Online Brokerage New Account Promotions in Canada (2026)

There are a lot of online brokerage new account promotions available right now in Canada. We are looking for a new joint brokerage account and since I am a fan of new bank account promotions (such as a free iPad from RBC or $300 cash) to entice you to sign up, I thought we might as well do so with an online investment brokerage right?

Last updated August 2026

As of 2026, the Canadian government announced that they transfer out fee (usually it’s $150 plus tax) is taken away. This will make the ‘brokerage war’ more competive, in my opinion. Less of a barrier to switch. However, when I transferred equities in early 2026, the fee was still charged.

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Online Brokerage New Account Promotions in Canada

Here are some new client online brokerage new account promotions in Canada for 2025 that might either lure you to switch to a new brokerage or encourage you to start up a new online brokerage account with their platform.

While I wouldn’t advocate for signing up for a discount or online brokerage account just for the cash back offer, I have to admit a big cash back offer is very attractive.

Especially if you don’t intend to trade very often and plan to just play it safely and index and chill.

Choosing an Online Brokerage in Canada

As a Canadian investor, there are other things to look at when you are selecting an online brokerage, including things like issues with downtime, how the dashboard or interface looks like and the ease of use, the regular trading fee, whether there is a fee for ETFs, are just a few things to consider.

Another factor to think about is whether you will be trading a lot.

Some of these offers cater more to active traders whereas other offers cater to the cash hungry (dangle that carrot, I’ll take it).

More importantly, is the customer service decent?

Easy passive income is pretty tempting just for signing up since you won’t have to get direct deposits or pre authorized transactions like for a banking promotion.

Finally, if you are transferring from another brokerage, you have to look for whether this new brokerage will cover or rebate your transfer out fee. Usually this can cost upwards to $150. Not all online brokerages will cover the fee. Some do, some don’t.

This post will review some promotions available for online brokerages in Canada and their deadlines. Also the qualifying criteria will be reviewed including the minimum amount for the desired cash bonus.

Related: Tangerine Investment Funds Review

Some online brokerages participating in these promotions and offers are: Scotia iTrade, TD Direct Investing (their WebBroker platform is amazing), BMO Investorline, CIBC Investor’s Edge, RBC Direct Investing, National Bank Direct Brokerage, and ongoing promotions from Questrade a discount brokerage, and Wealthsimple Trade, a zero commission based brokerage.

Here are some online brokerage new account promotions available in Canada.

Qtrade Direct Investing^TM New Account Promotion

Qtrade has been the #1 online brokerage in Canada for three years in a row, in the Globe and Mail 2022 Digital Broker Ranking.  Qtrade has received an “A” grade compared to the other online brokers for their seamless customer experience.

In fact, Qtrade has been number one 25 times over the last 17 years, in rankings done by the Globe & Mail, Surviscor, The Motley Fool and MoneySense.

They also announced as of October 2025 that they are joining the zero commission team. No commissions on your trades!!

Qtrade started in 2000 and now has over 100,000 users across Canada.  Their commissions are $8.75 but this is lower for investors under age 30 and investors with larger portfolios.  Also, it is commission free to buy and sell over 100+ ETFs.

This post may contain affiliate links. Please see genymoney.ca’s disclaimer for more information.

Qtrade is available to Canadian residents in all provinces and territories. 

Right now Qtrade has an up to $2000 Cash Back promotion.

Basically if you want to do the bare minimum to get the maximum bonus from Qtrade it looks like if you invest around $500,000 you will get $5000 which is about a 1% return on your parked money).

• The Bonus: Up to $2000 Cash Back
• Deadline for account sign up: August 31, 2026
• Qualifying criteria:
  • Open up a Qtrade account before August 31, 2026 and fund it before September 30, 2026
  • Eligible Qtrade accounts are:
    • Cash (individual or joint), margin (individual or joint), RESP, RRSP, RRIF, Spousal RRSP, Spousal RRIF, U.S. RRSP, U.S. RRIF, U.S. Spousal RRSP, U.S. Spousal RRIF or TFSA account
  • Enter the Qtrade promo code: SPRING26
  • Keep the funds in there until at least September 30, 2027.
  • You will receive your cash before October 31, 2027

• Transfer in rebate: If you transfer funds from another brokerage, you can also receive up to $150 when you transfer in $15,000 or more to your Qtrade account
• This is available to new and existing clients and there is no minimum deposit required.

For more information click here for the cash back bonus from Qtrade.

Here’s my Qtrade vs Questrade review and here’s a Qtrade review and a Questrade review.

