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Scotia iTRADE review 2023

Scotia iTRADE offers discounted fees for active traders and a practice account, so you can try before you decide.

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By

Stacie Hurst

&

Claire Horwood

Reviewed by

Romana King

Updated

Fact checked

Our verdict

Consider Scotia iTRADE if you're an active or high-value investor who uses advanced trading tools. Look elsewhere if you don't trade frequently and want the low-fee structure typically used by discount brokerages.

Best for: Active, self-directed investors.

Pros
  • Wide range of accounts and tradeable assets.
  • Active trader discount of $4.99 (instead of $9.99) for Canadian and US stocks if you make 150+ trades per quarter.
  • Quarterly inactivity fee and RSP account administration fee waived for investors 26 years old and under.
Cons
  • Higher fees compared to discount brokers.
  • No fractional share trading available.
  • High minimum balance required to get account fee waived.
4.2

★★★★★

Finder rating

Learn more

Stock Trading Fee

$4.99–$9.99

Account Fee

$0

FX Fee

Varies

How we rated Scotia iTRADE’s features

Fees

★★★★★

Fees are higher than some discount brokerages, but there are discounts for active and high-balance investors.
Available securities

★★★★★

Stocks, bonds, options, ETFs, mutual funds, GICs and new issues (IPO stocks).
Customer support

★★★★★

Contact customer support by phone or email 5 days a week (weekend support for FlightDesk users). No live chat option.
Mobile app

★★★★★

The latest version of the app gets mixed reviews from users.
Research and tools

★★★★★

Third-party data, real-time quotes, watchlists, charts, alerts, stock screener, performance benchmarking tools and FlightDesk platform for advanced traders.
Reliability

★★★★★

No major outages have been reported, but mobile app users sometimes report problems with speed.

To learn how our star ratings are calculated, read our methodology at the bottom of the page.

Scotia iTRADE is best for active investors

Scotia iTRADE is good for self-directed investors who want a user-friendly platform with access to advanced tools and features. Existing Scotiabank customers can easily transfer funds to/from their iTRADE accounts, and the mobile app makes it easy to view all your Scotiabank accounts in one place.

What you can trade on Scotia iTRADE

  • Stocks
  • Bonds
  • ETFs
  • Mutual funds
  • Options
  • GICs
  • IPOs (new issues)

Where Scotia iTRADE shines

Scotia iTRADE offers an impressive array of research tools for beginners and experienced investors. Active (150+ trades per quarter) and high-balance investors ($250,000+ across all accounts) pay $4.99 instead of $9.99 per equity trade.

The $25 inactivity fee and $100 RSP account administration fee is waived for young investors 26 years old and under. Scotiabank’s StartRight Program offers new residents and international students free banking for 1 year, unlimited fee-free international money transfers and 10 free equity trades with a minimum $1,000 investment in a Scotia iTRADE account.

Where Scotia iTRADE falls short

Compared to discount brokerages and other major Canadian Banks, Scotia iTRADE‘s trading fees are somewhat high. You can’t trade fractional shares, which makes it tough for investors with limited funds to buy into companies with high-priced stocks.

Beginner and intermediate investors will likely be overwhelmed by certain tools designed for experienced traders like FlightDesk. There’s a $25 maintenance fee if your collective holdings are less than $15,000. A $100 maintenance fee applies if your collective holdings are less than $25,000 or you don’t make at least 12 commission-generating trades per year.

Scotia iTRADE’s fees

Minimum deposit$0
Annual fee$0
Stock and ETF trade fees$4.99–$9.99
Inactivity fee$25/year
Wire transfer (domestic and international)Wire in: No fee
Wire out: $25 (plus clearing fee for US/international wires)
Returned cheque/deposit$25
Outgoing account transfer fee$100

Is Scotia iTRADE legit?

Yes. Scotia iTRADE is owned by Scotia Capital Inc., which is regulated by the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC). Additionally, Scotia Capital Inc. is a member of the Canadian Investor Protection Fund (CIPF), a not-for-profit corporation that safeguards investors’ money in the event a financial institution goes bankrupt.

Canadian investors prefer online stock trading platforms to working with a financial advisor in 2023

According to results from the Finder: Consumer Sentiment Tracker Q1 (CSTQ1), almost three quarters (72%) bought or sold stock through an online stock platform or app(1) and 29% of respondents in the Finder: Consumer Sentiment Tracker Q2 (CSTQ2) stated they had never worked with and had no plans to use the services of a financial advisor.(2)

Scotia iTRADE offers platforms for different investors

Scotia OnLine is the default Scotia iTRADE trading platform. It offers a streamlined interface, stock screening tools, real-time market data and features like watchlists and alerts. Plus, you can view all your regular Scotiabank accounts and investment accounts in one place.

