Why Compare Forex Brokers Before Trading?

As a Canadian Forex and CFD retail trader, there are a number of important considerations to make when choosing a broker that best matches your trading style. Each broker offers different features so The expert team at Compare Forex Brokers has gone over these considerations through extensive broker analysis so you don’t have to. These reviews are also region-specific to suit Canadian traders.

Some of the considerations taken into account include trading costs, trading account types, trading platforms and products such as currency pairs, indices and ETFs. We also cover less obvious factors such as educational resources, regulations and customer support.

Not all CFD brokers are created equal, and each has different identifying features. Each broker also has a unique point of difference which is the reason we chose that particular brokerage. We break down each broker and these features as part of our Canadian forex broker comparison. As an example, some brokers offer No Dealing Desk, or STP (straight-through-processing) execution while others are market makers. This affects the spreads on offer for each broker (spreads are typically wider with Market Makers due to acting as the direct counterparty to your trade).

How To Choose The Best Forex Broker In Canada

When choosing the best forex broker in Canada, you should consider the following:

Regulation – Choose a forex broker that is regulated by the Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization (CIRO).
Range of Markets – Select a forex broker that offers the range of financial markets and currency pairs you wish to trade in.
Trading Costs – Find a forex broker with the lowest spreads and commissions.
Trading Tools – Select a forex broker that offers a wide range of advanced research tools and trading tools such as pip value calculators, risk meters, guaranteed stop-loss orders, and charting tools.
User Experience – Choose a forex broker that has a user-friendly trading platform that offers fast execution speeds and excellent mobile functionality.
Support – Find a forex broker that offers decent customer support as well as a demo trading account and educational resources for you to learn how to trade forex effectively.

The best brokers in Canada will also have mobile trading apps, allowing active traders to stay on top of their trades from their phones.

Can Candian Brokers be Trusted?

Yes, these Canadian brokers can be trusted as they are regulated by the Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization (CIRO). You can comfortably trade in the forex market with these service providers that are regulated in Canada.

Which Is The Best Forex Broker In Canada Overall?

OANDA is the best forex broker in Canada overall as it offers competitive low spreads, fast execution speeds, and a smart user interface that is easy to use. Additionally, OANDA offers a great choice of trading platforms, a wide range of currency pairs, and some of the lowest commissions in the market.

What Are The Costs And Fees Of Trading Forex In Canada?

The costs and fees of trading forex in Canada are broken down into spreads and commissions. Spreads are the difference between a currency pair’s buying and selling price. Commissions are small additional fees attached to each trade, usually calculated by round-turn per 100k traded.

Standard accounts include the brokers fees in the spread, RAW or ECN accounts have commission costs in addition to the spread.

Is Forex Trading Taxable In Canada?

Yes. Forex trading is taxable in Canada, and profits are taxed as capital gains. Therefore, Canadian traders pay Capital Gains Tax on all their forex trading profits.

How To Start Trading Forex In Canada

1. Select a Forex broker.

Select a CIRO-regulated forex broker that offers the range of markets and currency pairs you wish to trade in. Find a forex broker that offers low trading costs and advanced trading tools to facilitate your trades. Additionally, you should look out for other features, such as a user-friendly platform, fast execution speeds, and good mobile functionality for traders wanting to trade on the go.

2. Open a demo account.

Open a demo account and take advantage of all educational resources to learn how to trade forex as effectively as possible. Most online forex brokers offer unlimited demo accounts where you can trade using virtual funds to practise your trading strategies before trading on the live markets. Demo accounts mimic live markets and have advanced trading tools. In a demo account, you can also experiment with stock trading or trading Bitcoin in your retail investor account until you become comfortable trading with financial instruments in a live account.

3. Fund your account.

Once you are confident you understand the fundamentals of forex trading, open an account, upload your Know Your Customer (KYC) documents, and fund your account. As a beginner trader, we recommend you start trading with small capital amounts to begin with.

Can I Trade With High Leverage In Canada?

Yes, you can trade with high leverage in Canada, although it is restricted by CIRO. You can trade with a maximum leverage of 50:1.

What Are The Forex Broker Regulations In Canada?

Forex Broker Regulations In Canada
Trader funds must be kept in a separate account and not used as operating capital	Must have a dispute resolution process	Must submit financial reports for regular review
Broker must be CIRO-regulated	Must have at least $1,000,000 in operating capital	Must observe leverage limits of a maximum of 50:1
Should publish product disclosure documents	Must be protected by the Canadian Investor Protection Fund	Must communicate all changes in status of client accounts and charges

What Broker has The Best Forex Trading App In Canada?

