Wealthsimple vs Questrade (2026): Fees, FX, Account Types, and Who Should Use Which
This comparison sits under the how to invest in Canada hub. The structural broker map, without a live price list, is the brokerage guide. The journal itself is Norbert's gambit. Neither firm is a referral here. There is no affiliate link on this page.
- Stock and ETF commissions: $0 at both, for securities listed in Canada or the United States, on the pages reviewed.
- CAD-USD conversion: 1.5% at both when you convert. Wealthsimple's tiered lower rates apply only to cash moved between a CAD account and a USD account, and only in larger bands.
- Wealthsimple USD accounts are $10 a month plus tax for Core clients after a 30-day trial, and included for Premium and Generation.
- Questrade lists dual-currency accounts with no annual account fee and no inactivity fee. Journaling is $9.95 a request, or free with Questrade Plus.
- Interactive Brokers is the third path when the conversion itself is the whole cost. Its spot schedule is not a 1.5% spread.
Choose Questrade if… you will hold US dollars inside an RRSP or TFSA, journal more than occasionally, or you want the self-directed desk and the Questwealth robo at the same firm. The robo fees are in best robo-advisors.
What do the fee schedules actually say?
| Item | Wealthsimple | Questrade |
|---|---|---|
| Canadian and US stocks and ETFs, online | $0 commission | $0 commission to buy and to sell |
| CAD-USD conversion | 1.5% on trades from a CAD account. Between a CAD and a USD account: 1.5% under $10,000, 1.0% from $10,000 to $24,999.99, 0.5% from $25,000 to $99,999.99, 0% at $100,000 and over. Applied to Wealthsimple's corporate exchange rate, which itself includes a spread. | 1.5%, included in the FX rate. Questrade says this fee was last updated 18 November 2023. |
| USD account | $10 a month plus tax for Core, after a 30-day trial. Included if you are Premium or Generation and you opt in. Trading US-listed securities from the USD account has no per-trade FX fee. | Dual-currency is listed as enabled, with no annual account fee, so you can hold USD in registered accounts and avoid a forced conversion on each US trade. |
| Journaling (Norbert's gambit) | Help Centre: $9.95 plus tax per request, web only, Global X DLR and DLR.U only, about two business days, and you need a USD account. | $9.95 per online request. Free and unlimited with Questrade Plus. Requests can take up to five business days. A recent purchase needs one business day to settle before the journal. |
| Options, if you use them | Pricing page lists $0 USD options for Core, Premium, and Generation. Confirm the contract schedule before you trade. | CAD options: $0 plus $0.99 per contract. US equity options: $0 on the pricing page reviewed, with a separate index schedule. |
Table as of September 2026. Sources are the Wealthsimple pricing page and trade fee schedule, and Questrade's transaction-fee and journaling pages. Questrade Plus is free to all customers until 30 September 2026; from 1 October 2026 Questrade lists it at $19.99 a month plus tax. Do not build a multi-year plan on a three-day promotion.
Who pays the 1.5% more than once?
A Canadian-listed asset-allocation ETF never needs this line. XEQT and VEQT trade in Canadian dollars. The XEQT versus VEQT decision is holdings and MER, not FX. You pay the 1.5% when you buy or sell a US-listed security from a CAD balance, or when you convert cash.
At 1.5%, $10,000 costs $150 before any spread already inside the corporate rate. A $9.95 journal is $9.95 plus sales tax. In Ontario, 13% HST on $9.95 is about $1.29, so the ticket is about $11.24. That is the arithmetic, not a quote of your province's tax. The break-even against 1.5%, before the ETF's bid-ask, is $9.95 divided by 0.015, about $663, and higher once tax and the spread are in. On $10,000 the journal is the cheaper posted fee. At Interactive Brokers Canada's spot schedule, tier one is 0.20 basis points with a USD $2 minimum, so $10,000 costs the $2 minimum, not $150. Auto-conversion there is typically 0.03%, which is $3 on $10,000. Norbert's gambit is the wrong tool at that broker. Details are in the gambit guide.
