Wealthsimple Invest vs Questwealth: What the Fee Gap Buys
Last updated: October 10, 2026.
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Wealthsimple Invest vs Questwealth looks like a fee question, and the fee question has a clear answer. One note first: Wealthsimple has rebranded Invest as “managed investing”, and both names point at the same product.
Questwealth Portfolios from Questrade® is cheaper at every balance we model, from about $14 a year on $5,000 to more than $1,000 a year on $500,000. That settles the management fee and nothing else: not the features, not currency conversion, not the cost of leaving, and on those last two the ranking reverses.
Questwealth Portfolios is Questrade’s managed option: a 0.25% management fee on a balance of $250 to $99,999 and 0.20% at $100,000 and up, with no account opening fees and no trading commissions. Open a Questrade account.
What each firm says it is doing with your money
Questrade’s Questwealth Portfolios page describes a portfolio “actively managed by experts who aim to reduce risk and maximize your gains”, with “Real-time rebalancing”. Wealthsimple’s Help Centre article on its investment philosophy, updated October 9, 2026, puts it differently: “we don’t try to time or predict the market, but instead hold assets that will perform well at different times.” Both rebalance and both run the money with a human team, Questrade’s “experts” against Wealthsimple’s “expert team of investors”. Neither statement is a performance claim, and this page measures no returns.
One piece of Questrade’s marketing needs decoding. Its “earn up to 50% more” claim rests on a hypothetical $50,000 compounding for 30 years “at a growth rate equal to the average 5-year historical return of comparable mutual fund categories”, at the same rate on both sides, and it “excludes the Questwealth Conservative Portfolio”. Equal growth on both sides makes it a fee comparison, against an average mutual fund rather than against Wealthsimple.
The fee gap, in dollars, and the cliff at $100,000
All-in means the management fee, plus Ontario HST at 13% on it, plus the ETF MER, each column using that provider’s own published range: Questrade’s 0.09% to 0.12% for the standard Questwealth portfolios, and 0.08% to 0.12% for Wealthsimple Classic. The one basis point between those low ends is the difference between Questrade’s pricing page and its portfolio page, and it moves no figure below by a dollar.
| Balance | Questwealth all-in | Wealthsimple all-in | Questwealth as % | Wealthsimple as % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $5,000 | $19 to $20 | $32 to $34 | 0.37% to 0.40% | 0.65% to 0.69% |
| $25,000 | $93 to $101 | $161 to $171 | 0.37% to 0.40% | 0.65% to 0.69% |
| $100,000 | $316 to $346 | $532 to $572 | 0.32% to 0.35% | 0.53% to 0.57% |
| $250,000 | $790 to $865 | $1,330 to $1,430 | 0.32% to 0.35% | 0.53% to 0.57% |
| $500,000 | $1,580 to $1,730 | $2,660 to $2,860 | 0.32% to 0.35% | 0.53% to 0.57% |
| $1,000,000 | $3,160 to $3,460 | $4,755 to $5,155 | 0.32% to 0.35% | 0.48% to 0.52% |
Data as of October 10, 2026, from each provider’s published fee schedule. At a static balance the annual difference is about $14 at $5,000, $68 to $71 at $25,000, $216 to $226 at $100,000, and $1,080 to $1,130 at $500,000.
The funds are not what separates them: each firm’s own portfolio page puts its ETF layer in the same range, 0.08% to 0.12%, so effectively all of the gap above is the management fee and the sales tax on it. Our ranking of the best robo-advisors in Canada sorts seven providers on all-in cost.
Both schedules publish one rate per bracket, with no first and next tiering, so crossing $100,000 cuts the rate on the whole balance rather than on the last dollar.
| Balance | Questwealth all-in | Wealthsimple all-in |
|---|---|---|
| $99,999 | $372 to $402 (0.37% to 0.40%) | $645 to $685 (0.65% to 0.69%) |
| $100,000 | $316 to $346 (0.32% to 0.35%) | $532 to $572 (0.53% to 0.57%) |
One dollar more saves a Wealthsimple client about $113 a year and a Questwealth client about $56. At Wealthsimple that dollar also switches on tax-loss harvesting, because $100,000 is the Premium threshold too.
A responsible-investing portfolio closes the fund gap and none of the fee gap: Questwealth SRI MERs run 0.20% to 0.24% against Wealthsimple SRI at 0.23% to 0.25%, so all-in in Ontario it is $121 to $131 against $199 to $204 at $25,000, and $426 to $466 against $682 to $702 at $100,000.
Sales tax is charged at your province, not the provider’s: at $100,000 those accounts cost about $320 to $350 and $540 to $580 in Quebec, and $300 to $330 and $500 to $540 in Alberta.
