Best Investing Apps in Canada 2026: The Long-Term Guide

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Last updated: August 2026

Investing apps and trading apps get lumped together, but they solve different problems. This guide ranks the best apps in Canada for long-term investing — buy-and-hold portfolios, TFSA and RRSP contributions, dollar-cost averaging into ETFs, and saving toward retirement or a first home through an FHSA. If you’re looking for active, frequent trading tools instead, our best stock trading apps in Canada guide covers that separately.

Commissions on Canadian stocks and ETFs have fallen to zero at several major platforms, so the question for a long-term investor is no longer “which app is cheapest” but “which app fits the account I need, holds up over 20+ years of contributions, and doesn’t quietly cost me on the things a per-trade fee doesn’t capture — currency conversion, account breadth, and how easy it is to keep contributing on autopilot.”

Questrade® is where we hold our own research accounts: $0 commissions on Canadian and US-listed stocks and ETFs, TFSA, RRSP and FHSA accounts, and CIPF coverage as a CIRO member. Open a Questrade account.

The Best Investing Apps in Canada at a Glance

App	ETF/stock commission	Account types	Fractional shares	Best for
Questrade®	$0 buy and sell	TFSA, RRSP, FHSA, RESP, RRIF, LIRA, margin, corporate	No	Best overall for long-term, self-directed investors
Wealthsimple	$0 all tiers	TFSA, RRSP, RESP, LIRA, non-registered	Yes	Simplest experience for beginners
National Bank Direct Brokerage	$0 online stock and ETF trades	TFSA, RRSP, FHSA, RESP and more	No	$0 trading inside a big bank
TD Direct Investing	$9.99/trade ($7.00 Active Trader); select ETFs $0	TFSA, RRSP, FHSA, margin	Yes (partial shares, $1.99)	Full-service bank brokerage tools

Data as of August 29, 2026. All commission figures cross-checked against each broker’s own pricing page or independent broker-fee trackers; see the verification note in each section below. Fees change — always confirm on the broker’s site before opening an account.

Investing Apps vs. Trading Apps: Which Do You Need?

This is worth settling before you download anything, because it changes which app actually wins.

You want an investing app (this guide) if: you’re contributing regularly toward a TFSA, RRSP, or FHSA; you plan to buy and hold ETFs or a small number of stocks for years; you care more about account breadth, low ongoing costs, and ease of consistent contributions than about order types or real-time charting.

You want a trading app instead if: you place frequent orders, use limit/stop orders and advanced charting regularly, trade options actively, or care about execution speed and Level 2 market data. Our best stock trading apps in Canada guide ranks platforms on those criteria specifically.

The good news: Questrade and Wealthsimple both show up on both lists, because a $0-commission self-directed account works for either style. The difference is which features you’ll actually use. A long-term investor buying an ETF once a month doesn’t need Level 2 data or an options chain — they need low fees on the purchase, tax-advantaged account support, and a way to automate the contribution so discipline doesn’t depend on remembering to log in.

1. Questrade® — Best Overall Investing App for Long-Term Investors

Questrade® is our top pick for Canadians building a long-term, self-directed portfolio inside a TFSA, RRSP, or FHSA. It charges $0 commission to buy and sell Canadian and US stocks and ETFs, has no annual account fees or inactivity fees on registered accounts, and offers the widest account lineup of any app on this list.

Why it wins for long-term investors specifically:

• $0 stock and ETF trades, so a monthly $200 ETF purchase costs the same as a $20,000 one — no per-trade drag on dollar-cost averaging
• Full account lineup: TFSA, RRSP, FHSA, RESP, RRIF, LIRA, margin, and corporate accounts, so your investing app doesn’t force you to split accounts across institutions as your goals change
• Dual-currency accounts at no extra cost: you can hold US dollars directly inside a registered account and buy US-listed ETFs and stocks without a forced conversion on every purchase — this matters for anyone holding US index ETFs long-term, since RRSP accounts specifically benefit from the Canada-US tax treaty exempting US dividend withholding tax
• No annual fees on TFSA, RRSP, FHSA, RESP, or RRIF — a long-term account you might hold for decades shouldn’t quietly bleed a flat annual fee regardless of how it performs
• CIRO member and CIPF member, so the same insolvency protection applies as at the big banks

What to watch:

• Currency conversion when you do convert CAD to USD is 1.5% (per questrade.com’s published pricing, verified August 28, 2026) — worth knowing before converting a large lump sum, though dual-currency accounts mean you convert on your schedule, not on every trade
• Support runs weekday business hours (phone, text, live chat), not 24/7
• The platform has more depth than a first-time investor strictly needs — a “buy this ETF once a month and don’t touch it” investor may find Wealthsimple’s interface friendlier on day one

If you move an existing account over, Questrade advertises a rebate on the transfer-out fee your old institution charges — confirm the current rebate amount and conditions directly on questrade.com before initiating the transfer.

