The Questrade RSP lets you:
- Hold US currency
- Manage the currency used to trade US 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. 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.
* patent pending
Here’s how it works:
- Hold USD and CAD in any registered savings plan. 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 RSP Currency Settlement.
Can I hold US currency in any registered plan – 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 US 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.
