Here’s an overview of all the fees you can expect to pay to Wealthsimple, ever.
Commission Fees
None. Wealthsimple has zero commission fees. This means that you can trade stocks back and forth all day, without paying a dime.
For comparison, Questrade’s direct investing platform charges a fee of $0.01/share… with a minimum charge of $4.95. So, you’re really paying $4.95/trade unless you’re trading more than 495 shares in a single transaction. There’s also an upper limit of $9.95. Questrade lets you buy ETFs for free but applies the same fees as above to selling ETFs. At RBC Direct Investing, you’ll pay $9.95/trade, or $6.95/trade when you make at least 150 trades/quarter (an average of 1.6 trades/day).
Foreign Exchange Fees
Whenever you convert CAD to USD, or USD to CAD, you’ll be charged a 1.5% conversion fee. For comparison, the typical foreign transaction fee on a credit card is 2.5%, though some don’t charge any foreign transaction fees at all.
USD Subscription Fees
If you’re a Wealthsimple Core client (meaning you hold less than $100,000 in assets with Wealthsimple), you’ll pay $10.00/month if you choose to open a USD account with them. This is completely optional. If you’re a Wealthsimple Premium or Generational client, the USD account is free.
Management Fees
Wealthsimple charges a management fee for their managed accounts - they do not apply to self-directed accounts. The fee is 0.5% if you hold less than $100,000 in assets with Wealthsimple, 0.4% if you have $100,000-500,000 in assets, and as low as 0.2% if you’ve got at least $10,000,000 in assets (hey, good for you). This management fee is on an annual basis, so if you had a managed portfolio of $10,000, you would pay Wealthsimple $50/year.
For comparison, Questrade has a management fee of 0.25% for accounts with less than $100,000, and 0.20% for accounts with more than that. RBC has a management fee of 0.5% for their managed portfolios, regardless of account balance.
Options Fees
Whenever you create an options contract, you pay $2 USD. For comparison, Questrade charges $1.00/contract, in addition to a $9.95 commission fee. RBC charges $1.25/contact, plus a $9.95 commission fee.
Instant Withdrawal Fees
Normally, Wealthsimple takes a few days to withdraw your money to an external account. If you choose to do an instant withdrawal, you’ll pay 2.5% on the amount you’re withdrawing.
Crypto Trading Fees
You’ll pay 1.5-2% fees whenever you trade crypto.
Bonus: Management Expense Ratios
These fees aren’t dictated by Wealthsimple, but I thought I’d add them for completeness. Individual stocks don’t have any fees associated with them, but when you purchase an ETF, there’ll be a management expense ratio (MER) attached to it. You’ll have to investigate the ETFs you intend to purchase to find out what this fee is. Like management fees, an MER is an annual fee.