The prime reason to manage your own investments is to save on fees.
But while DIY investing is unquestionably cheaper than having an adviser run your portfolio, there are some surprising fees that can crop up now and then. Here are four of them, which were factored into the recently published 2025 Globe and Mail Digital Brokerage Ranking.
Admin fees for U.S.-dollar registered accounts
All brokers now offer U.S.-dollar registered accounts, which allow you to receive dividends and hold cash in U.S. dollars. With these accounts, you pay the usual foreign exchange costs when converting Canadian dollars into U.S. dollars. A few brokers also charge quarterly administration fees. For example, CI Direct Trading and Qtrade Direct Investing charge US$15 a quarter for U.S.-dollar registered accounts. Wealthsimple charges $10 a month for U.S.-dollar accounts of any type, but you can avoid it when your assets held across the Wealthsimple product lineup hit $100,000.
Buying and selling mutual funds
Seeking low fees usually means choosing exchange-traded funds over mutual funds, but there’s a significant chunk of online brokerage assets held in mutual funds. Several brokers charge clients nothing to buy or sell mutual funds, some have nominal fees and others have more substantial costs.
Some examples of mutual fund commissions: CIBC Investor’s Edge charges $6.95 to buy or sell, Qtrade charges $8.75, Questrade charges $9.95 and Scotia iTrade charges $9.99. RBC Direct Investing charges 1 per cent of the gross trade amount, with a $50 maximum. The brokers with no commissions for all or most mutual funds include BMO InvestorLine, CI Direct Trading, Desjardins Online Investing, National Bank Direct Brokerage and TD Direct Investing.
Account maintenance fees
These fees can be charged on both registered and unregistered accounts. They’re designed to discourage small accounts where there is no activity for prolonged periods, and typically come in at $25 a quarter. You typically need between $15,000 and $25,000 at minimum to avoid these fees – expect to pay them if a market decline pulls your balance below the specified threshold.
Digital brokers with no account maintenance fees for both registered and non-registered accounts include Interactive Brokers, Questrade, TD Easy Trade and Wealthsimple. For all other brokers, consult their fee disclosures before opening a small account. Note that making a few periodic trades can exempt you from these fees.
Paper account statements and trade confirmations
Digital brokers would prefer you view your account statements and trade confirmations digitally and download as required. If you prefer paper, prepare to pay if you’re a client of most brokers. Some examples of the cost involved: BMO InvestorLine and TD charge $2 a month for paper statements, CI Direct Trading, Questrade and Wealthsimple charge $20, National Bank Direct Brokerage and Qtrade charge $6 and Scotia iTrade charges $3. Where there’s a fee, paper trade confirmations cost $2 to $3 each.