To help choose a broker in 2021 we compared the best forex brokers that accept Canadian clients and IIROC forex brokers regulated in Canada.
View the top forex brokers in Canada below.
Updated: 26/01/2021
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The best forex brokers accepting Canadian clients list is.
FP Markets LLC, trading as FP Markets, is an Australian forex broker established in 2005. Canadian traders can access a wide range of contracts for difference (CFDs) such as forex, shares, indices, commodities, and cryptocurrencies, all with tight spreads and fast execution on a variety of advanced trading platforms. As a globally regulated and multi-award winning forex broker, there are several reasons we consider FP Markets the best forex broker overall for Canadian traders.
FP Markets have two forex account types:
The Standard Account is commission-free with spreads starting from 1.0 pips EUR/USD while the Raw Account offers spreads starting from 0.0 pips EURUSD. The RAW Spread account, however, has a commission fee of USD $3 per lot. FP Markets RAW account offers lower trading costs than the standard account however beginner traders may prefer the standard account more simple cost structure.
FP Markets promises ECN pricing with no price manipulation, no re-quotes, and no dealing desk. The broker achieves this through the electronic communication network (ECN) pricing by streaming price feeds directly from their pool of liquidity providers. FP Markets pool of liquidity providers allows FP Markets to offer some of the best spreads of all brokers for the RAW account.
Data taken from broker website. Accurate as at 02/04/2021
Compare All Spreads
Spreads for 60 currency pairs are available including CAD/USD, GBP/USD, AUD/USD, and EUR/USD.
*FP Markets spreads are 0.0 pips EUR/USD on average 55.84% of the time with the RAW Spread trading accounts.
Labelled as the experts’ choice, the Raw Account has some impressive features:
As a no dealing desk (NDD) broker, FP Markets uses straight-through processing (STP) of limit orders, allowing for faster trade execution speeds than many similar brokers. Limit orders can include setting a buy limit, buy stop, sell limit or sell stop to maximise profits and minimise losses. The graph below shows FP Markets achieving an average execution speed of 80ms based on data from 25 trades – the quickest of all the competition.
Along with trading forex, FP Markets offers a range of CFD trading products which allows access to over 10,000 financial instruments, including:
FP Markets offers thousands of the most commonly traded stocks on the world’s biggest exchanges, such as NASDAQ, NYSE, and LSE. The broker establishes pricing through transparent direct market access (DMA). You can trade shares CFDs on the MetaTrader 5 trading platform using desktop software or mobile apps.
To hedge investment risk, FP Markets also offers precious metal assets such as gold and silver and a wide range of other commodities like energy, metals, and agricultural products. With leverage up to 1:500 for all hard commodities except oil, which is 1:100, you can speculate on the price of these commodities, short or long. The commodities market is open 24 hours a day, 5 days a week.
FP Markets provides access to 19 major global indices and allows you to trade CFD and stock indices futures on NASDAQ100, S&P500, and EUREX at margins starting from 1%. Available leverage is up to 1:100.
The high volatility of the cryptocurrency market is becoming a favourable way to diversify portfolios. You can trade coins such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, Bitcoin Cash and Litecoin with no cryptocurrency wallet. The volatile nature of these currencies stems from non-correlation to central banks or other financial instruments. Similar to the forex market, you can trade cryptocurrencies 24 hours a day, 5 days a week, on MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5 platforms across desktop and mobile. Leverage is up to 1:2.
The graph below shows the range of markets offered by FP Markets against other brokers, many of which only offer access to forex markets. FP Markets is a rational leader in providing a diverse range of financial instruments to clients.
The overall rating is based on review by our experts
Canadian traders looking for the lowest cost broker should choose Fusion Markets. The broker achieves low costs through industry-low commission costs, tight spreads, and low ancillary fees.
Fusion Markets offers the following low commission for its ‘Zero’ Trading account. If you are a high volume trader, then commission costs can add up as you will pay to open and to close your position for each lot you buy and sell.
Spreads represent your largest costs when trading. With this in mind, it makes sense to choose a broker that offers ECN pricing tight spreads.