What the two portfolios actually hold
The ladders are the same. Questrade’s Questwealth ETF portfolios page publishes five portfolios with their mixes and their MERs, Wealthsimple’s Help Centre four Classic profiles with theirs, and wherever the two overlap the equity weight is identical.
| Equity | Questwealth portfolio | Questwealth mix | Wealthsimple Classic | Wealthsimple mix |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 100% | Aggressive Growth | 100% equity | Aggressive | 100% stocks |
| about 80% | Growth | 80% equity, 20% fixed income | Growth | 80% stocks, 17.5% bonds, 2.5% gold |
| 60% | Balanced | 60% equity, 40% fixed income | Balanced | 60% stocks, 37.1% bonds, 2.9% gold |
| 40% | Income | 40% equity, 60% fixed income | Conservative | 40% stocks, 57.5% bonds, 2.5% gold |
| 20% | Conservative Income | 20% equity, 80% fixed income | not in the Classic ladder | none |
Sources: Questrade’s ETF portfolios page, captured October 10, 2026; Wealthsimple Help Centre, updated October 4, 2026.
Wealthsimple’s three lower profiles hold a gold sleeve of 2.5% to 2.9% where Questwealth holds bonds and cash, and Questwealth adds a fifth rung at 20% equity that the Classic ladder does not reach, its Conservative Income portfolio, which Questrade calls “our most stable portfolio”.
What Questrade charges on Questwealth
The Questwealth fee schedule sets the management fee at 0.25% with a balance of $250 to $99,999 and 0.20% at $100,000 or more. It is calculated daily and charged quarterly: “You’ll see it on your January, April, July, and October statements.” There are no account opening fees, no trading commissions and no electronic fund transfer fees. The bottom of that first bracket, $250, is the only balance floor Questrade publishes.
Questrade notes that management fees are tax deductible but only in non-registered accounts, pointing readers to the CRA, so a fee paid inside a registered account produces no deduction. Our RRSP guide covers how contributions and deductions work.
Our full Questrade review covers the wider account lineup, including the self-directed side.
Currency conversion, where the cheaper product costs more
Questrade’s wording: “When we need to buy or sell US dollars to trade ETFs in your account, there is a fee of 100 pips (or 0.01) added to the exchange rate.” Wealthsimple charges 0.40% “where we need to buy or sell foreign currency to trade securities in your account”, applied by Wealthsimple Investments Inc. as custodian on its own corporate rate. In a managed account those conversions are the firm’s, not the reader’s.
The Bank of Canada daily rate for the US dollar was 1.4271 on October 9, 2026, so one cent added to it is about 0.70% of the amount converted, against Wealthsimple’s 0.40%. On every $10,000 the firm converts in your account, that is about $70 at Questwealth against $40 at Wealthsimple.
The pip figure moves with the rate, so a higher Canadian dollar price for the US dollar makes 100 pips a smaller percentage, and the two charges differ in kind: one is added to the rate itself, while the other sits on Wealthsimple’s own corporate rate rather than the Bank of Canada’s.
Moving an account in, and moving one out
Questrade rebates incoming transfer fees up to “$150/account”, “regardless of the balance”, with “no limit to the number of accounts you bring over”. It is a reimbursement you claim rather than a credit that lands by itself: you must “submit a statement from your financial institution displaying the transfer fees incurred within 60 days of the transfer request being submitted to Questrade”.
The same footnote discloses what happens to securities arriving in: “For Questwealth™ accounts, all-in-kind and partial transfers of your securities will be liquidated.”
Leaving runs the other way. Questrade’s learning article on transfers out, updated December 16, 2024, says the holdings can only leave through a “full in-kind transfer request” that closes the account, with any holding of less than one unit liquidated and sent as cash, and that a partial transfer of the ETFs is not available because “this would affect the original asset allocation of your investments”. Wealthsimple’s Help Centre article on transferring an account out, updated October 7, 2026, says that for managed investing accounts “your holdings are liquidated and sent as cash”.
A liquidation in a non-registered account is a taxable disposition, so at Questwealth the tax event lands on the way in, and at Wealthsimple it lands on the way out.
| Leaving | Questwealth | Wealthsimple managed |
|---|---|---|
| What moves out | the holdings, in kind, on a full account closure | cash, after liquidation |
| Fee to transfer out | $150.00 listed | none charged |
Questrade’s Questwealth administrative fees page lists that $150.00 charge “if and when you take these specific actions”, while Wealthsimple’s managed schedule names no transfer-out fee and its Help Centre says it “doesn’t charge any fees, including any deferred sales charge (DSC) fees, to transfer your account to another institution.”
At $5,000, where Questwealth’s annual fee advantage is $13.62 to $14.12, the listed exit fee is more than ten years of it. At $100,000, where the advantage is $216 to $226, it is less than nine months.
