It depends almost entirely on whether you need FX conversion. For Canadian investors buying CAD-denominated all-in-one ETFs such as XEQT, VEQT, or XGRO, all major retail brokers cost near zero in broker fees since commissions are free and no currency conversion is needed. The decision flips when you want USD exposure: Wealthsimple Core charges 1.5% FX on every conversion, Wealthsimple Premium eliminates that cost via USD accounts (at a platform fee of roughly CAD 10 to 15 per month), and Interactive Brokers charges approximately 0.002% FX — the lowest available to Canadian investors.

Not when buying CAD-denominated ETFs listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange. XEQT, VEQT, XGRO, and similar all-in-one funds trade in CAD and hold global equities internally, so no currency conversion occurs at the broker level. FX costs become significant when you buy USD-denominated ETFs directly or when your broker converts CAD on each trade. In those scenarios, Wealthsimple Core's 1.5% FX markup costs CAD 150 per CAD 10,000 converted — an amount that compounds significantly over years of regular contributions.

Wealthsimple Premium eliminates the 1.5% FX markup by giving you a USD account, at a cost of roughly CAD 10 to 15 per month (approximately CAD 120 to 180 per year). Premium breaks even against Core when the FX savings exceed that annual fee. At 1.5% FX markup, you need to convert roughly CAD 8,000 to 12,000 per year in USD assets for Premium to pay for itself. Monthly investors contributing CAD 500 to 700 per month into USD-denominated ETFs will typically cross that threshold. If you invest entirely in CAD-denominated ETFs and never need USD, Premium adds cost with no benefit.

Yes. Questrade removed all trading commissions in February 2025, making both ETF and stock trades free. The FX markup of approximately 1.5% on CAD-to-USD conversions remains in place. Questrade has an important structural advantage over Wealthsimple: it supports holding USD directly in registered accounts such as RRSPs and TFSAs, which makes Norbert's Gambit available as a strategy to convert currency at near mid-market rates and hold USD permanently without repeated conversion costs on each contribution.

Interactive Brokers is most compelling for Canadian investors who regularly convert CAD to USD. At approximately 0.002% FX markup versus 1.5% at Wealthsimple Core, IBKR is roughly 750 times cheaper on every currency conversion. On a CAD 1,000 conversion, IBKR costs about CAD 0.02 while a 1.5% markup costs CAD 15. IBKR also gives access to US-listed ETFs directly, a wider range of securities, and sophisticated order types. The interface is more complex than Wealthsimple or Questrade, which makes it less suitable for investors who simply want to buy a single all-in-one ETF each month.

Norbert's Gambit is a currency conversion technique available on brokers that support both CAD and USD accounts, including Questrade and Interactive Brokers. It involves buying a dual-listed ETF or stock in CAD on the TSX, journalling the shares to the USD account, then selling in USD on the NYSE — effectively converting currency at near mid-market rates. The cost is typically the bid-ask spread on the security used, making the total conversion cost well under 0.1%. It is particularly valuable for investors making large lump-sum conversions or who want to hold USD in a registered account long term. It is not available on Wealthsimple.