CIBC Investor’s Edge Promotion

• The bonus: 200 Free Equity Trades
• Deadline for account sign up: September 30, 2026
• Qualifying criteria:
  • Use promo code: EDGE2026
  • Eligible accounts include:
    • Investment Account
    • First Home Savings Account (FHSA)
    • Self-Directed Retirement Savings Plan or Retirement Income Fund Account
    • Self-Directed Tax-Free SavingsAccount
    • Locked-in Retirement Savings Plan
    • Locked-in Income Fund or Higher Learning Education Savings Plan
    • TFSA
    • RRSP
    • RRIF
    • LRSP
    • LIF

• Coverage of transfer out fees: Doesn’t look like they cover the $150 fee to transfer out from another financial institution
• Typical trading commission: $6.95/trade for US/Canadian equities
• Student discount: There is a student discount for trades for students

For more information on current CIBC Investor’s Edge cash back promotions, click here.

Questrade Promotion

• The bonus: Up to $20,000 cash back (2% or 4% cash back)
• Deadline for account sign up: February 2, 2026 <— There’s nothing active right now
• Qualifying criteria: Sign up for a new Self Directed Questrade account here or register your existing accounts
• Transfer at least $10,000
  • If you are signing up you use the offer code QT4CASHBACK
  • You have to fund the account with the amount (at least $10,000) before February 2, 2026
  • For the 2% cash back, you will get this if you have less than 3 accounts with Questrade (you get 1% cash back on registered accounts and 2% cash back with non-registered accounts)
  • For the 4% Cashback multiplier, you’ll get this if you have at least 3 accounts with Questrade (you get 2% cash back on registered accounts and 4% cash back on non-registered accounts) and you can only get $10,000 maximum for non-registered and $10,000 for registered accounts
  • The first payment starts June 2026, and you’ll get equal payments over 24 months.
  • That means, if you qualify for $20,000 you’ll get $833.33 per month starting June 2026 for 24 months as long as you keep the amount you transferred in over that duration of time
  • To get the maximum cash back of $20,000 amount you have to:
  • Transfer a minimum $500k across at least two registered accounts (2% cash back)
  • Transfer a minimum $250k across at least one non-registered account (4% cash back)
  • Market fluctuations do not impact the cash back
  • You can’t withdraw more than 5% of your transfer in or else you will forfeit the remaining payout

• Coverage of transfer out fees: Yes. Transfer any amount and you can get a maximum rebate of $150/account
• Typical trading commission: $0 for Canadian and US listed stocks as ETFs (this is since February 2025)

I use Questrade (and have been a user since 2009) and like it. It is very no frills, sometimes there is downtime, but you get what you pay for. The charts are pretty basic but I use Wealthica to supplement. Here’s what Wealthica (known as Personal Capital of Canada) looks like.

Using Passiv in conjunction with Questrade for ETFs is a great way to rebalance your portfolio. Here’s a review of Passiv.

I love the free ETF commissions and it makes it very easy for me to dollar cost average on a monthly basis and not let my lizard brain take over my investing decisions. Now all stocks and ETFs are without commissions, which is even better.

You can also set up a Questrade Drip (it’s synthetic) when your dividends and distributions get paid out and save money on commissions.

Scotia itrade Promotion

This works out to be around 0.5% cash back, but the first payment is pretty quick.

• The bonus: Up to $6,000 in cash and free trades by opening up a new account
• Deadline for account sign up: August 31, 2026
• Use the promo code: SUM26
• Qualifying criteria:
  • Open a new Scotia iTrade account by August 31, 2026
  • Fund the account with the qualifying amount by September 30, 2026 (see below) and  it has to be $2,500+ from another financial institution
  • Hold the funds in your account until July 30, 2027
  • You will receive your money payouts after following the above qualifying criteria:
    • August 31, 2027

If you fund at least $250,000 you will get Gold Membership.

If you fund at least $1,000,000 you will get Platinum Membership.

More details on Gold and Platinum membership can be found here.

You must maintain all of your accounts at Scotia iTRADE in good standing, and not be in a disallowed debit position. Also, you cannot have any outstanding margin calls due

• Coverage of transfer out fees: It is covered up to $150 (if you have a minimum transfer of $15,000). The amount of the transfer-in fee charged by another Canadian broker will be credited to your New Scotia iTrade Account.
• Normal trading commission: $9.99/ trade
• Joint account: Available, but only one account holder will receive the cash bonus
• Low Activity Fee: Waived if you have at least $10,000 invested.

For more information, you can click here for the Scotia i Trade promotion.

If you have a Scotiabank Ultimate Banking Package which normally costs $30.95 per month but it is waived if you keep $6000 minimum balance or $30,000 balance between the Ultimate Package and your Momentum^PLUS Savings Account, you can get 5 free equity trades per year from ScotiaiTrade.

For the first year you can get 10 free equity trades at Scotia iTRADE in your first year (about a $100 value).

Here’s my review of the Scotiabank Ultimate Package, we ‘upgraded’ recently from the Preferred Package.

