Canadian Online Brokerage Review – Qtrade Investor

[Ken YKeymaster]

As of September 26th 2014, Qtrade is officially part of the group of online brokerages offering sub-$10 standard commission trades. Their new pricing[See the full post at: https://www.sparxtrading.com/canadian-online-brokerage-review-qtrade/]

• This topic was modified 4 years, 3 months ago by  Ken Y.

[Arnold Denton]

Do you have margin accounts and what interest rate do you charge on the debit balances

[Sparx_AdminKeymaster]

Hi Arnold,

We contacted Qtrade to get an answer to your question. Yes, Qtrade Investor does offer margin accounts (note: SparxTrading does not offer accounts of any kind). The rate that they charge for debit balances depends on the amount borrowed.

Here are the rates they quoted:

Amount Borrowed	Canadian Dollar Balance Rate	US Dollar Balance Rate
less than $10,000	6.2%	6%
less than $50,000	6.15%	5.85%
less than $100,000	6%	5.8%
over $100,000	5.65%	5.65%
Date Checked: 4/13/15 Source: Client Rep.

Hope that helps to clarify.

[Garon]

I know nothing about trading stocks, I’ve done my research in the market but I haven’t been successful in locating a broker that can help guide me through the process, is there any information you could provide to new comer like myself.

[Joe]

So to start trading on Qtrade investor you basically need $2000?. $1000 to Open an account and $1000 to keep up with the minimum balance.
Thanks

[Sparx_AdminKeymaster]

Thanks for your question Joe. Qtrade states that the minimum account balance to begin trading is $1,000 for most accounts and $2,000 for a margin account. (reference: https://www.qtrade.ca/_pdfs/investor/education/en/Qtrade-Investor-How-to-open-an-account_step-by-step-guide.pdf)

[Sam]

So to keep the account active, we have to keep at least $1000 or we can take the balance to $0 on a cash account.

[Sparx_AdminKeymaster]

Hi Sam,

Good question. For Qtrade Investor, if you are in a position then the total account equity on a cash account can dip below $1,000 (e.g. cash + stocks you may have purchased). If it’s just cash, however, the balance has to be at least $1,000. I would recommend calling Qtrade Investor directly to clarify – they are generally pretty quick to answer the phone (1.877.787.2330).

[Sam]

Thanks

[cjam]

Sam, something you should keep in mind is the following:

Unfortunately, QTrade will charge you $25 every quarter that you don’t make a trade, which if you have $1000 to play with, can really cut into your play money. I had a registered account and after getting tired of the $25 fees I decided to close the account at which point I learned about a $125 administration fee associated with closing an account. Overall, a little unimpressed with all of these pieces. I suppose some of these fees were likely shown in some fine print somewhere, but I wish it been more upfront hence why I’m a bit sour and leaving this review.

Good luck

[Author]

Posts