What Wealthsimple charges on managed investing
The managed investing fee schedule sets the investment management fee by client status: 0.50% at Core, 0.40% at Premium, and “Starting at 0.4%, as low as 0.2%” at Generation. The Help Centre now publishes that “as low as” against real balances.
| Net deposits or total assets | Management fee |
|---|---|
| $0 to $99,999 | 0.5% |
| $100,000 to $999,999 | 0.4% |
| $1,000,000 to $2,999,999 | 0.35% |
| $3,000,000 to $4,999,999 | 0.3% |
| $5,000,000 to $9,999,999 | 0.25% |
| $10,000,000 or more | 0.2% |
Source: Wealthsimple Help Centre, updated October 8, 2026. The fee is “quoted annually, calculated daily, and applied monthly”, at 1/365th of the annual rate on each day’s closing market value. The client-status article, updated October 9, 2026, puts Premium at $100,000 and Generation at $500,000, and excludes balances on a portfolio line of credit.
MERs, updated October 8, 2026, run 0.08% to 0.12% for Classic, 0.23% to 0.25% for Socially Responsible Investing and 0.24% to 0.56% for Halal. Wealthsimple discloses a conflict alongside them, to its credit: it “receives a portion of the MER fee directly from your investment” on its own ETFs inside the SRI and Halal portfolios. The same paragraph also says it attempts to negotiate MER rebates on third-party ETFs and passes them on “by adjusting the price of the applicable ETFs”.
There is no account minimum, and Core starts at $1 in assets. Our Wealthsimple review covers the rest of the account.
The tier test that sets your Wealthsimple rate
Your rate is set by “whichever is higher, the value of your net deposits, or the value of your total assets across all your Wealthsimple accounts”. Net deposits count money paid into every Wealthsimple account, “including managed and trading, crypto, and chequing accounts”. You are only charged on assets held in managed accounts, “excluding the value of any assets held in the Money Market Portfolio and the High Interest Savings Portfolio”.
So someone with $60,000 managed and $45,000 in a Wealthsimple chequing account holds $105,000 in total assets and is priced at Premium on the managed money. On that $60,000, Core costs $387 to $411 a year all-in and Premium $319 to $343, so the chequing balance is worth about $68 a year. The same $60,000 at Questwealth costs $223 to $241, so the tier test narrows the gap without closing it.
Net deposits do not fall when the market falls, which protects your tier through a drawdown. They do fall when you withdraw, transfer money out, or make an FX conversion charged the FX fee.
Households extend the logic to people: “If you’re part of a Wealthsimple household, we combine your net deposits and assets with your household members’. We apply the lower fee automatically once you qualify.” Questrade aggregates differently, inviting you to “Link your account with the accounts of friends and family members to take advantage of reduced fees” under its My Family program.
Features, and where each firm puts a threshold
Tax-loss harvesting is where the fee logic inverts: the cheaper product advertises it at every balance. Questrade’s Questwealth features page says “Lower taxes. Portfolio managers use a technique called tax-loss harvesting to lower capital gains tax in cash accounts”, its footnote adding that the use of it “in your taxable account is at the discretion of the portfolio manager or sub-advisor”. Wealthsimple’s client-status table puts tax loss harvesting at No for Core and Yes for Premium and Generation, so a client below $100,000 does not get it. At either firm it only operates in a taxable account, because there is nothing to harvest inside a TFSA or an RRSP.
The same Questrade features page lists real-time rebalancing, a RoundUP and Cashback Rewards program, and dividends that “are automatically reinvested so your money never stops working”. Wealthsimple’s Classic article lists its own automation for “rebalancing, reinvesting dividends, and adjusting allocation to market swings”.
What the extra 25 basis points gives back is a different list: the joint accounts in the next section, custom portfolios at Generation status and so from $500,000, priority email and phone support from Premium, and a start from $1 in assets. Private Credit and Private Equity access is offered at all three statuses.
Human advice is a different product again. Take On Demand Advice or Wealth Management Services and an Advisory Services fee replaces the investment management fee entirely: 0.90% below $1,000,000 in total assets, stepping down to 0.50% at $10,000,000 and up, with minimums of $100,000 and $1,000,000 respectively. A reader picturing a human financial plan at Wealthsimple is shopping for a 0.90% product, not a 0.40% one.
The account types each firm publishes
Coverage is near-identical on the wrappers almost everyone needs. Questrade’s own account-types comparison table marks Questwealth Portfolios available for RRSP, spousal RRSP, LIRA, locked-in RRSP, RRIF, LIF, RESP, TFSA and individual and corporate cash, and the product page adds the FHSA. Wealthsimple’s Help Centre lists eight types eligible for a Classic portfolio.
| Account | Questwealth | Wealthsimple Classic |
|---|---|---|
| TFSA, FHSA, RRSP, spousal RRSP, RESP, non-registered | yes | yes |
| RRIF, LIRA, LIF | yes | yes |
| Locked-in RRSP | yes | not listed |
| Corporate cash | yes | not listed |
| Joint non-registered, joint RESP | not listed as joint | yes |
A drawdown or locked-in account can be run as a managed portfolio at either firm. Questwealth adds a locked-in RRSP and a corporate cash account, Wealthsimple adds the joint versions, and for most readers that is a tie-breaker rather than the decision.