If you already have a Scotia iTrade account, you are also eligible to participate in this promotion by funding an existing account (awesome!) but you need to fill out this form here and indicate which promotion you want to participate in, and it’s not $4.99 pricing it is $6.99 pricing for existing iTrade users or the free stock and ETF trades).

TD Direct Investing Promotion

3% cash back is great! This is only for registered accounts. It’s 1% cash back for non-registered accounts or corporate accounts.

• The bonus:
  • 3% Cash Back if you transfer in a minimum of $2500
    • Maximum bonus is $15,000
• Deadline for account sign up: October 23, 2026
• Qualifying criteria:
  • Open up a new account and use promo code CASHBACK It also works for existing accounts if you transfer money in
  • Or register your existing TD account
  • Then transfer at least $2500 in eligible assets within 30 days of registering
  • Maintain it until November 30, 2028
  • The transfer cannot be from TD Direct Investing, TD Wealth Financial Planning and TD Wealth Private Investment Advice. It has to be from another Canadian financial institution or from a TD Canada Trust account.
  • Coverage of transfer out fees: Up to $150 when more than $25,000 in assets are transferred from another financial institution
• Typical trading commission: $9.99 flat rate (unless you’re an active trader, it’s $7/trade)
• You will get your first cashback reward by December 31, 2027 and your final cashback reward by December 31, 2028. The max reward $15,000.

For more on the TD Direct Investing Offer, click here.

Here’s my TD Direct Investing WebBroker review.

TD Easy Trade Promotion

There are no monthly or quarterly account maintenance fees with TD Easy Trade. You can hold both US and Canadian currency in your TD Easy Trade account but you can’t fund it with USD you have to initially convert your Canadian dollars to US dollars.

• The bonus: 2% Cash Back using the promo code INVEST2026
• Deadline for account sign up: March 31, 2026 <— There’s nothing active right now

• Fund your account with $10,000 or more within 30 days of account opening and maintain until March 31, 2027. You’ll receive your reward by April 30, 2027

Here’s more information on the TD Easy Trade commission free trades.

BMO Investorline Promotion

• The bonus: Up to $10,000 cash back and 150 zero commission trades
  • Get 0.5% cash back when you deposit at least $5,000 Net New Assets into the account and hold your investment for 5 months from the funding deadline. Double your cash back to 1% when you hold for 11-months from the funding deadline
• Deadline for account sign up: August 31, 2026
• Qualifying criteria: Enter the promo code: SDCASHFT when signing up for one of these accounts before August 31, 2026
  • BMO InvestorLine Cash or Margin (individual or joint), Corporate, Sole Proprietorship, TFSA, RRSP, RRIF, Spousal RRSP/RRIF
  • Transfer a minimum of $5,000 (cash or assets) before September 30, 2026 and hold it until September 30, 2027
  • You will receive cash back starting April 12, 2027

• Then you will be paid your cash bonus on the week of be paid the week of April 12, 2027.
  • One cash reward for a joint account, and can’t have applied within the last 12 months
• Coverage of transfer out fees: Does not look like they cover the typical $150 transfer out fee but there will be no transfer out fees in 2026
• Typical trading commission: $9.95/trade

For more information on the BMO Investorline campaign offer, click here.

Sometimes they refer you via an email invitation for this cash offer privately if you are a selected BMO Investorline client.

If you plan to use BMO for banking too, they have a BMO new account offer for cash back.

RBC DIrect Investing Promotion

• The bonus: 3% cash back on registered accounts and 1% cash back on non-registered, up to $15,000 cash back
• Deadline for account sign up: November 2, 2026
• Qualifying criteria:
  • You have to sign up before November 2 to get the RBC Direct Promotion
  • Transfer a minimum of $2500 money by November 30, 2026
  • If you transfer at least $15,000 from another investment account at a non-RBC financial institution to RBC Direct Investing, up to $200 of the cost will be reimbursed
  • Must show proof of transfer fee within 6 months of account opening
  • Keep the money in there until at least November 30, 2028.
• When the bonus is deposited:
  • They are now splitting the payments up into two: December 31, 2027 will be the first one
• Typical trading commission: $9.95/trade and $6.95 for active traders

Here’s more information on the RBC Direct Investing promotion.