When trading each pip you trade will cost you CAD$10 so with an average spread of 01.2 for EURUSD. You will pay $1.20 on the spread each way. We recommend trading with the Fusion Markets Zero Account rather than Standard Account, as this will save you on costs. While Standard account has no commission costs, 0.8 pip is added to the spread. Using EURUSD as an example, if the round trip cost is $2.40 spread cost is ($1.20 each way) + commission of $6.00 = $8.40. Standard account average spread is 0.12 + 0.8 = 0.92 so you will pay $9.20 to in trading costs.
Fusion Markets do not have inactivity costs. This means you don’t have any obligation to meet any minimum trading requirements each month. A lot of traders, especially occasional traders, get caught out with such costs.
Besides no inactivity costs, Fusion Markets do not charge any Funding fees for deposits or withdrawals. The one exception may be when funding from an international bank to a Canadian bank.
Overall, Fusion Markets is 36% cheaper than other regulated forex brokers based on their low spread and lowest commission rates. Use the forex brokerage calculator below to compare Fusion Markets to other global forex brokers (some don’t accept Canadian forex traders) to see how much you will save on a trade. We base this on published average spreads, commissions, and live forex pair crosses.
Commission
Spread Costs
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Fusion Markets accepts Canadian traders but is not IIROC regulated. This allows them to offer the leverage of 500:1 on currency trading (which is in line with the maximum allowed by Fusion Markets Australia regulator ASIC), 100:1 on Indices and 2:1 for cryptocurrency trading. Leverage involves a high level of risk, so it is important to select the right level that is right for you. There is no minimum deposit requirement and no minimum account size.
When signing up with Fusion Markets, if you are outside Ontario, you can choose to sign up with either Fusion Markets or Fusion Markets. Ontario residents can only choose Fusion Markets. Both entities offer exactly the same product, but choosing Fusion Markets means you can choose CAD as your account base currency. Having CAD as your account base currency will save you on costs, as you can prevent currency conversion charges when trading.
The reason Ontario residence cannot choose Fusion Markets is that Ontario is not a signatory of the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) which is the umbrella financial regulator across all provinces and territories across Canada except Ontario.
Fusion Markets offers MetaTrader 4 (MT4). This is the most popular forex trading platform worldwide, allowing desktop, Webtrader for browsers and mobile trading experience. It is also the most used platform by forex traders adopting automation (Expert Advisors) and also offer offers MetaTrader Signals for social trading (copy trading).
We recommend Fusion Markets for Canadian forex traders based on their low fees, forex trading platform, and high leverage. The broker is regulated by the Vanuatu Financial Services Commission (No. 40256) and their parent company is ASIC regulated. The broker segregates all client monies with Westpac (in Australia) for peace of mind.
Open a demo account >>Visit Fusion Markets >>
Established in 1999 and based in New Jersey, GAIN Capital Holdings Inc grants access and offers trade execution services in Foreign Exchange for retail investors. The company owns global CFD and Forex brands Forex.com and City Index and, along with its subsidiaries, it is regulated in several jurisdictions across the globe, including:
GAIN Capital Holdings Inc is a publicly traded company, listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: GCAP). Among the top 20 regulated Forex brokers in Canada, which our team reviewed, Forex.com offers the most extensive range of currency pairs.
With Forex.com, Canadian forex traders are granted access to 84 major, minor and exotic currency pairs and can take advantage of competitive spreads, starting from 0.8 pips on majors such as EUR/USD, USD/JPY and AUD/USD. The minimum and typical spreads offered on other popular pairs are presented as follows:
Note* Canadian traders can trade the USD/CAD pair using a maximum leverage of 50:1. Traders can gain access to +200 CFD instruments on popular equities, commodities, and indices.
Because of the innovative technology and deep network of liquidity providers, Forex.com delivers accurate pricing and outstanding execution of trade orders, with average execution speed being 0.05 seconds. The broker discloses more details on its Execution Scorecard:
Canadian Forex traders who demand exposure to deep Forex liquidity pools will probably find Forex.com’s Direct Market Access (DMA) Trading Account as suiting their preferences. This account enables them to:
Clients who trade on a DMA account will pay no spread to the brokerage and benefit from better trading conditions. They can benefit from commission discounts depending on their trade volume. Or, the more they trade, the greater the discount they will receive during the next month.
