Automate your trading strategy with Flows in Questrade Pro

Have you missed a trade by seconds, only to see it do exactly what you would have expected. An opportunity wasted. Flows helps you never miss that trade again. 

Flows is a no-code, agentic finance tool available in Questrade Pro. You build “if this, then that” rules to automate your trading strategy — from simple alerts to complex trades. When the conditions are met, your Flow will execute accordingly. Every action a Flow takes is logged and time-stamped for you to review at any time.

For example, you can set a rule: IF any position in my TFSA drops 5%, THEN buy $100 more.

Common templates of Flows include:

• Buy the dip: when a stock drops a set percentage in a day, place a buy order.

• Take profit or cut losses: when a position hits a target price, sell it.

• Put idle cash to work: when your cash balance crosses a threshold, invest it

• Recurring buys: invest a fixed amount into a symbol on a set schedule.

• Price alerts: get a push notification when a symbol hits a price, or a position moves a set percentage. 

Flows does not decide what to trade. It runs the strategy you already have, on the terms you set, when your conditions are met. It is not a bot that picks securities and it makes no call on where the market is going.

Before you start

• A Flow can only be created and edited within Questrade Pro. If you are using the Questrade app, you can still view and pause Flows there, but you cannot create or edit them through the app.

• Your account needs to be sufficiently funded for Flows to place a buy order when your conditions are met. If your account does not have sufficient buying power when a buy order is triggered, the Flow will be paused. 

• Flows can execute stock and option orders during market hours, Monday-Friday, 9:30am-4:00pm EST. 

• Each order is capped at $10,000.

• Before any Flow is activated you must confirm the logic is correct.

Build your first Flow

To start building a Flow, click the Flows icon in the left navigation. 

There are two ways to create a flow: from a plain-language description handed to the AI assistant, or from a blank canvas. 

Build with the Flow assistant

1. Pick from one of the templates available. Or, describe your flow in plain language, for example: alert me when any position I hold is up 15% or down 10%. 

2. Review the Flow the assistant drafts. It translates your words into logic — it does not choose a strategy or pick securities for you.

3. Adjust any trigger(s) or action, confirm the logic, and select Activate.

Start from a blank canvas

1. Click Build with a diagram.

2. Add a Trigger ("if" condition). You can choose from Market data, Balances or Positions.

3. And select an Action (“then” condition). You can choose from Place Order or Send Notifications.

   • For Place order, set Buy/Sell, type (Market/Limit), amount (dollars/shares), and time in force (Day/GTC).

   • For Send notification, select a Method (Push, Email, SMS) and enter the Message.

4. Define trigger and action parameters (Symbol, Amount, etc.)

5. Click the + symbol to add up to 5 conditions per Flow using AND/OR logic.

6. Configure your flow settings (Optional): schedule (daily, weekly, monthly), end date, frequency (cooldown), and max daily orders.

7. Review the logic on screen and click Save and activate.

8. To update the name and description after saving, click the three dots and choose Edit Details.

Once active, the Flow shows an Active status and begins watching for your condition.

Pause or resume a Flow

Pausing stops a Flow from firing without deleting it, so you can turn it back on later.

1. Open Flows and select the Flow you want to pause.

2. Select Pause. The Flow will be paused and will stop watching for its condition(s).

3. To turn it back on, open the Flow and select Activate. 

Edit a Flow

1. Open Flows and select the Flow you want to change.

2. Before you edit, you will first need to Pause the flow.

3. Make your desired changes, review the updated logic, and Activate the Flow.

Delete a Flow

1. Open Flows and select the Flow you want to remove.

2. Click the three dots and click Delete.

3. The Flow stops permanently, and is removed from your active list. 

Track what a Flow does

Every Flow keeps a timestamped history of its actions.

1. Open Flows and select a Flow.

2. Open its Execution History to see when it fired: any order or alert it triggered.

What to do if something goes wrong

Your Flow paused on its own. A Flow is paused when it encounters repeated failures. For example: when there is not enough buying power for the order, when several symbols meet the condition at the same time or a symbol gets delisted from your conditions. 

You get a notification when this happens. Open the Flow, check the Execution History for the cause, make the necessary adjustments (for example by adding cash), and reactivate.

Several symbols triggered at once. When more than one symbol meets the condition at the same time, Flows asks you to place those trades manually rather than firing them together. Review the alert and act from your account.