TD Easy Trade review

Who TD Easy Trade suits

TD Easy Trade is a separate, app-based service of TD Direct Investing. It suits newer investors who want to buy Canadian and US stocks and ETFs from a phone, often in small amounts, without paying account fees. You can start with as little as $1. It cannot be used from a desktop browser and doesn’t support options, so investors who want more tools can look at TD Direct Investing instead.

Trading costs

Every TD Easy Trade client gets a combined 100 commission-free whole-share and partial-share stock and ETF trades per calendar year, from January to December. The allowance is per client, not per account, so trades in your TFSA and RRSP draw from the same pool. TD Direct Investing’s list of $0 select ETFs doesn’t apply here, so ETF purchases count toward your 100 free trades. After that, TD lists:

• Canadian whole shares and ETFs: $9.99 per trade
• US whole shares and ETFs: US$9.99 per trade
• Partial shares (less than one share): $1.99 per trade, in Canadian or US dollars

Account fees and how to avoid them

TD lists no account fees, no maintenance fees, no fees for US dollar accounts and no minimum balance. The fee to watch is the $150 charge to transfer an account out, in full or in part. If you might move to another brokerage later, ask whether it will cover that cost. TD also runs promotions for new TD Easy Trade accounts, so check the current offer before you sign up.

Accounts offered

When you open a Canadian TFSA, RRSP or cash account, TD automatically adds a free US dollar account. Joint accounts aren’t available, and TD doesn’t list RESP, RRIF or margin accounts for TD Easy Trade. The account options are:

• TFSA, with a US dollar side
• RRSP, with a US dollar side; spousal RRSPs appear in TD’s offer terms
• FHSA, in Canadian dollars only
• Non-registered cash account, with a US dollar side

Protection and currency exchange

TD Easy Trade is a service of TD Direct Investing, a division of TD Waterhouse Canada Inc., which TD lists as a member of the Canadian Investor Protection Fund (CIPF). TD notes that online brokerages, including TD Easy Trade, must be members of CIRO, and that CIPF provides limited protection if a member firm goes bankrupt. It doesn’t cover losses when markets fall.

For currency, TD acts as principal and earns a spread on conversions, disclosed in TD Direct Investing’s pricing. TD doesn’t restate the spread tiers for Easy Trade. You pay it when you first convert Canadian dollars to fund your US account; after that, TD says there is no currency fee to buy a US stock from your US account.