Brokers for Canadians

FTMO Trader Scouting

jack

Administrator
Staff member

Brokers for Canadians

Canadians have two main directions they can go when selecting a broker, and both come with trade-offs;

"Onshore" Brokers

Brokers with offices physically in Canada and who are registered and licensed by Canadian regulatory authorities (IIROC.) These brokers will typically be part of the CIPF program and offer some insurance against the broker going bust. As well, it is more common for these brokers to offer free bank transfers for deposits and withdrawals with local Canadian banks.

  • IIROC is Canada's national regulator that is responsible for forex firms (as well as most other investments.) You'll have a local regulatory body to work with should anything go wrong with the broker, however, they also set leverage restrictions pretty aggressively on a pair by pair basis. The max leverage currently set is 33:1 on CAD crosses, most majors are 20:1 or 30:1, and exotics can drop down to as little as 3:1. Minimal leverage is one of the larger drawbacks to an IIROC regulated broker.
  • CIPF protection relates to deposits / client balances. In the event that the broker goes bust, CIPF steps in to ensure that your balance and any securities you own within the account are safe. The max payout for any one person is $1 million.
On shore, IIROC regulated (variable leverage per pair maxing out ~33:1 on CAD crosses,) with CIPF deposit protection:

Oanda Canada

  • Fast, easy, and free bank transfers to local Canadian banks
  • Canadian company with local headquarters (Toronto)
  • IIROC set leverage (33:1 max on CAD crosses and 20:1 or less on all others.)
  • Platforms: Oanda Desktop (proprietary), MetaTrader 4 (MT4 Desktop, Web, and Mobile)
  • Note: While Oanda US still supports tradingview.com as a platform option, Oanda Canada does not
  • Adheres to Alberta's accredited investor requirement to trade Forex, so Alberta residents need to have a significant net worth before they can open an account.

Gain Capital / forex . com

  • Canadian branch (Toronto) of US firm
  • IIROC set leverage (33:1 max on CAD crosses and 20:1 or less on all others.)
  • Platforms: Proprietary (desktop), Web, MetaTrader 4 (MT4 Desktop, Web, and Mobile)
  • Adheres to Alberta's accredited investor requirement to trade Forex, so Alberta residents need to have a significant net worth before they can open an account.

CMC Markets

  • Canadian branch (Toronto) of UK firm
  • IIROC set leverage (33:1 max on CAD crosses and 20:1 or less on all others.)
  • Platforms: Proprietary (desktop), MetaTrader 4 (MT4 Desktop, Web, and Mobile)
  • Heavy focus on CFDs outside of forex, which are often not very well priced (marked up spreads) vs their underlying commodity
  • Adheres to Alberta's accredited investor requirement to trade Forex, so Alberta residents need to have a significant net worth before they can open an account.

Interactive Brokers Canada

  • Canadian branch (Montreal) of a larger US firm
  • IIROC set leverage (33:1 max on CAD crosses and 20:1 or less on all others.)
  • Minimum $2.5 USD commission per side of each trade, so not cost effective unless you're trading a minimum of $50k+ notional ticket size
  • Platforms: Traders Workstation (proprietary)
  • Adheres to Alberta's accredited investor requirement to trade Forex, so Alberta residents need to have a significant net worth before they can trade leveraged FX.

Offshore brokers

Brokers who can service Canadian residents, can be well regulated with access to much higher leverage and tighter spreads, but lack deposit insurance and will likely have limited fee based funding methods.

  • Brokers regulated by overseas entities like the FCA in the UK, or ASIC in Australia, still provide recourse should something go wrong. However, as Canadian residents, dealing with an overseas regulatory body may not be as easy as dealing with a local regulator should a complaint need to be made.
  • Offshore deposit protection insurance programs exist but are not guaranteed by a local body. Your own due diligence is required here.

Pacific Union Prime - https://www.puprime.com/

  • Higher leverage (up to 500:1) for Canadians
  • Fees for most deposit types a waved, so free credit card, VISA/MC debit card, and interac deposits
  • Platforms: MetaTrader 4 (MT4 Desktop, Web, and Mobile,) MAM options.
  • Extremely competitive spreads (0.0-0.2) compared to Canadian "onshore" brokers
  • Accepts Alberta residents without accredit investor status requirement
  • NOTE: When VantageFX left the Canadian market, this is the broker they recommended for their Canadian clients going forward after much time spent vetting potential partner brokers to best service their client base.

Darwinex - https://darwinex.com

  • FCA / ESMA set leverage of 30:1 for retail.
  • Platforms: MetaTrader 4 (MT4 Desktop, Web, and Mobile) and MetaTrader 5 (MT5 Desktop, Web, and Mobile)
  • Investors Exchange - letting you invest in other traders / strategies in a method that's var better than social or signal trading
  • Accepts Alberta residents without accredit investor status requirement

Note on other offshore brokers

While many other offshore brokers exist, and some also take Canadians, it's important to remember the importance of sticking with well regulated brokers.

A troubling trend seen lately in the forex industry is when a broker will hold themselves out as well regulated (usually FCA,) but funnel Canadian clients to a division operating in a much more relaxed regulatory jurisdiction (often Cyprus, or Seychelles.)

The brokers listed above are well regulated and are upfront about their regulatory status.

Disclaimer

Risk Warning: Trading is risky. It isn't suitable for everyone and in some cases you could lose substantially more than your initial investment. When trading derivatives, you don't own or have rights in the underlying assets. Past performance is no indication of future performance and tax laws are subject to change. The information on this website is general in nature and doesn't take into account your personal objectives, financial circumstances, or needs. We encourage you to seek independent advice and the mods at /r/forex and FXGears.com do not hold themselves out as financial advisors.
 
Last edited:
I've updated this to include Pacific Union Prime, who was vetted by VantageFX to service their Canadian clients when VantageFX left Canada recently.
 
FTMO Trader Scouting
Back
Top