OANDA is the broker with the best forex trading app in Canada, as it offers MetaTrader 4 (MT4), TradingView, and OANDA Trade (fx Trade) trading apps. All of these apps have fast execution speeds, excellent mobile functionality, and smart user interfaces that are easy to use.

Which Forex Broker Is Best For Trading CFDs In Canada?

OANDA is the forex broker that is best for trading CFDs in Canada as it offers the OANDA Trade (fx Trade) platform that allows you to trade in smaller lot sizes than other brokers, and it has a wide range of CFD products to choose from.

FAQ

What is CIRO in Canada?

CIRO is short for the Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization, a regulatory body that oversees forex trading in Canada. It was previously known as the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC).

Is forex trading good for beginners in Canada?

Yes, forex trading is good for beginners in Canada so long as you know what you are doing. Many forex brokers offer demo accounts and a wide range of educational resources where you can learn the fundamentals of forex trading.

What is a forex broker and what do they do?

A forex broker is a financial services company that offers traders access to a platform for buying and selling foreign currency. They automatically match buyers and sellers through an electronic platform also known as a foreign exchange.

How much money do I need to deposit to begin trading forex?

While some forex brokers have no minimum deposit requirements, you will need $100 or even higher in your trading account to open a trading position due to margin requirements.

Is it possible to trade forex without a broker?

No, trading forex without a broker is not possible. Brokers connect you with the liquidity pools so you can trade on foreign exchange markets.

What are the non-trading fees for forex brokers in Canada?

The following are non-trading fees for forex brokers in Canada:

Overnight fees
Deposit and withdrawal fees
Some brokers charge a monthly or annual account maintenance fee
Some brokers charge a currency conversion fee if you are depositing with a currency not linked to your account
Some brokers charge an account inactivity fee if you have not used your account in a set period of time

How would I know if my forex broker is regulated in Canada?

You can check on your forex brokers’ website to see if they are regulated in Canada. Alternatively, you can go to the CIRO website and search for your broker’s registration number to see if they are regulated.

Which forex broker has the best trading platform in Canada?

OANDA is the forex broker that has the best trading platform in Canada as they offer a wide range of excellent platforms such as MetaTrader 4 (MT4), TradingView, and OANDA Trade, a proprietary platform that offers excellent overall functionality.

Which forex broker has the best MetaTrader in Canada?

OANDA is the forex broker that has the best MetaTrader in Canada with its smart user-friendly user interface, excellent mobile functionality, and fast execution speeds.

Can you do copy trading in Canada?

Yes, you can do copy trading in Canada. Copy trading allows new traders to learn how to trade, and it gives professional traders a competitive edge as you copy trades from the highest-performing traders in the industry.

Is it possible to trade with non-CIRO-regulated brokers in Canada?

Yes, it is possible to trade with non-CIRO-regulated brokers in Canada. Non-CIRO-regulated brokers are called offshore brokers and while it is legal, we recommend you approach with caution as CIRO cannot help you if you have any issues. Using a CIRO-regulated broker ensures you can trust the broker and that your funds are segregated from the broker.

Best CIRO Regulated Brokers

The Investment Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC) is the financial regulator of Canada. As a Canadian resident, when choosing a forex broker, it is best to choose a broker regulated by IIROC as it means the broker can legally offer trading services in Canada. Using an IIROC-regulated broker also means the broker complies with the operational and regulatory requirements set by the Canadian financial regulator and ensures the broker is legit as there are many unregulated scam brokers operating offshore.

CompareForexBrokers.com cover all the leading IIROC-regulated brokers such as OANDA, Friedberg Direct Powered By AvaTrade Technology, Friedberg Direct Powered By FXCM Technology, Interactive Brokers, CMC Markets and Forex.com. Our best forex broker Canada section compares the top 10 IIROC-regulated brokers based on spreads, trading platforms and features.

All brokers on the list offer CFD trading with leverage up to 1:50. All brokers allow you to choose from at least 40 currency pairs when trading with some having over 80 pairs. Some brokers also offer other CFD products such as stocks and indices however IIROC regulations don’t permit cryptocurrency CFD trading. Trading platforms are available in MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, TradingView and Capitalise.ai, some brokers also offer their own proprietary platforms.

Brokers Accepting Canadian Clients

While Canadian clients can choose a broker regulated by Canada’s regulator, CIRO (Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization) which was formally known as the IIROC, there are also a handful of reputable offshore forex brokers that will accept Canadian clients.

