The Best Stock Trading Apps in Canada for 2024

5.93% is the average annual return on the Canadian stock market for the past 40 years — at least two percent higher than the most attractive high savings bank accounts. And that number almost doubles if you enlarge your investments to the U.S. Yet, 1 in 4 Canadians are not confident in the stock market.

Why is that? Perhaps the sheer amount of platforms, services and options? Perhaps the dense language that is sometimes used? Perhaps fear of the unknown? But one thing is certain: the stock market has enormous potential. And in 2024 all you need is an app on your smartphone to unlock it.

While it is easy enough to start investing in stocks, there are many things to consider before diving in, and this review of the best stock trading apps in Canada provides you with all the information you need before getting started.

Wealthsimple: the best trading app for beginners

Wealthsimple is a Canadian trading platform and brokerage, based in Toronto, Canada. It has over $15 billion in assets under management, making it one of the largest online brokerages in the country. Wealthsimple might have the best stock app for beginners because it’s easy to use, it has robo-advisor options and it focuses on passive investment strategies.

Weathsimple’s app allows you to invest and build your portfolio taking into account your investment profile and risk comfort, and because it’s mostly passive, prices remain low. The commission is 0.5% of assets per year below $100,000 in addition to any ETF management fees.

The Canadian broker attracts many novice investors due to its intuitive and easy-to-use mobile app that includes a news section with articles and analysis on the latest market information. They also offer in-app educational resources for traders of all skill levels.

AVATradeGO: the best forex trading app

AVATrade is a prize-winning global trading platform offering a variety of trading options to Canadians through its partnership with Friedberg Direct, a Toronto-based online discount brokerage. Accounts are opened with Friedberg, which is officially regulated in Canada, but clients have access to AVATrade’s trading tools and platforms. AVATrade is best known for its forex and CFD offerings as well as its educational content. It's one of our picks for best forex brokers.

AVATradeGO is the broker’s mobile investing app offering a range of features such as real-time market analysis and advanced charting. With AVATradeGO, you can use filters to display investment news that interests you or configure alerts to be notified of important events.

The broker’s software also allows you to complete a free trading course and even practice with a demo account. It also allows traders to copy trade — automatically following and copying the positions of other investors.

Qtrade: the best stock app for traders investing in Canadian ETFs

Qtrade is a Canadian brokerage based in Vancouver, Canada. Their free stock trading app offers competitive fees for investing, and they’re also known for their excellent customer service. Qtrade has one of the best stock trading apps in Canada, especially if you plan on investing heavily in Canadian ETFs and prioritizing low-fee ETF trading strategies.

Qtrade is a great option for beginners and experts alike. Qtrade’s mobile app is intuitive and user-friendly, so you can download it and start trading from wherever at any time. Plus, Qtrade offers fairly low commission fees at $8.75 per trade, and it can be cheaper if you trade a lot.

But if you’re looking for even lower fees, Qtrade has something for you, too. You can buy some of their 100+ commission-free ETFs. They offer a wide selection from commodities to stocks to bonds, so there’s enough available that you could build your entire portfolio using just Qtrade’s commission-free ETFs.

Fusion Markets: the Aussie app with low fees

Fusion Markets was founded by the Australian forex trader Phil Horner. The company’s main aim is to lower its fees below most of its competitors. As an Australian company, Fusion Markets is regulated by the Australian government (and not the Canadian government). Even though Canadians might have to pay a markup, the broker still offers some of the lowest commissions and fees for trading in forex, indexes, CDFs and commodities.

With Fusion Markets investing app, in Canada, you can leverage up to a ratio of 500 to 1, which is significantly higher than any other leading brokers. Leveraging this much is risky, but if you’re a seasoned investor looking for high-risk, high-reward investment options, MT4 with Fusion Markets is probably the best app for investing for you.

MT4, the app used by Fusion Markets, supports in-depth analyses of stock market charts but is not the best app for investing in stocks individually. This broker also offers an integrated, free and unlimited demo account for beginners to practice.

Questrade: the best stock market app for multiple tradeable assets

Questrade is a top-tier Canadian online brokerage that offers in-house trading platforms. They have won Canada’s Best Managed Company award not once but 11 times. With over $30 billion in assets under administration and over 250,000 new accounts opened each year, it’s safe to say Questrade is one of the best stock market apps in Canada.

The platform was considered the best stock app in Canada in the J.D. Power 2020 Canada Self-Directed Investor Satisfaction Study. If you want to build and manage your own portfolio, picking each investment individually and independently, Questrade offers low-cost, self-managed accounts. If you’re looking for investments that are a little more guided, they offer pre-designed QuestWealth portfolios that are compiled and managed by experts to help you meet your financial objectives.

The Questrade app offers the same functionalities as the web-based classic platform with live orders, search by asset and transaction history. Their fees are $4.95 per transaction.

xStation by XTB: the reliable, global investment app for tracking stocks and more

XTB is one of the biggest online trading brokerages in the world. Their headquarters are in Warsaw, Poland, but they have offices in 13 countries and are regulated in many other countries. Because of this XTB is highly reliable. They offer advanced trading platforms and include insurance coverage for all their customers up to a value of €1 million, in case of bankruptcy.

XTB’s mobile platform, called xStation, is one of the quickest and easiest ways to trade CFDs. Registration with them is easy, and if you’re just starting, xStation might be the way to go because it comes with educational tools and courses. XTB also offers a wide variety of assets including forex, crypto CFDs, commodities, ETFs and individual stocks.

xStation is the best stock tracking app, with a wide range of technical analysis tools and features and over 34 different stock market indicators. Charts are customizable and the broker also gives you access to Metatrader for even deeper analyses.

What is a stock app?