Let’s consider a simple example:
Established in 1995, OANDA Corp is a registered Futures Commission Merchant and Retail Foreign Exchange Dealer with the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission and is also a member of the National Futures Association. The company provides financial services such as:
OANDA (Canada) Corp ULC is authorized and regulated by the IIROC, while OANDA Australia Pty Ltd is regulated by the ASIC.
Among the top 20 regulated Canadian Forex brokers we reviewed, OANDA (Canada) Corp offers the best maximum leverage conditions. Canada-based retail investors can take advantage of maximum leverage of 1:50 when trading high-risk derivative instruments (CFDs) on major currency pairs and maximum leverage of 1:20 when trading CFDs on minor currency pairs.
Margin requirements will be different depending on the base account currency. For a Canada-based trader using CAD as her base account currency and maximum leverage of 1:50, the margin requirements for Foreign Exchange trades will be:
Canada-based investors can open two types of accounts with OANDA (Canada) Corp:
Unlike other regulated Forex brokers in Canada we reviewed, OANDA has no minimum deposit requirement for clients to open an account with the company. Important disclaimer: this is only valid for the broker’s Standard Account. However, we should note that Canadian traders will have to ensure sufficient funds in their trading account to meet OANDA’s margin requirements.
If Canadian clients choose to open a Premium Account with the broker, they will have to ensure an initial deposit of USD 20,000 (or the equivalent in local currency).
A comparison between the two Oanda account types can be observed in the table below:
As for base account currencies, OANDA allows deposits made in 9 different base currencies:
Note* OANDA also offers a FREE demo account for Canadian customers.
We should note that, at present, Canada-based retail clients cannot deposit funds into their OANDA accounts by using debit or credit cards.
In case Canadian Forex traders prefer to fund their OANDA accounts by using PayPal, this is possible only if their account currency is CAD. Processing time is up to 1 business day. There is no minimum deposit requirement and no limit for maximum deposits for verified PayPal accounts. For unverified accounts, however, the maximum deposit cannot exceed CAD $1,000.
In case Canada-based retail investors choose to deposit funds via bank wire transfer, again, there will be no limit for maximum deposits. Processing time is between 1 and 3 business days for wire transfers within Canada. As for additional charges, clients may have to pay their bank a fee.
Withdrawals need to be carried out by using the same method, which Canadian retail clients used for their deposit. Withdrawals via PayPal are processed only in CAD and only to personal PayPal accounts (business accounts are excluded). PayPal withdrawals are processed between 1 and 5 business days and are not associated with any fees.
Withdrawals via bank wire transfer require between 2 and 5 business days to be processed. With this method and depending on the account currency, Canadian traders will be charged fees as follows:
View Oanda ReviewVisit Oanda
Established in 1978 by its Chairman Thomas Peterffy, Interactive Brokers Group has an office in Montreal, Quebec and functions as an “all-in-one” brokerage providing:
IB caters to both professional and institutional traders for a range of asset classes and derivatives such as stocks, bonds, foreign exchange, metals, commodity futures, options, ETFs and Mutual Funds internationally.
Among the many entities operating under the parent company, Interactive Brokers LLC is regulated by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), while Interactive Brokers Canada Inc is a member of the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada and of the Canadian Investor Protection Fund.
Interactive Brokers (IB) allow Canadian citizens access to a range of small-cap, mid-cap and large-cap domestic and international stocks from a single account at low brokerage fees.
The company offers three types of pricing plans to suit its clients’ needs:
IB’s Tiered Pricing plan features low broker commission, which diminishes based on trade volume. The plan also includes exchange, regulatory, and clearing fees.
The following table shows commissions charged on trading US stocks:
As for trading in Canadian stocks and ETFs, IB will charge commissions as follows:
Note * IB’s Fixed Rate Pricing plan features a fixed fee charged per share or a particular percent of the trade value. The plan also includes exchange and regulatory fees.
Stock trading comes with different fees:
IBKR Lite pricing plan allows for unlimited trading of US-listed stocks and ETFs with no commissions charged.