What each one is worse at
Questwealth. Currency conversion at about 0.70% against 0.40%. $150 to transfer an account out, against nothing. No joint accounts listed.
Wealthsimple. Cost, at every balance we model, with the gap widening as the balance grows. Tax loss harvesting withheld below $100,000, a threshold the cheaper product does not impose. Custom portfolios only at $500,000. Human advice priced separately at 0.90%. And a tier test that can price you on money that is not being managed, which cuts both ways.
How the two are structured, and who holds the money
Questrade Wealth Management Inc. (QWM) and Questrade, Inc. are both wholly owned subsidiaries of Questrade Financial Group Inc. Questrade, Inc. is the registered dealer and the CIRO and CIPF member, with those CIPF benefits “limited to the activities undertaken by Questrade, Inc.”, while “QWM is not a member of CIRO or the CIPF”. Questrade, Inc. provides “administrative, trade execution, custodial and reporting services”, while QWM is the registered Portfolio Manager giving it the trade instructions.
Wealthsimple’s Help Centre article on how it keeps your money safe, updated October 9, 2026: “Wealthsimple Investments Inc. is a member of the Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization (CIRO). Customers’ accounts are protected by the Canadian Investor Protection Fund’s (CIPF) Investment Dealer Fund in accordance with its Coverage Policy.” Its fee schedule names the same entity as “the custodian of your account”.
On the CIPF current-member directory, checked October 10, 2026, Questrade, Inc. and Wealthsimple Investments Inc. are both listed and Questrade Wealth Management Inc. is not, which is what Questrade’s own disclosure says.
In both cases, then, the assets sit with a dealer that is a CIPF member. The difference is structural. At Wealthsimple the firm managing the money is itself the CIRO member and the custodian. At Questwealth the manager and the CIPF-member custodian are two affiliated companies under one parent, and CIPF’s benefits attach to the custodian’s activities. What that protection covers is narrow either way: CIPF’s coverage page describes property “not returned to you following the firm’s insolvency”, and says CIPF “does not cover losses resulting from … a drop in the value of your investments for any reason”.
Who each one fits, and the verdict
Questwealth fits a reader whose decision is cost, who wants the actively managed portfolio Questrade describes, who holds a taxable account and wants tax-loss harvesting at any balance, and who is transferring an account in, where the rebate of up to $150 per account is worth claiming inside the 60 days.
Wealthsimple managed investing fits someone starting from a small or zero balance, who wants a joint account or a Halal portfolio, who may move the account on again, or who already keeps cash or a trading account there, because that balance pulls the managed fee down. For a first account, our guide to the best brokers for beginners in Canada is the wider view.
Neither fits a reader who wants to pick their own holdings: both are managed accounts. Our head-to-head on the self-directed accounts at the same two brokers is the page for that decision.
Questwealth wins the management fee outright, worth $216 to $226 a year at $100,000, and because the fund layer costs the same at both, that gap is the fee and the tax on it rather than anything the portfolios hold. On the other side sit currency conversion at 0.40% rather than about 0.70%, no charge to leave, and the joint accounts. If the managed account will be your only account at either firm and you expect to stay, the fee answer is the whole answer. The further you are from that, the smaller the gap gets.
Wealthsimple managed investing has no account minimum and Core status starts at $1 in assets, at a 0.50% management fee. Open a Wealthsimple account.
Frequently asked questions
Which one does tax-loss harvesting? Both, on different terms. Questrade advertises it on Questwealth at every balance, at the portfolio manager’s discretion, while Wealthsimple’s client-status table switches it on at Premium, which starts at $100,000. At either firm it applies only to taxable accounts.
Will moving a managed portfolio to another firm trigger tax? It depends which firm, and which direction. Wealthsimple liquidates a managed portfolio and sends cash, which in a non-registered account is a disposition that can produce a capital gain or a loss. Questwealth moves the holdings out in kind on a full account closure, liquidating only fractional units, but it liquidates securities transferred in.
Wealthsimple details are credited to its Help Centre, updated October 4 to 9, 2026; Questwealth details to Questrade’s own pricing, administrative fees, product, features, ETF portfolios, account-types and transfers-out pages, captured October 10, 2026.
Questrade® is a registered trademark and/or service mark of Questrade, Inc. Questrade, Inc. is a member of CIRO and a member of CIPF.
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 and product data as of October 10, 2026.