Read our full Questrade review for the complete fee table and account-opening walkthrough.

2. Wealthsimple — Best for Beginners Building a Long-Term Habit

Wealthsimple charges $0 commission on Canadian stock and ETF trades across all its plan tiers — Core, Premium, and Generation — and its pricing page confirms fractional shares are supported on every tier (data confirmed live August 29, 2026, wealthsimple.com/en-ca/pricing). For a long-term investor who wants to automate a monthly contribution and never think about it again, this is the simplest app on the list to actually set up and stick with.

Why it works for long-term investors:

• $0 stock and ETF commissions on every tier
• Fractional shares, so a fixed monthly contribution — say $300 — buys exactly $300 of an ETF instead of leaving cash sitting uninvested because a whole share costs more than your contribution
• TFSA, RRSP, RESP, LIRA, and non-registered accounts confirmed on the pricing page; if an FHSA specifically is your priority, confirm current FHSA availability directly on wealthsimple.com, since it wasn’t listed on the pricing page we reviewed
• CIPF member
• The cleanest, simplest interface of any Canadian platform — genuinely easier for a first-time investor to set up a recurring contribution and leave alone

What to watch:

• Trading US stocks from a CAD account costs 1.5% in currency conversion each time; a dedicated USD account is $10/month on the Core tier (free on Premium and Generation), with better conversion rates on larger USD balances (1.0% from $10,000–$24,999.99, 0.5% from $25,000–$99,999.99, 0% at $100,000+; confirmed live August 29, 2026)
• Active US-dollar, long-term RRSP investors on the Core tier pay more for USD holdings than at Questrade, where dual-currency registered accounts are free

See our Wealthsimple overview for more on the platform.

3. National Bank Direct Brokerage — $0 Trading Inside a Big Bank

National Bank Direct Brokerage (NBDB) charges $0 commission on all online stock and ETF transactions and was the first Canadian bank-owned broker to do so. For a long-term investor who wants everything — banking and investing — under one roof, it’s a reasonable choice, though it’s less full-featured for account breadth than Questrade.

Why it works for long-term investors:

• $0 online stock and ETF trades with the backing of a Big Six bank
• TFSA, RRSP, and FHSA accounts available alongside standard banking
• Long operating record in Canadian online brokerage (operating since 1987)

What to watch:

• USD currency conversion runs about 1.70% on balances under $25,000 USD, tapering at higher amounts — more than Questrade or Wealthsimple charge on smaller conversions
• Transferring an account out costs $150
• An account administration fee (reported around $100/year on balances under roughly $20,000, unless you’re under 30 with several trades a year) can apply — this detail wasn’t on the NBDB page directly during this review, so confirm current terms on nbc.ca before opening
• The platform is functional rather than modern; a beginner who wants a polished app experience will likely prefer Wealthsimple

4. TD Direct Investing — For Investors Who Want Bank Tools Alongside Long-Term Holdings

TD Direct Investing still charges per-trade commissions: $9.99 for a standard Canadian or US stock trade, or $7.00 on the Active Trader plan (150+ trades per quarter), with select ETFs at $0 and options at $9.99 + $1.25 per contract (Active Trader: $7.00 + $1.25 per contract). Partial shares trade at $1.99 (confirmed live August 29, 2026, td.com pricing page).

