margin, non-registered accounts, corporate accounts.
  • Fees: Free app; free mutual fund trades, stock and ETF trades $9.99 ($7.00 active trader pricing)
  • Platform: iOS version 9 or higher and Android 4.4 or higher

TD Direct Investing is Canada’s largest online brokerage. Like the other big banks, its fees are much higher than Wealthsimple and Questrade, but TDs investment app is packed with features, including powerful trading and research tools for regular and advanced traders.

In addition to a customizable home screen, you can access free real-time snap quotes, including company profiles, fundamentals, stock charts and news, mutual funds, ETFs, and options chains.

Unlike Wealthsimple Trade and QuestMobile, the TD App lets you trade options and execute multi-leg options strategies. You can also place the following advanced orders: trailing stops, option stop limit, and short sell stops.

TD Easy Trade

In addition to the main TD App, beginner investors can get started with TD Easy Trade, a free investment app that offers 50 stock trades per year and unlimited, free TD ETF trades. You can also hold Canadian and US currency in your account.

It’s obvious that TD Easy Trade was designed to compete with the popular Wealthsimple Trade app, and it’s worth considering if you’re just getting started with investing and don’t plan to place more than three or four trades per month. 

EQ Bank: Best App for Savings

  • Available Products: High-interest savings account, TFSA, US Dollar Account, GICs
  • Fees: No fees
  • Platform: iOS and Android

EQ Bank is usually on my list of the best high-interest savings accounts due to its consistently high rates. 

Okay, so it’s not exactly an investment app. But with savings interest rates higher than they’ve been in years and in light of recent stock market uncertainty, more Canadians are considering cash as part of their overall investment strategy.

You can do most of your banking with the EQ Mobile app, which is available for iOS and Android devices. It allows you to check account balances, deposit cheques, transfer funds, pay bills, and send money via e-Transfer. You can even purchase a Guaranteed Investment Certificate (GIC) from the mobile app.

The best part is that there are no account or transaction fees, and you get a great interest rate on your savings. For example, the EQ Savings Plus Account is paying 2.50% interest at the time of this writing.

Final Thoughts on the Best Investing Apps

There is no single best Canadian stock trading app. It depends on the type of investor you are and the features that are most important to you.

For example, new investors should prioritize ease of use and price over other features. For that, I recommend one of the Wealthsimple apps or TD Easy Trade if you’re already a TD customer.

QuestMobile will likely appeal to the largest segment of investors because it offers the best mix of low pricing and performance.

And advanced traders who can qualify for the active trader pricing will appreciate the extensive trading functionality and research tools that the TD App offers.

In other words, the best stock trading app is up to you to decide. 

Comments

  1. Brenda

    Questrade also supports the new FHSA account

  2. Mike

    Just moving my money out of EQ into Wealthsimple due to interest rates. Only got 2.5% with EQ and am now getting 4% with Wealthsimple Save (one has to have over $100,000 in assets with Wealthsimple trade to get that rate).

  3. C E

    Hi,
    Always hungry for investment information.
    Am enjoying trading options…mostly covered calls and wondering if there are more reasonable platforms than Scotia itrade. Currently $11.25 /trade and switching to an inferior platform from their Flight Desk which is closing tomorrow!

    Dread the thought of changing, but just hate the new web based platform.

  4. rick

    be careful on td, they say on their site min. initial purchase for a mutual fund is $500 but if you try to place an order they will not accept it, when you call in they tell you the info is wrong you must buy at least $1000, if you buy the initial $1000 then the site says each further purchase must be min.$25 but if you place an order for lets say $500 they deny it, when you call in once again they say the $25 info is wrong EVERY purchase must be at least $1000!!This of course is illegal but the big banks control everything in Canada so nothing gets done about it

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