IB allows for direct market access to financial markets through a range of platforms:
Canada-based traders can have their orders executed at the best possible price via IB’s SmartRouting engine. The latter explores the best stock, option and combination prices available at the moment clients place their orders and looks to immediately fill those orders electronically.
Last year, the brokerage insured average savings of $6.70 per trade for its clients, and after considering average commissions charged, the average net benefit for clients amounted to $4.42 per trade.
Canadian traders looking to use fixed spreads for their trading should turn to Friedberg Direct, powered by AvaTrade. AvaTrade is a reputable forex and CFD broker running the Friedberg Direct trading platform technology. Friedberg Direct was founded in 1971 and forms one of the largest independent brokers in Canada.
Friedberg Direct offers you the ability to trade forex using fixed spreads. Fixed spreads remain constant except in extreme market conditions. This predictability can provide advantages over floating spreads which fluctuate when economic conditions turn unfavourable, thus leading to large losses.
Friedberg Direct does not charge commission fees (on top of their spreads) meaning your trading costs are part of the fixed spread. Fixed spreads are usually wider than standard spreads (which also have no commissions) to cover the brokers’ risk for spread fluctuations, AvaTrade’s spreads, however, are competitive with standard spreads from brokers.
Friedberg Direct has a CAD $50 minimum requirement for deposits or withdrawals. Depositing and withdrawing with a Friedberg Direct account can be done using credit cards, debit cards, or wire transfer.
Friedberg Direct offers excellent liquidity on a wide range of financial products. Over 100 financial instruments are available for you to trade including forex, stocks, commodities, indices, forex options, and bonds.
If you are looking to trade options, then AvaTrade might be the best broker around. AvaTrade offers AvaOptions trading app/platform, which will help you make the most of your options trading. Few CFD brokers offer tools specially designed for options trading. This broker offers 42 forex pairs plus gold and silver for options trading.
Forex trading platforms available through Friedberg Direct include:
A large choice of trading platforms makes it easy to benefit from more ways to trade. Trading automation is available as Expert Advisors or EAs through MetaTrader 4 and 5 platforms. Traders can also achieve automation through social and copy trading tools such as ZuluTrade, DupliTrade and AvaSocial.
If you desire a higher level of risk management beyond the standard stops, AvaTrade offers AvaProtect™. If you are using AvaTradeGo, for a small premium, you can buy time to reverse your trade. This means, if your trade moves in an unfavourable direction during this set period of time, you can pull out of the trade.
AvaTrade allows hedging your position to offset the risk associated with complex instruments such as CFDs.
As a reputable independent broker since 1971, Friedberg Direct is regulated by IIROC, meaning they offer a relatively safe environment for traders of all levels. AvaTrade also offers various educational materials through Friedberg Direct such as economic calendars, eBooks, training videos, beginner guides, and of course the option to open a demo account along with professional customer support ready to answer all your questions.
Visit Friedman Direct powered by AvaTrade
TD Direct Investing is a top Canadian broker with competitive pricing when share trading and innovating trading tools, investing advice and education content to help make your trading experience successful.
TD Direct offers a variety of products trading including Canadian and US stocks, options, ETFs, mutual funds, GICs, bonds, IPOs and Precious metals. CFD products such as forex, commodities and cryptocurrencies are not available. Pricing for TD Direct instruments include:
TD Direct give clients many account types to choose from, this allows you to select an account that suits your long- and short-term goals. The range of accounts is listed below:
TD Direct offers a variety of trading platforms for all levels of experience. Platforms available include:
A range of online resources are available to help improve your knowledge and confidence in trading. Features include:
TD Invest offers online and in-store investing. There is 24/7 support available if you are investing online, and this is available in English and French. TD Direct is a highly regarded broker, but if you are looking to trade forex of CFDs, they are not the ideal choice. TD Direct is the top Canadian broker for trading and investing in stocks.
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The best forex brokers Canada has to offer, FP Markets is the best choice for Canadian traders. At the same time, Fusion Markets is a top pick for low spreads, Forex.com offers the largest range of currency pairs and Interactive Brokers is the best ECN brokers with direct market access.
Getting started in forex trading is as simple as following these 5 steps:
Check our step-by-step guide on how to choose a forex broker: 10 Critical things to consider when choosing a Forex broker in 2021.