Why it still makes this list:

• Deep research tools and screeners that a long-term investor may grow into over time
• Full registered account lineup — including TFSA, RRSP, and FHSA — inside Canada’s largest bank brokerage
• TD Easy Trade offers simplified, lower-cost Cash/TFSA/RRSP/FHSA variants for investors who want TD specifically but not the full commission structure

What to watch:

• At $9.99 a trade, a long-term investor making small, frequent contributions gives up a real percentage of each purchase to commissions when Questrade, Wealthsimple, and NBDB charge $0 — see the fee-math example below for how this compounds
• Quarterly maintenance fee of $25 applies unless waived (balance of $15,000+ or Household Program)
• We rank it here for investors who specifically want TD’s banking integration and research tools, not for lowest cost

Other bank-owned brokerages (CIBC Investor’s Edge, RBC Direct Investing, BMO InvestorLine, Scotia iTRADE, Qtrade, Desjardins) remain solid, regulated options, but we could not verify their current fee schedules on their own sites during this review, so we’ve left specific figures out. Check their current pricing pages directly before opening an account.

Open a Wealthsimple Account and Get $25

If you are starting from zero, Wealthsimple is the simplest place to open a first account, and opening it through our link pays you $25. Four steps:

1. Click here to sign up for a Wealthsimple account
2. Fund your account with at least $100 in the first 30 days
3. Receive $25 cash for free
4. Start investing and compounding your gains

Still deciding? Read our Wealthsimple review or compare the best investing apps in Canada.

Why Trading Fees Matter More Than They Look: A 20-Year Example

Here’s the arithmetic case for why a long-term investor should weight commissions heavily, using a simple, stated set of assumptions rather than a precise forecast:

Say you contribute $500 a month ($6,000 a year) to a self-directed ETF portfolio for 20 years, growing at an illustrative 7% average annual return (a simplifying assumption for this example, not a promised or typical return — markets do not compound smoothly).

• At $0 commissions (Questrade, Wealthsimple, or NBDB self-directed, buying once a month): every dollar you contribute goes to work immediately. There’s no per-trade drag to account for.
• At $9.99 per trade, buying once a month (TD Direct Investing’s standard rate): $9.99 × 12 = $119.88 a year is removed from your contribution before it ever compounds — roughly 2% of your annual $6,000 contribution. Compounded over 20 years alongside the rest of the portfolio, that’s not a rounding error; it’s money that never had the chance to grow.

This isn’t a knock on TD specifically — its research tools and banking integration have real value for the right investor — but it’s the clearest illustration of why “which app is cheapest” still matters even in a $0-commission market: not every app is actually $0, and the ones that aren’t cost more with every additional contribution you make.

How to Choose an Investing App: Criteria for Long-Term Investors

Weigh these in roughly this order if you’re investing for the long term rather than trading actively:

1. Account types offered. Confirm the app supports the specific account you need — TFSA, RRSP, or FHSA — before anything else. Not every app offers every account type (see the account-type breakdown below).
2. Commission on ETF and stock purchases. Zero is the market standard now at three of the four apps here; if an app still charges per trade, know exactly how frequently you’ll be buying.
3. Currency conversion cost, if you’ll hold any US-listed ETFs or stocks. This is the fee that survives even after per-trade commissions hit $0, and it can matter more than the headline commission over time.
4. Ease of automating contributions. A long-term strategy depends on consistency more than optimization — an app that makes recurring contributions effortless beats one with marginally better fees that you forget to use.
5. Fractional shares, if you’re starting with smaller, regular contributions rather than lump sums.
6. Regulatory protection. Confirm CIRO membership and CIPF coverage (all four apps above qualify) — see the CIPF section below for what that actually covers.

Account Types Explained: Which One Fits a Long-Term Investor

• TFSA (Tax-Free Savings Account): growth and withdrawals are tax-free, and withdrawn contribution room comes back the following calendar year. The 2026 annual contribution limit is $7,000; anyone who was 18 or older in 2009 and has never contributed has up to $109,000 in cumulative room. For most long-term investors, this is the first account to max out. See our best TFSA stocks guide for picks that fit a tax-free, buy-and-hold strategy.
• RRSP (Registered Retirement Savings Plan): contributions are tax-deductible now, and withdrawals are taxed in retirement — useful if you expect a lower tax bracket later. The 2026 contribution limit is $33,810, or 18% of your prior year’s earned income, whichever is lower, plus any carried-forward room. RRSPs are also where the Canada-US tax treaty exempts US-listed dividend stocks from US withholding tax, which TFSAs don’t get. Our best RRSP stocks guide covers picks suited to that framing.
• FHSA (First Home Savings Account): purpose-built for a first home down payment, combining an RRSP-like tax deduction with TFSA-like tax-free withdrawals when the money goes toward a qualifying home purchase. The annual limit is $8,000, with a $40,000 lifetime limit; unused room carries forward up to $8,000 into the following year (so up to $16,000 in a single year if you contributed nothing the year before). Because the time horizon is shorter and more fixed than a TFSA or RRSP, a conservative-to-balanced approach fits better than an aggressive one as the purchase date nears. See our FHSA investment strategy guide.
• Non-registered (taxable) account: no contribution limit and no special tax shelter, but capital losses are claimable against gains and Canadian dividends qualify for the dividend tax credit — useful once your registered room is used up.