Wealthsimple Core clients also pay $10 a month plus tax for the USD account the gambit requires, unless they are already Premium or Generation. On a single conversion, add that month. On a standing USD RRSP, it is a subscription, and Questrade's "no annual account fee" line is the comparison.
Which accounts can you actually open?
Self-directed menus move. Wealthsimple's own pages say you can upgrade self-directed stock accounts to USD, and that you convert only between paired accounts: a CAD TFSA to a USD TFSA, not a CAD TFSA to a USD RRSP. Questrade's journaling page says online journaling is not available in an RESP; you call or chat for that account. Before you transfer a retirement account, confirm FHSA, RESP, LIRA, RRIF, and spousal RRSP on the firm's current list. A perfect fee on a missing account type is not a perfect fee.
Transfers in are a different bill from trades. Read the transfer-out fee and any reimbursement before you move a TFSA or RRSP. Withdrawing and re-contributing is not a transfer. That mistake is in the TFSA contribution guide. Where the US-listed sleeve belongs, once the broker can hold it, is the asset-location guide.
What this page will not call a winner
Research tools, fractional shares, options depth, and phone support change, and they matter only if you use them. CIPF membership is a coverage fact with a limit you should read on cipf.ca, not a reason to pick a logo. Wealthsimple's managed portfolios and Questrade's Questwealth are a separate product with a management fee. Do not compare a self-directed $0 commission with a robo percentage as if they were the same service.
Frequently asked questions
Is Wealthsimple or Questrade cheaper in 2026?
For Canadian-listed ETFs bought with Canadian dollars, both list $0 commissions, so the cheaper one is the one you will actually use. The gap opens when you convert currency. Both list 1.5%. Wealthsimple then adds a $10 monthly USD-account fee for Core clients. Questrade lists dual-currency without that monthly fee and charges $9.95 to journal. Price your own orders.
Does the 1.5% apply twice, on the buy and on the sell?
At Wealthsimple, a US trade placed from a CAD account is converted on the order. Selling back into CAD converts again. A USD account avoids the per-trade fee; you pay when you move cash between CAD and USD, on the tier for that amount. Questrade's 1.5% is on the conversion. Holding the USD proceeds skips the second conversion until you switch back.
Is Questrade Plus worth $19.99 a month for free journaling?
Only if you journal often enough that $9.95 a request exceeds the subscription, and you will use the other Plus items. One journal a year does not. Questrade says Plus is free for all customers until 30 September 2026 and $19.99 a month plus tax after that. Read the current offer. Do not subscribe to save a fee you will not incur.
Can I hold VOO at either broker?
VOO is a US-listed ETF. Both brokers list US-listed ETFs at $0 commission. You still pay to get Canadian dollars into US dollars unless the account already holds USD. Whether VOO belongs in the account at all is a withholding question, not a commission question. See VFV versus VOO.
Which one is better for a TFSA all-in-one ETF?
Either, if the only trade is a Canadian-listed fund and you will not convert currency. Both list $0 commissions on those ETFs. Pick the app you will actually fund in January. The fund choice is best ETFs for a TFSA, not the broker logo. A USD account does not help that trade.
Are these figures promotional?
The $0 commissions and the 1.5% FX lines are from the firms' own pricing pages, not from a bonus. Welcome bonuses and transfer rebates were left out on purpose. They change, and they are often unavailable if you have held an account before. Confirm the schedule the day you apply.
Sources
- Wealthsimple pricing and the trade fee schedule
- Wealthsimple: USD accounts
- Questrade transaction fees and journaling shares
- Interactive Brokers Canada: spot currency commissions
The broker is the pipe. Tax is the pressure.
A cleaner platform does not set your bracket. The 2026 tax guide is the other half.
Get the 2026 Tax Guide — $49 CAD
