Opening your self-directed account

Whether you’re an active trader or just starting out, you can take control of your portfolio with a  self-directed investing account. Follow these easy steps to get started.

From here, you will be able to agree to receive personalized communications from us. In order to keep you informed about your account balances and activities, Questrade may need to communicate with you from time to time.

On the next page you will be able to verify your contact method. To keep your account secure, please choose to verify your phone number or email address, and please note that you will have to verify the other contact method later to finish opening your account.

Now is your opportunity to create a unique user ID that's easy for you to remember. Make sure to never share any of your account information with others. Once you have created a user ID, you can hit the “Next” button and continue on to choose a strong password for your user ID.

On the next screen you will be able to choose how you want to manage your investments:  self-directed investing or Questwealth Portfolios. Self-directed investing means you place your own trades and build your own investment portfolio, while Questwealth Portfolios lets you choose a pre-built portfolio that’s managed for you by experts.

From here, you can make an account selection. Choose between Margin, Cash, Tax-Free Savings Account (TFSA), First Home Savings Account (FHSA), Retirement Savings Plan (RSP), Forex & CFDs and more. At the bottom of the account selection you can enter an offer code if you have one.

In the next stages you will be creating your personal profile. When filling this section out, keep in mind that these profile questions help us identify you to keep your account and finances secure. To make the process easier, we only ask for the information we absolutely need. Fill out your residential address, your date of birth, and marital status.

Once your personal profile is complete, you will be asked to verify your other contact method that you didn't verify in the beginning.

From here you will start to answer some financial questions. You'll be asked to fill out your current employment status, then you can answer the subsequent financial questions based on your current financial situation.

Next, you will be able to enter your citizenship information and Social Insurance Number if you have one. On the next screen, please fill out your tax residency information and once complete select “Next.”

Here, you’ll be asked a few more questions about your account. You can fill out what you will be using your account for and select if you’d like to allow options trading.

From here, let’s move on to the agreements section. When you select “review and agree” next to the agreements, the actual agreement itself will appear. Please read through this thoroughly before clicking the green “Accept” button at the bottom.

You can then continue on and do the same thing for each of the agreements shown. Once you have a check mark next to each agreement, you can click the “Next” button at the bottom.

Next, please give your consent to communication. In order to keep you informed about your account balances and activities, Questrade may need to communicate with you from time to time.

You can choose to receive shareholder communications and stay up-to-date on the securities you own. These may be sent through Questrade, or directly from the issuers of securities. Please confirm how you would like to be communicated with and continue.

The last section of setting up your account is to submit and sign your documents.

Please E-sign your forms by selecting “Review and e-sign” this will take you to Docusign where you can sign the required forms.

When you click the “Review and e-sign” button, you will be taken to a new page through our DocuSign interface.

First, you’ll need to agree to using electronic signatures at the top of the page if you haven’t already done so in previous applications.

Once this is done, please click the green “CONTINUE” button to move onto the next step.

Afterwards, you’ll be able to view any documents available to E-sign. Feel free to scroll through, or even print the documents before signing online. To print, please click the small printer icon at the top of the document.

To begin signing, please click the green “Start” button on the left-hand side of the page, and click each highlighted box with an initial or signature. Your initials and signature will be pre-filled with the electronic signature used for your first account.

Please note: Your electronic signature does not have to “match” your handwritten signature. As long as you have a valid ID uploaded with a signature visible, this will not cause any issues.

Please review the document before clicking the green “FINISH” button at the bottom to move forward.

Congratulations! You’ve finished E-signing your documents.

1. Hover over “Account management” from the main navigation bar
2. Click “Find forms”

3. Choose the appropriate account type at the top of the page
4. Click & download (or print) the agreements listed near the bottom right side of the page

To finalize your new account, please proceed through the last section to upload any necessary documents.

If you have recently uploaded your government-issued photo ID for another Questrade account, you can skip this step as our systems will automatically re-use your ID for this new account. In these cases, you’ll see a green check mark next to the Photo ID requirement.

If it has been more than 6 months since you opened your first account, we may require a new copy of your ID.

If this is the case, your page will look like this:

Please click the “Upload” button to submit your photo ID.

If you’re completing this application on a mobile device, you’ll also be prompted to either take a new photo, or upload one saved on your device.

As a reminder: In most cases, we only require the front side of your ID with your signature visible.

If there are any remaining documents required for your new account, you’ll be able to see them listed below the photo ID requirement.

Please download, print and hand-sign these documents, and in most cases you will then be able to upload them directly to your account.

Rarely, we may ask you to mail in certain documents where we require the originals. If this is the case, instead of an upload button, you’ll be able to see our mailing details.

You can upload your documents directly through the application with the “Upload” button or, alternatively, you can navigate directly to our Upload documents page.

Here are some step-by-step instructions for how to upload your documents.

Congratulations! You’ve finished uploading the required documents for your new account.

Now that you’ve finished signing and uploading your documents, the last step is to fund your new account.

We have a number of different funding options available.For more details, please visit our Funding page on this topic or check out our video guide.

Reminder: If your outgoing bank or brokerage charges a “transfer-out fee” to move your accounts, we can help cover this charge as part of our Transfer for free promotion.

You can view the Terms and conditions of the promotion here.

Note: The information in this blog is for educational purposes only and should not be used or construed as financial or investment advice by any individual. Information obtained from third parties is believed to be reliable, but no representations or warranty, expressed or implied, is made by Questrade, Inc., its affiliates or any other person to its accuracy.