For the current official contribution rules, see canada.ca’s TFSA guidance.

Best Investing App by Goal

Best investing app for beginners in Canada: Wealthsimple, for the reasons above — the simplest interface, fractional shares, and $0 commissions make it the easiest app to actually start with and keep using consistently.

Best TFSA investing app: Questrade, if you want the widest account lineup and $0 commissions with room to add an RRSP or FHSA later without switching platforms; Wealthsimple, if simplicity matters more than account breadth and you only need a TFSA for now. Both charge $0 to trade inside a TFSA.

Best app for ETF investing in Canada: Questrade for a buy-and-hold ETF investor who also wants free dual-currency US-dollar holding; Wealthsimple if you’re investing smaller, irregular amounts and want fractional shares to avoid leftover uninvested cash.

Best RRSP investing app: Questrade, specifically because of its free dual-currency registered accounts — an RRSP holding US-listed dividend ETFs benefits from the US withholding-tax treaty exemption, and Questrade lets you hold and trade the USD side of that without a forced conversion on every transaction.

Self-Directed or Managed? Pick Your Lane First

Before you download anything, decide who picks the investments.

Self-directed means you choose and buy your own stocks and ETFs. It costs the least (as low as $0 in commissions) and every app above supports it. Start with our Canadian stocks pillar guide and our best Canadian ETFs guide if you want to build your own long-term portfolio.

Managed means the platform invests for you in a diversified ETF portfolio matched to your risk level and time horizon. You pay a management fee for that:

• Questwealth Portfolios® (Questrade’s managed option): a tiered management fee starting around 0.25% on balances from $250 to $99,999, with ETF MERs additional. Minimum $250 to start. Confirm the current fee schedule on questrade.com, since we could not re-verify the exact tier breakpoints today.
• Wealthsimple managed investing: 0.5% on the Core tier, 0.4% on Premium, and 0.2%–0.4% on Generation (confirmed live August 29, 2026).

On fees alone, Questwealth’s roughly 0.25% undercuts Wealthsimple’s 0.5% Core rate — on a $10,000 balance that’s a real gap that compounds as the account grows. Wealthsimple’s counterargument is the app experience and the fee drop as your assets cross its tier thresholds.

There’s no wrong lane for a long-term investor. Plenty of people run a managed account as the base and a small self-directed account to learn with.

Are Investing Apps in Canada Safe? Understanding CIPF Protection

All four apps ranked here are regulated investment dealers and CIPF (Canadian Investor Protection Fund) members. CIPF coverage generally provides up to $1 million for all your general accounts combined (cash, margin, TFSA, FHSA) at one member firm, plus a separate $1 million for all your registered retirement accounts combined (RRSP, RRIF, LIF), plus a separate $1 million for all RESPs where you’re the subscriber — three distinct coverage categories at each firm.

Two things CIPF does not do: it does not protect against investment losses (if your ETF drops in value, that’s market risk, not something CIPF covers), and it only applies if the investment dealer itself becomes insolvent. It exists for the “what if the brokerage collapses” scenario, not the “what if the market drops” one. See CIPF’s own explanation for full detail.