Benefits to choosing an offshore forex broker include higher maximum leverage with many offering 500:1. This contrasts with Forex brokers regulated by IIROC who must limit leverage to 50:1 and often lower. There may also be a superior range of trading products, not available with IIROC-regulated brokers, of particular notice is the availability of cryptocurrencies.

Online brokers without IIROC regulation that accept Canadian traders include Eightcap and Fusion Markets. Our Forex Brokers Accepting Canadian Clients compared the top brokers in Canada, combining CIRO-regulated and offshore brokers based on spreads, trading platforms and products.

Additionally, we have compiled a list of IIROC-regulated Forex Brokers for Canadian traders who only want brokers regulated by the national financial body.

Forex Trading Platforms

As a Canadian trader, the Forex trading platform you use is vitally important. There are many trading considerations to make when choosing the right platform. While MetaTrader 4 is still the most popular Forex trading platform globally, there are many other great choices such as MetaTrader 5, TradingView and Capitalise.ai.

Some Forex brokers have their own proprietary platforms, while others only offer third-party platforms. Forex brokers with a great selection of trading platforms include Forex.com, Interactive Brokers and CMC Markets. We also look at which platforms are available for desktop, via mobile apps for Android and iOS and which allow web trading view webtrader.

In addition to trading platforms, we also cover social trading and copy trading platforms and other trading tools the broker provides.

Our Best Forex Broker Platform page compares the best trading software for Canadian platforms based on capabilities, ease of use and other features such as minimum deposit and funding methods like PayPal and credit cards. We also look at the broker’s demo accounts and any other global markets to trade with the broker’s derivative products.

If you have just started your trading journey, we have compiled a list of the best forex trading platforms in Canada for beginners.

Lowest Spread Forex Broker

Trading costs, including spreads and commissions, are two of the most important considerations to make when choosing a broker in Canada. In the fast-paced and volatile world of currency markets, keeping your spread costs low will impact your overall trading costs and trading experience. Choosing a Forex broker that offers tight spreads is therefore crucial for Canadian traders to keep trading costs low. Forex Brokers that offer competitive spreads include Friedberg Direct (powered by AvaTrade), Oanda and CMC Markets.

Our Lowest Spread Canadian Forex Brokers compares the forex brokers with the lowest spreads in Canada for major forex pairs such as EUR/USD, CAD/USD, GBP/JPY and CAD/GBP. as well as a number of other important trading factors.

CompareForexBrokers Comparison Methodology

The Compare Forex Brokers consists of a team with extensive experience writing about Forex. When assessing a broker, the team are focused on reviewing the essential information about the brokers that traders need to know when choosing a broker. This information covers the following:

Trading Accounts
Broker Spreads (where practical)
Trading Platforms (including social trading and copy trading tools)
CFD Trading Products
Minimum Deposit and Funding Methods
Regulation

Occasionally we will also look at risk management tools and education features. We also might look at the type of trading execution the broker offers such as STP, ECN and Market Maker.

As these pages are specific to Canada, the focus is on IIROC brokers. However, it should be noted that some brokers are regulated in multiple regions. IIROC Brokers such as Forex.com, CMC Markets, OANDA, FXCM and AvaTrade may have other subsidiaries regulated in one or more of the following jurisdictions – ASIC in Australia, FCA in the UK, CySEC for Cyprus and Europe, NFA and CFTC in the USA. As a trader in Canada, your main concern will be to use a broker’s subsidiary regulated by IIROC other regulators such as those mentioned above (I.E. ASIC, FCA) don’t apply within Canada. IIROC does not regulate the following brokers nor do they accept Canadian clients – Pepperstone, eToro, XTB, IC Markets and Saxo Bank.

In addition to our forex broker comparison of Candian platforms, we also provide general information covering topics such as trading strategies, and education such as currency pairs – however, we don’t provide trading advice, as information is always prevalent in nature.

Understanding The Risks Of Forex Trading

Disclaimer: CFD trading means you are trading on margin or using leveraged products. IIROC limits leverage to 50:1 however some offshore brokers have a leverage of up to 500:1. While leverage is a useful tool to increase your profits when prices move in the right direction, it can lead to outsized losses when price movements are unfavourable.

When trading with leverage, it is essential you do your research and ensure you appreciate the risks that may be involved. Leveraged trading is best for experienced trading, traders lacking in experience should practice with a demo account until they gain the confidence to trade with leverage.

THE 2023 LEADING FOREX BROKER COMPARISON