A stock trading app is a mobile tool that empowers traders to make a profit by investing money in a wide selection of financial products. Stock apps sometimes allow for complete user autonomy while others offer entirely passive investment options. The best stock investing app in Canada also provides the tools to make the best online investment choices on the stock market, at the right time.

Most stock apps allow you to:

• Buy/sell stocks, bonds, ETFs, CDFs, crypto, and other financial products
• View past assets, markets and trends
• Exchange with other traders and brokers
• Track the fluctuation of stock market indices

Generally, stock market apps can be loosely divided into 2 categories:

• Apps to follow markets. These help you follow news related to the financial markets to help you make decisions about your investments.
• Apps to invest in markets. These are online brokerage platforms (acting as mediators between you and the financial markets). You can compare companies and select the one that suits your investment strategy and profile the best.

If you don't have a broker yet, it's always best to compare several to make sure you get the best brokerage for you.

Why use a trading app?

By making your investment strategy mobile, your efficiency shoots up which ultimately makes you more capable to make quicker, more informed investment decisions. More specifically, investment apps are useful to:

• gain in mobility: with a trading app, you can invest from anywhere, right on your phone, meaning you can invest even while travelling.
• manage your virtual portfolio: you have total control over your invested funds, anytime and anywhere.
• analyze precise indicators, in real-time: no more waiting to get home to profit from breaking news or control the damage. Key indicators that help with decision-making are available at your fingertips.
• place orders directly on the graphs: apps are usually much more intuitive than trading sites.
• Benefit from the wider range of products many apps carry, for no added cost.

What is the best stock trading app to use?

The best stock trading app in Canada is difficult to limit to one, as many brokers offer quality services for traders looking for investments in equities, indices and ETFs. However, for Canadians, Qtrade and XTB offer the best apps for stock market investments, given XTB’s global reach and Qtrade’s focus on North American stocks.

Stock trading is a form of investment where you buy and sell shares of companies in order to make a profit. The length of time stock traders keep an individual stock varies, depending on their strategy. Day traders buy and sell stocks multiple times a day to capitalize on small market fluctuations while more passive traders can hold assets for months or even years.

If you are looking for the best investing app for you, you’ll need to set goals and objectives. For example, the best app for a varied financial product range will be different from the best stock app for beginners.

!! - warning - Before you choose an app, make sure it is compatible with your device and operating system. Most brokers offer apps for both Android and iOS, but it’s always worth making sure the app works on your specific device.

Here are the key factors for picking the best investment app for you:

• Regulation. The platform should be regulated by official market authorities such as the CSA. The more regulated a broker is, the safer your investment is with them.
• Fees. Like any company, brokerage firms must make a profit, so fees are inevitable. But, how much and what type of fees varies from app to app. Some charge for transactions or withdrawals; others charge for conversions. Understand the broker’s fees and commissions to avoid any unpleasant surprises.
• User-friendliness. The more intuitive the app, the better your trading experience, and a better trading experience means higher returns. Understanding the platform well is as essential as understanding the product you invest in.
• Features. The variety of products and financial assets is also significant. Diversification of your portfolio results in less risk.
• Customer service. If you ever run into technical problems, it’s important to know how well your broker will respond. After all, it’s your money on the line.

How much is a stock trading app?

Stock trading apps are free. However, there are always fees related to various operations such as transactions or withdrawals. These fees vary from platform to platform. Additionally, how much you end up paying to invest sometimes builds up, and you shouldn’t overlook fees and commissions when estimating the cost of trading.

Fees vary greatly from one broker app to another. Here’s Questrade’s fee scheme at the time of writing as an example:

What is the best free stock app?

A few apps offer free trading on some of their financial products. However, it isn’t realistic to think you can trade stocks or invest in any financial products without any fees at all.

Questrade and Wealthsimple offer some of the lowest fees in Canada, especially for stocks and ETFs.

Questrade has incredibly low commissions and minimal overall costs. They also offer free ETF investing, which makes them one of the best low-fee online brokers.

Wealthsimple also delivers one of the cheapest trading experiences in Canada, allowing investors to purchase stocks and ETFs for $0. If you want a commission-free trading app, then Wealthsimple is your best option.

Which stock trading app is best for beginners?

Questrade offers the best stock trading app for beginners in Canada. Their app is intuitive and allows you to open a demo account before investing any real money. In addition to having comprehensive beginner guides, Questrade also offers competitive fees and a good amount of tradable assets, some commission-free.

If you’re looking for an investment app in Canada, you have many options to choose from as many online brokerages offer mobile trading platforms. From low-cost discount brokers to technologically advanced trading platforms, it can be overwhelming to comb through all the pros and cons as a novice trader. However, as a beginner, you will probably not need access to global markets or any overly technical indicators.

Are investing apps safe?

In Canada, brokers that offer an investing app generally put security at the heart of their operation. All are regulated by financial market regulators, which means they have obligations to guarantee a certain level of safety to their clients.

In addition, almost all investment apps make 2-factor authentication mandatory, which adds additional security to your account by linking your phone or your email address to your account, in addition to your password.

Naturally, the guarantee of a total absence of risk is impossible. The risks of fraud and hacking, even if minimal, are still present – as are the risks of loss to market volatility.

However, overall, it is very much possible to educate yourself and invest in stocks using a mobile app in a relatively safe manner.

Which trading apps offer crypto exchange?

Currently, a few trading apps also feature crypto exchange. Wealthsimple, however, deserves special mention for its varied crypto products and wide offerings.

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Alexandre Desoutter

Alexandre Desoutter has been working as editor-in-chief and head of press relations at HelloSafe since June 2020. A graduate of Sciences Po Grenoble, he worked as a journalist for several years in French media, and continues to collaborate as a as a contributor to several publications.