For $29.95 to $79.95 per month, get Standard or Premium access to FlightDesk, an advanced, customizable platform that lets you trade equities in a single click. Not for beginners, FlightDesk offers a lot for experienced investors who want to customize their interface and access deep-level investment data.

Scotia iTRADE’s app

With Scotia iTRADE mobile you can buy and sell stocks, ETFs and options. Get real-time market data and track securities on your watchlist without signing into your phone. Easily switch between your Scotia iTRADE and other Scotiabank accounts.

Scotia iTRADE mobile app screenshots

Scotia iTRADE’s desktop tools

Deep dive into market performance, company data and stock picks from leading third-party providers like the Centre for Financial Research & Analysis (CFRA), Refinitiv, Reuters, Sabrient and ValuEngine. The platform offers real-time data, customizable watchlists and charts, technical event alerts and powerful stock screening tools.

Use the backtesting feature to see how your current investment strategy would have performed over the last 5 years. The Performance Reporting tool lets you see how your investments are performing relative to your other iTRADE accounts and popular indices like the Nasdaq Composite and the S&P/TSX Composite.

Scotia iTRADE’s app store reviews

Google Play app reviews2.8/5 stars based on 311 ratings
Apple App Store app reviews4.2/5 stars based on 2.5k ratings

Scotia iTRADE’s customer support

Scotiabank iTRADE customer service can be contacted by phone, email, mail or fax. You can also visit a Scotiabank branch to speak to an agent in person if you want more information about your account.

  • Email
  • Phone
  • Mail
  • Fax

How to open an account with Scotia iTRADE

  1. Go to the Scotia iTRADE website, and click “Get started”.
  2. Use the online application to provide personal information like your name, email address, proof of ID and relevant documents.
  3. Review and submit your application.
  4. Get verified and load funds into your account to start trading.
  5. Set up a Scotia iTRADE practice account if you want to get used to the platform before using real funds.

Eligibility and required information

  • Canadian resident
  • Be at least the age of majority in your province or territory
  • Valid ID issued by the Canadian government (name and address needs to match your application)
  • Scotiabank account or a void cheque if you want link a non-Scotiabank account to your iTRADE account
  • Social Insurance Number (SIN)

How safe is Scotia iTRADE?

Some of the safeguards Scotia iTRADE has in place to guard against unauthorized account access include:

  • Data encryption
  • 2-step verification on the Scotia iTRADE mobile app
  • InfoAlerts to make customers aware of activity within their accounts
  • Security questions/answers
  • Firewalls
  • Optional fingerprint or facial recognition login on Apple and Android devices

Frequently asked questions about Scotia iTRADE

Compare Scotia iTRADE with other platforms

Scotia iTRADE logo

Scotia iTRADE

★★★★★

Finder rating 4.2 / 5

Read Review

Available Asset Types

Stocks, Bonds, Options, Mutual Funds, ETFs, GICs, IPOs

Stock Trading Fee

$4.99–$9.99

Min. Deposit

$0

Interactive Brokers logo

Interactive Brokers

★★★★★

Finder rating 4.3 / 5

Go to site

Available Asset Types

Stocks, Bonds, Options, ETFs, Currencies, Futures

Stock Trading Fee

min $1.00, max 0.5%

Min. Deposit

$0

CIBC Investor's Edge logo

CIBC Investor's Edge

★★★★★

Finder rating 3.8 / 5

Go to site

Available Asset Types

Stocks, Bonds, Options, Mutual Funds, ETFs

Stock Trading Fee

$4.95–$6.95

Min. Deposit

$0

How we rate trading platforms

★★★★★ 5/5 — Excellent

★★★★★ 4/5 — Good

★★★★★ 3/5 — Average

★★★★★ 2/5 — Subpar

★★★★★ 1/5 — Poor

We analyze top online trading platforms and rate them one to five stars based on factors that are most important to you. These factors include fees, securities available for trade, customer support, customer feedback, platform resources and overall reliability.

For a complete breakdown of how we score each category, read the full methodology of how we rate trading platforms.

  1. Finder: Consumer Sentiment Tracker Q1 (CSTQ1)

  2. Finder: Consumer Sentiment Tracker Q2 (CSTQ2)

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