Hold U.S. cash and trade U.S. stocks & options – without surprise conversion fees
The Questrade RSP lets you:
- Hold U.S. and Canadian currency in the same registered account
- Manage the currency used to trade U.S. stocks & options online
- Avoid paying hefty conversion fees
- Democratic pricing: 1¢ per share, minimum $4.95 / maximum $9.95
USD in RSP is available in all registered accounts including the tax free savings account (TFSA). There is no need to call anyone
to place a trade. Choose how you want to settle your trades in myQuestrade (CAD, USD or the currency of the trade) and
you’re ready to go.
Here's how it works:
- Hold USD and CAD in any registered savings account, including the TFSA. Opt in to hold USD through myQuestrade.*
- Choose to settle trades in USD, CAD or the currency of the trade.
- For accounts that settle in CAD, you still SAVE BIG when you buy and sell USD securities
in the same day. Questrade only converts the net proceeds of the trade – the difference
between any buy and sell.
- React instantly to the market with your trading decisions. Once your settings are
in place, there is no need to advise us in advance of any buy or sell requests for
U.S. securities.
- We only charge currency conversion fees when you decide to exchange your money –
no more forced currency conversions.
- If you do have to convert currency between USD and CAD, take advantage of our low
fees of only 50 pips – or .5% of the trade. This is a significant saving compared
to the industry fee of 1.5% to 2% per trade. On $10,000, that’s $150 savings!
* All Questrade RSP accounts can settle in USD. The default setting is CAD. To change
the default, login to myQuestrade,
go to My Accounts and select Currency Settlement.
For clients who are maintaining USD in their RSP:
- On any day in which you trade a USD security (including gold), you will be charged a $5 commission. This is a flat, per-day commission, no matter how many trades are made.
- Go to the FAQs for more details.
Can I hold U.S. currency
in any registered plan – TFSA, RRSP, RESP, RIF, etc?
Yes. All Questrade registered accounts can hold U.S. currency.
What are the benefits
of holding U.S. currency in an RSP?
The main benefit of being able to hold U.S. currency in an RSP account is avoiding
the forced currency conversion fee attached to every trade of a USD security. Previously,
RSP accounts could only hold Canadian dollars. Any trade – buy or sell – involving
a U.S. security would therefore also involve a conversion to or from CAD. Depending
on the amount of trading in the registered account, the savings to Questrade clients
could be considerable.
Can I deposit U.S.
currency into my registered account from another source?
Yes. You can deposit US currency into your registered account from another Questrade
account or through any of our approved account funding mechanisms, such as wiring
funds or certified cheque. Please visit our
fund an account page for more information.
Do I have to call
in advance to avoid currency conversions when I trade USD securities in my RSP?
Because our trade platforms are direct access, clients do not have to call in special
requests (such as "wash trades") for USD buy or sell orders. This allows traders
to react to market movement as quickly as they would in any other Questrade account.
What is a "wash
trade"?
There are numerous definitions for a "wash trade" or sale - so be wary when using
this term. In Canada, the generic term comes from the forex world and refers to
a trade or sale in which there is neither a gain nor a loss. For some RSP investors
and brokerages, this has come to refer to avoiding forced currency conversions when
buying or selling U.S. securities in a registered account. The regulatory definition
of a wash trade is the illegal buying and selling of shares in one company through
different brokers in order to give the illusion of increased activity. The IRS —
the U.S. tax agency — refers to a wash sale as the buying and selling of the
same security within a certain time frame. This can have serious tax implications
to active U.S. traders, and has nothing to do with currency conversion.