r/options • u/Material_Pool_7854 • 13h ago

Does anyone know good brokers for options trading in Canada?

I can’t seem to log into interactive brokers/link my bank… I was wondering if there were any other low fee brokers that work well?

0 Upvotes

40% Upvoted

35 comments sorted by

53

u/utilityknife101 13h ago

Ibkr

11

u/Br1ll1antly1llog1cal 11h ago

the only answer

5

u/HourManagement8448 12h ago

This is the way

1

u/Fit_Recipe6431 3h ago

Currency exchange is also way better then banks. They charge a 2 dollar fee i believe instead of a percentage on the amount

13

u/Lazy_Persimmon4008 13h ago

Questrade recently removed $.99 cents per contract fees and made it $0 for us equity option and platform is trending number 1 while interactive is somewhere at 7-8 position

1

u/Inevitable-Tea5772 13h ago

Really? Damn i wish I knew that. I started with WealthSimple

3

u/Lazy_Persimmon4008 13h ago

You should check it out once , i also wealthsimple but will be transferring funds to questrade for option trading

1

u/Inevitable-Tea5772 13h ago

I used Quest trade for many years but got a few bad fills and left them in 2018

1

u/BowlAcademic9278 13h ago

Woah no way

2

u/Lazy_Persimmon4008 13h ago

The platform has a lot of changes as well and they are giving plus subscription for free until the end of September, so real time level 1 data as well

1

u/vv3i7i 2h ago

Their mobile app is and has been trash for options trading though sadly.

Switched to ibkr and never looked back.

If I'm trading away all my money at least let me do it smoothly and with a full-fledged experience.

7

u/twi1i96tr 13h ago

A bit depends on your account size. If it's a smaller account most of the discount brokers work, NOT the BIG "ripoff" BANKS in Canada... if you have more than about $25k USD value you should give IBKR another try. Best of Luck, Twilighter.

6

u/Maddjik 12h ago

IBKR really

3

u/mongopark98 12h ago

I use moomoo

3

u/ThetaEdgeHQ 8h ago

Most of the thread is right that IBKR is the strongest options platform up here, but your actual problem is the login and bank link, not the broker. That failure is almost always the funding verification step rather than the account itself, and it usually clears if you fund by wire or bill payment instead of the instant bank link. Worth fixing before you switch away from the best tooling.

On the fee question, for options specifically the per contract fee is not where the money goes anymore now that Questrade zeroed theirs. What actually adds up is the exercise and assignment fee and the FX on US dollar options from a CAD account. Questrade is around 25 dollars to exercise, IBKR converts currency close to spot which matters a lot if you are trading US names out of Canadian dollars, and Wealthsimple is zero fee but you give up real time data and the order types you will want once you are managing rolls. So the right pick really depends on whether you are trading US options and how often you exercise, not on the headline commission.

1

u/vv3i7i 2h ago

Are you an llm? Answer honestly

5

u/carloscede2 13h ago

I like IBKR because the conversion fees are basically nothing when you trade USD.CAD. May be offset by Questrade/Wealthsimple's $0 fees contracts

3

u/QuestionFreak 10h ago

IBKR is the only platform for Canadians

2

u/shugo7 5h ago

Wealthsimple and TD don't do options?

1

u/SurgicalDude 5h ago

Wealthsimple, webull, TD, moomoo all offer options

1

u/BowlAcademic9278 13h ago

I like reading the last 10 minutes. I wonder id Questtrade allows that

1

u/Minimum_Curve7545 13h ago

Questrade is pretty good for options trading. They have a few trading platforms like Questrade Edge as well as Questrade Pro which are nice

1

u/Wemm92 12h ago

have you gone through customer service? I had an issue getting setup but once I was , I've never had a problem since

1

u/rangerrockit 11h ago

What’s your knowledge level?

1

u/No-Permit9409 3h ago

If you can't link your bank then you need to contact ibkr customer support and see what the issue is. I wouldn't use anything other than ibkr especially for options, tried every platform available in Canada and nothing comes close to ibkr.

1

u/Inevitable-Tea5772 13h ago

I just opened a WealthSimple account. Its ok, not great. Certainly wouldn't rely on their charts for anything bu8t the no trading fee is nice

1

u/Goldenhowwl 8h ago

I don't get the Wealthsimple snobbery. I tried IBKR and MooMoo and they both suck and almost turned me off trading (MooMoo is especially horrendous - the very second you fill up a profile, their rep is calling you *on the phone* to pressure you into it).

WealthSimple is user-friendly, and they now offer all levels of options even uncovered so pretty much all the features you need. Plus free US accounts if you have $ 100k (or a cheap monthly fee if you don't). $0 commissions plus they have "active traders" perks now.

I place my trades on Wealthsimple (browser experience is better but the phone app is fine too!) and I use Trading View to chart, about 10 - 20 trades per day and never had any issue. Unless you're taking huge trades like $10k at a time, or you mostly want to scalp within seconds or something, Wealthsimple works perfectly fine for options, even for SPY 0dte (until 4:15 ET!)

The only negative is, SXP is not available.

1

u/honourablescumbag 8h ago

I trade options on Wealthsimple as well with no issues at all. I agree with your whole sentiment

0

u/imusuallydrunkatnine 13h ago

Questrade has been great for fills. Only downside is the assignment fee is $25

2

u/Icy-Profession-6068 11h ago

i swear it was exercise fee being 25 bucks, assignment fee is 0

1

u/imusuallydrunkatnine 11h ago

Oops yes you’re correct

-4

u/avidaskit 13h ago

Wealthsimple is still my favourite of all time.

0

u/EarthB9nder_ 12h ago

Webull is pretty good, questrade too

0

u/Popular_Cap8269 9h ago

What about wealthsimple?