National Bank Direct Brokerage Promotion

• The bonus: 100 free trades for one year There is no cash back, but as of August 23, 2021, National Bank has slashed all commissions on trades and ETFs
• Deadline for account sign up: December 31, 2020 This is an ongoing thing and not part of a promotion
• Qualifying criteria: N/A
• Coverage of transfer out fees: NBDB will give you a rebate of up to $135 plus taxes if you transfer at least $10,000 or $20,000 into the account (6 months of your transfer and they will refund up to $135+taxes of the transfer fees)
• Typical trading commission: Zero now
• Newcomers, Professionals, and Students: $0 trades for everyone in this category
  • Engineers and engineering students, legal accounting, and business professionals and students, healthcare professionals and students, and Newcomers in Canada are eligible
  • More information can be found here

Wealthsimple Trade Promotion

• The bonus: 1% Cash back match (they have 3% match for active traders)
  • You have to transfer at least $25,000 in one account within 30 days
• Deadline for account sign up: No deadline
• Qualifying criteria:
  • Open up a Wealthsimple Account
  • Be the age of majority in Canada
  • Be a legal resident of Canada
  • Transfer and deposit within 30 days
  • Transfers must be to Wealthsimple Self-Directed Investing, Managed Investing, Crypto, Save, or Cash account

• Coverage of transfer out fees: Yes, for transfers that are greater than $5000 in value and covers rebates up to $50 to $150. Once you transferred your account into Wealthsimple Trade, you fill out this form to get a refund within 1-2 business days into your cash balance
• Typical trading commission: Commission free. It is $0 and free to buy and sell ETFs and individual stocks. However, Wealthsimple charges a 1.5% foreign currency conversion fee, so it is best to hold US stocks elsewhere.
• When the bonus will be received: Within 48 hours and you will be paid over a 24 month period of the amount you are owed divided by 24 months
• This bonus only happens once per customer

Wealthsimple Trade is probably known as the Robinhood of Canada because being first with the zero dollar commissions of individual stocks (and the get rich quick in Canada kind of mentality).

However, for people who plan to invest in ETFs and plan to dollar cost average, the savings of $0 commission will likely outweigh $100 cash back over time!

Think about that, saving commission on 10 ETF trades is $100 already for a typical online brokerage in Canada.

WeBull Promotions

This is a newer brokerage in town.

• The bonus: $250 cash back
• Deadline for account sign up: September 21, 2026
• Qualifying criteria:
  • Enroll with Webull
  • Deposit $500 net for $50 and if you deposit $20,000 you get $200.

They had a better cash back promotion before.

Justwealth Cash Bonus

Although Justwealth is not a investing platform but instead it is a Canadian robo advisor, they are also offering a cash bonus.

Justwealth has one of the highest returns of the robo advisors, here’s a look at their performance as a robo advisor compared to some of the big bank mutual funds.

• The bonus:
  • $50 for assets between $5000 to $24,999
  • $100 for assets between $25,000 and $49,999
  • $225 for assets between $50,000 and 99,999
  • $500 for assets over $100,000
• Deadline for account sign up: There is no deadline
• Qualifying criteria: You have to hold this amount at minimum for at least 3 months

Justwealth is unique in that they have a Target Date RESP (called the Target Date Education Fund).

Tangerine Investing Cash Bonus

• The bonus: Up to $750 Cash
• Deadline for account sign up: March 1, 2022 <—There doesn’t seem to be anything active right now

• Open up a RSP, TFSA, RIF, or non-registered Investment Fund Account with Tangerine
• For every $5000 you invest, you can get a $25 bonus. That means to get $750, you will have to invest $150,000. This is 0.5% return which is not very good but if you’re planning to invest with Tangerine ETFs anyways this is a good promotion.
• Keep your account open until at least May 2, 2022

Here’s my Tangerine Investment Funds Review.

Check this link out for other Tangerine promotions available.

Online Brokerage New Account Promotions Summary

All of these online brokerage new account promotions are quite enticing (minus the RBC Direct Investing one, hopefully they come up with something better soon) but the one we are probably most interested in right now is the Scotia iTrade promotion (tempting since we have a Scotiabank Preferred account already, here’s my review) or the CIBC Investor’s Edge promotion as they give the most cash back for amount invested- however, online reviews of CIBC Investor’s Edge mention that it has an archaic interface.

Since we are not planning to trade very much in our joint investing account (especially not 25 trades a year) having a trade rebate won’t be very meaningful in our situation.

Hopefully this review of online brokerage new account promotions in Canada will be useful for you in your next search of the best brokerage for you (and a little icing on top in the form of cash back won’t hurt either).

If you’re not interested in just a promotion, National Bank with their $0 commissions for trades and ETFs rivals Questrade (for free ETF purchases and low commissions) and Wealthsimple Trade (for their $0 trades). National Bank is now major competition for Wealthsimple Trade.

If you’re looking to further your dividend investing education, here are some books to check out.

Don’t forget to link your online investment brokerage with Wealthica, one of the best net worth and investment trackers in Canada (and best of all, it’s free). I personally think it’s one of the best personal finance apps in Canada available.

You may also be interested in:

• Covered Call ETFs in Canada

Which online brokerage do you use, and would you jump ship for online brokerage new account promotions?