How to Open Your First Long-Term Investing Account

The process is similar at every app on this list and takes about 15 minutes online:

1. Pick your account type first, not your stocks. For most long-term investors that means a TFSA, where gains are tax-free and you can withdraw anytime. Saving specifically for retirement? An RRSP may suit you better. Saving for a first home? Look at the FHSA. 2. Sign up online with your Social Insurance Number, a piece of government ID, and your banking details. 3. Fund the account by linking your bank account. Electronic funds transfers are commonly free for standard amounts at most of the apps above — confirm current limits on the broker’s own site. 4. Make your first investment. A broad-market Canadian or US index ETF is a classic first long-term buy. Our ETF guide and dividend stock guide are good starting points for ideas to research. 5. Set a recurring contribution. For a long-term strategy, consistency matters more than timing the market. Several apps support automated recurring purchases and dividend reinvestment (DRIP) so contributions happen without you having to remember.

For context on how the banks behind several of these platforms are performing, see our latest coverage: Big Six Banks Q3 2026: All Six Beat Estimates, and for the broader economic backdrop shaping rates and markets right now, see Canada Q2 GDP Beats Ahead of BoC Decision.

Ready to start? Open a Questrade® account here.

How We Ranked These Apps for Long-Term Investors

We weighted, in order: account-type breadth (TFSA/RRSP/FHSA/RESP support), trading costs on Canadian and US stocks and ETFs, currency conversion cost on US holdings, account fees (annual, inactivity, transfer-out), regulatory protection (CIRO membership and CIPF coverage), and how easy the app makes it to automate a recurring, buy-and-hold contribution. This is a long-term-investor lens specifically — if your priority is order types, charting, and active trading tools, see our separate best stock trading apps ranking, which weights differently. We did not consider signup promotions, which change constantly and are a poor reason to choose a decades-long financial relationship.

FAQ: Investing Apps in Canada

What is the best investing app in Canada for beginners?

Wealthsimple is the easiest first app for a long-term investor: $0 stock and ETF commissions, fractional shares, and the simplest interface. Questrade is the better pick if you expect to grow into US-dollar investing or need a wider account lineup (TFSA, RRSP, FHSA, RESP, RRIF), since its dual-currency registered accounts are free. Either is a sound first choice.

What’s the difference between an investing app and a trading app?

An investing app is optimized for buy-and-hold, tax-advantaged contributions — low fees on periodic ETF or stock purchases, broad account support, and easy automation. A trading app is optimized for frequent, active orders — advanced charting, order types, options tools, and execution speed. See the full comparison earlier on this page and our dedicated trading apps guide.

Are investing apps in Canada safe?

The apps on this list are regulated investment dealers and CIPF members. CIPF coverage generally protects up to $1 million per account category (general accounts, registered retirement accounts, and RESPs each have separate $1 million limits) if the firm becomes insolvent. CIPF does not protect against investment losses; your investments can still go down in value.

Which investing apps have no commissions in Canada?

As of August 2026, Questrade®, Wealthsimple, and National Bank Direct Brokerage all charge $0 commission on online Canadian stock and ETF trades. Watch the other costs instead: currency conversion fees, USD account fees, and transfer-out fees are where $0-commission platforms actually differ for a long-term holder.

How much money do I need to start investing in Canada?

Very little. Wealthsimple’s Core tier supports fractional shares from a small starting amount, and Questrade has no minimum balance for self-directed accounts. Questwealth managed portfolios require a $250 minimum. For a long-term strategy, starting small and contributing regularly beats waiting until you have a large lump sum.

Should I use a TFSA, RRSP, or FHSA with my investing app?

For most long-term investors the TFSA comes first: growth and withdrawals are tax-free, and contribution room comes back the year after you withdraw. The RRSP suits higher earners deferring tax to retirement and holding US dividend stocks (treaty-exempt from withholding tax inside an RRSP). The FHSA is purpose-built for a first home and should skew more conservative as your purchase date nears. Most apps ranked here offer all three; confirm the account list before signing up.

What is the difference between a self-directed and a managed account?

Self-directed means you choose every investment yourself and pay per-trade costs (now $0 at several apps). Managed means the platform builds and rebalances an ETF portfolio for you and charges an annual percentage fee — roughly 0.25% at Questwealth and 0.4%–0.5% at Wealthsimple’s main managed tiers. Self-directed is cheaper; managed is hands-off.

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Disclaimer: The content on bestcanadianstocks.ca is for informational and entertainment purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Always consult a qualified financial advisor before making investment decisions. Fee figures verified on broker pricing pages or corroborated sources on August 29, 2026, and subject to change. Questrade® and Questwealth Portfolios® are registered trademarks and/or service marks of Questrade, Inc.