Yes. Questrade offers online mutual fund trading in the my mutual funds section in myQuestrade. The commission for online mutual fund trades is $9.95. Phone trade commissions are $9.95 plus a $25 phone trade surcharge.
Currently, Canadians can only buy mutual funds from Canadian fund companies. Some U.S. mutual funds are available through Canadian companies, and may be denominated in U.S. currency. To purchase a USD-denominated mutual fund in a RSP account (including TFSA), you must have U.S. currency in the account; margin is not available in registered accounts. Non-registered accounts can trade USD-denominated mutual funds on margin. For more information and to exchange currencies, click on the my requests tab at the top of the page and select exchange funds.
We do not charge a commission on cancelled or failed orders.
All your active mutual fund positions are displayed on the mutual fund positions page under the my mutual funds tab in myQuestrade. To view the history of your positions as well as your full portfolio, visit the account activity page under my accounts.
The Mutual Fund Maximizer is a service that reimburses mutual fund trailer fees directly to Questrade clients. The trailer fee, or trailing commission, is one of the fees associated with mutual funds and it can be as much as 1% (or more) of the value of your investments. These fees have a significant impact on your potential returns.
Questrade’s Maximizer program will save you money with trailer-fee rebates and improve your portfolio’s year-over-year growth. This is possible by re-investing the money that you would have normally paid in fees.
Every client who owns mutual funds is automatically included in the trailer-fee rebate program.
Please note: Dynamic Funds no longer pays trailer fees on units of their mutual funds held inside Questrade accounts. While you can buy, sell and hold Dynamic Funds in your Questrade account, they will not be eligible for Mutual Fund Maximizer rebates.
There is no charge to enroll in Mutual Fund Maximizer and your account will therefore never be charged a fee for participating in the Mutual Fund Maximizer service.
Questrade assesses a processing fee of $29.95 per month with a minimum of three months. At the close of every quarter, Questrade determines your eligible trailer rebates, subtracts the total processing fee for the quarter, and then rebates the remainder into your account. This processing fee is never charged to your account, so there is no additional payment if your rebate is less than the quarterly threshold.
The threshold to begin receiving your trailer fee rebates is about CAD $36,000 in mutual funds. This assumes an average trailer fee rebate of 1%.
The Maximizer processing fee is $29.95 per month with a minimum of three months. At the close of every quarter, Questrade assesses your total trailer rebates, subtracts the total processing fee for the quarter, and then rebates the remainder into your account. This processing fee is never charged to your account, so there is no additional payment if your rebate is less than the quarterly threshold. Your account will therefore never be charged a fee for participating in the Mutual Fund Maximizer service.
The purpose of trailer fees (or trailing commissions) is to pay your financial advisor or broker for services they provide to you. However, the fund companies pay the same trailer fee to your broker no matter how much or little advice they provide. In addition, the trailer fee is an ongoing expense. As your portfolio grows, so do the fees.
The trailer fee is typically embedded in the Management Expense Ratio (MER). The MER and the embedded trailer fee are a percentage of the total value of the investment. Depending on the fund, the trailer fee may be as low as 0%. An average trailer fee is about 1%.
Trailer fees for mutual funds vary depending on the fund company and the individual fund. The specifics of the fees charged by a fund are detailed in the charges and fees section of the disclosure documents provided to you shortly after a fund purchase.
Questrade does not charge trailer fees. All investors with mutual funds are charged trailer fees by the fund company.
The Management Expense Ratio (MER) is the fee the investment company charges to operate a mutual fund. The operating expenses vary from fund to fund, and are taken out of the fund assets, which lower the returns for individual investors. One component of the MER is the trailer fee (or trailing commission), which can amount to up to 1% or more of the total value of a mutual fund portfolio.
Note: Canadian mutual fund fees have been reported as the highest in the world. The original study which evaluated fees is available here. For an analysis of the study, please go here.
The estimated rebate can be adjusted up or down, at Questrade's sole discretion. Questrade will calculate the final refund amount, apply the processing fee, and deposit the net rebate into your account.
- Rebate estimates are provided by the fund company. The fund company can change the trailer fee without any prior notice.
- Trailer fee rebates are paid to eligible clients when we have received the monies from the fund company.
- The fund company may be negligent or delayed in disbursing trailer fees. If this is the case, Questrade will pursue full and timely payment. When and if a fund company disburses a tardy trailer fee, your account will be credited the full eligible amount.
Trailer fee rebates have no impact on the regular contribution limit in registered accounts. You can contribute to your limit and the trailer fee rebate will maximize your returns.
Trailer fee rebates are deposited into your account as cash. Rebates are issued according to the following schedule:
| 1st quarter |
January 1st to March 31st |
May 1st |
| 2nd quarter |
April 1st to June 30th |
August 1st |
| 3rd quarter |
July 1st to September 30th |
November 1st |
| 4th quarter |
October 1st to December 31st |
February 1st |