Forex trading is a legal business in Canada. The forex industry is regulated by the main regulatory body Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC). However, the regulatory framework might differ in the 10 Canadian provinces, which can have their own local rules.
Forex market regulation is one of the key factors, which our team considers when assessing Canadian Forex brokers. If we are to focus on the regulatory environment in Canada, we should point out that there are 15 different organizations that supervise the Forex market. Among these the top regulatory bodies are the:
In terms of regulation, the respective organizations in Canada treat Foreign Exchange either as a security or as a derivative. However, we should note this brings about different types of regulation since organizations have to enforce regulatory framework at the provincial and territorial level along with the regulatory framework at the federal (national) level. This creates a bit complex environment that, to a certain extent, makes it quite challenging for a business entity to decide whether to function as a Forex broker in the local market or as an advisor.
For example, Autorite des Apriles financiers (AMF) supervises the Quebec financial sector activity and, under its provisions, regulated brokers need to provide further protection to Quebec residents. Also, among the financial institutions in Canada, the Alberta Securities Commission (ASC) has the tightest regulations.
In this section, our team of experts will try to outline what are some IIROC duties and how it can benefit Canadian traders. Aiming to ensure fair market environment and financial stability, the IIROC acts as the main Foreign Exchange regulatory body, which is empowered to supervise business activities of Forex brokers and advisors that operate in the local Forex market.
The IIROC has the authority to carry out:
One major aim of Forex market regulation is to ensure client protection. In this line of thought, similar to other regulatory bodies across the globe (FCA, ASIC, CySEC, etc.), IIROC enforces a system of rules aimed to prevent the insolvency of brokers it regulates. In doing so, the organization imposes minimum capital requirements of brokerages’ business operations, conducts strict monitoring of brokers’ financial condition and also requires them to carry out comprehensive financial reporting.
IIROC also postulates that clients’ assets are kept fully segregated from the assets of brokerages, which minimizes the risk of customer funds being lost in case of insolvency or bankruptcy, and also reduces the probability of those funds being used by brokerages inappropriately (as operating capital or budget for marketing campaigns, for instance).
Client accounts, that are held at IIROC-regulated investment intermediaries, are also safeguarded by the Canadian Investor Protection Fund (CIPF) within particular limits.
We should note that IIROC-regulated investment firms are members of the CIPF. Thus, if customer funds are missing because of a firm’s insolvency, the shortfall will be covered by the CIPF. The Fund provides coverage of up to CAD$1 million per account.
Last but not least, IIROC requires that online brokers must have proper procedures to supervise customer accounts and all their clients’ activities, while also complying with stern Know Your Customer and Anti-Money Laundering policies.
The IIROC has imposed restrictions on the maximum leverage, which could be offered to retail clients by Canadian Forex brokers. At present, the maximum leverage allowed stands at 1:45 to 1:50 and can be reviewed or changed by the regulatory authority. Forex brokers that are based in Canada may offer the highest leverage only on currency pairs, including CAD, but they could reduce it depending on the liquidity of other currency pairs in their product offerings.
Compare Forex Brokers is a financial portal that strives to provide forex traders of all backgrounds with reliable information. Our detailed Forex Brokers Canada review was conducted by our independent analysts, which based the review on a wide range of factors including:
Only the best Canadian forex brokers have made it into our ranking system. Our proprietary star ranking system ensures that you will avoid the scam FX brokers. The selection of top forex brokers in Canada was narrowed down to only 4 names, so forex traders won’t get overwhelmed trying to find a broker to fit their needs.
Risk Warning: Forex trading carries a high level of risk, especially when using leverage, which can magnify both profits and losses. Before deciding to invest in the spot foreign exchange market, make sure you understand how trading on margin works.
Justin Grossbard has been investing for the past 20 years and writing for the past 10. He co-founded Compare Forex Brokers in 2014 after working with the foreign exchange trading industry for several years. He also founded a number of FinTech and digital startups including Innovate Online and SMS Comparison. Justin holds a Masters Degree and an Honours in Commerce from Monash University. He and his wife Paula live in Melbourne, Australia with his son and Siberian cat. In his spare time, he watches Australian Rules Football and invests on global markets.
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