How Finder rates stock trading platforms

Stock Trading Platform Awards methodology

Picking stocks is complex enough without having to worry about whether you have a good broker.

So to help, we launched an extensive review of what stock trading platforms were offering Canadian customers.

The goal was pretty simple: to find the best stock trading platform for investors at different stages of their investing journeys. As such, we looked over 18 brokers across 4 categories and 35 criteria. Each category was weighted differently.

How do we choose our award winners?

Finder’s Awards are data led. Our data and editorial team worked together to create an algorithm that ranks stock trading platforms based on a set of criteria.

The criteria are weighted differently for each award.

The platform that scored highest in each award was named the winner, with the products that scored second and third highest each receiving a highly commended award.

In the event of a tie, standardized fee data was used to determine a winner, with the lowest fees dictating the winner.

What features do we compare?

Our awards are based on a comprehensive list of 35 individual criteria that broadly fall into one of the following four categories:

• Markets

  • US stocks
  • OTC markets
  • Total markets (CA, US, Intl)

• Securities and order types

  • Bonds
  • GICs
  • Mutual funds
  • ETFs
  • Fractional shares
  • Derivatives
  • Forex (currencies)
  • Crypto
  • Limit orders

• Fees

  • CA stock (1 trade)
  • CA stock (150+ trades)
  • US stock (1 trade)
  • US stock (150+ trades)
  • ETF (1 trade)
  • ETF (150+ trades)
  • Options (1 trade)
  • Options (150+ trades)
  • Options (per contract fee)
  • Deposits
  • Withdrawals
  • Currency conversion fee
  • Currency conversion fee (+10) trades
  • Account maintenance fee
  • Inactivity fee

• Features

  • Real-time quotes
  • Demo/practice account
  • Margin account
  • Research tools
  • Investor education
  • Beginner friendliness
  • Customer support options
  • Average app store rating

How did we weigh each broker category?

The weighting of each category for individual awards is outlined below.

Does Finder compare all stock trading platforms?

Our data collection team sourced brokers registered by The Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada.

We try to be as full market as possible; however, if you think we’ve missed anyone, please email awards@finder.com.

Award eligibility

To be eligible for Finder’s best investment platform awards, stock brokers need to meet the following criteria:

• Have an online or mobile platform available for Canadian residents
• Offer customers the option to directly purchase and sell stocks (e.g. futures or ETF only platforms were not accepted)
• Offer customers the option to buy or sell non-leveraged equities
• Offer stock trading services to retail investors
• If a trading platform has multiple accounts, only the fees and features of the most basic or “standard” account were considered for our “Best broker” award categories.

All information collected was sourced from broker websites or by reaching out to broker representatives. In the case where information could not be sourced, our team attempted to contact brokers directly. If they did not respond within 3 weeks, they were excluded from the awards.