Below, you’ll find an overview of the fees for using a trading account with Wealthsimple. If you’d like to dig into the details, you can always take a look at the comprehensive Wealthsimple trade fee schedule.

• Wealthsimple's trading accounts charge a 1.5% currency conversion fee to convert between USD and CAD.
• There are no commission fees, transfer charges, or other hidden fees in trading accounts.
• We don’t sell your information or data.
• Orders are always executed at the best available price and we do not receive any payment or incentives to route our orders in a particular way.

Understanding the currency conversion fee

We charge a 1.5% currency conversion fee to convert between USD and CAD. This fee works slightly differently depending on whether you use Wealthsimple Basic or Plus trading account. 

Currency conversion fees for Wealthsimple Basic

Clients using the Basic version of Wealthsimple's trading accounts pay a 1.5% currency exchange fee on all trades of U.S.- denominated assets (both buys and sells). 

The fee is included in the total foreign exchange rate (FX) that is applied to each order. We’ll show you the rate on the trade confirmation once the order has been filled. 

Take a look at the two examples below:

An example asset purchase

• You decide to purchase 100 USD of a U.S.-denominated asset
• In this example, the corporate exchange rate for converting Canadian to U.S. Dollars is 1.3
• With a 1.5% currency conversion fee, the total foreign exchange rate becomes 1.3198 (FX rate of 1.3 / (1 - 0.015)
• The total cost to you is 131.98 CAD
• You’ve paid 1.98 CAD in currency conversion fees

An example asset sale

• You decide to sell 100 USD worth of a U.S.-denominated asset
• In this example, the corporate exchange rate for converting Canadian to US Dollars is 1.3
• With a 1.5% currency conversion fee, the total foreign exchange rate becomes 1.2805 (FX rate of 1.3 * (1 - 0.015)
• You receive 128.05 CAD from the sale
• You’ve paid 1.95 CAD in currency conversion fees

Currency conversion fees for Wealthsimple Plus

Clients with a Plus subscription get access to USD accounts — meaning you can buy, sell and hold stocks and ETFs in U.S. Dollars without paying a conversion fee per trade. Plus subscribers pay a 1.5% conversion fee to convert currency between CAD and USD.

Take a look at the two examples below:

CAD to USD

• You decide to convert 100 CAD to USD
• In this example, the corporate exchange rate for converting Canadian to U.S. Dollars is 0.8
• With a 1.5% currency conversion fee, the total foreign exchange rate becomes 0.788 (FX rate of 0.8 * (1 - 0.015)
• You receive 78.80 USD
• You’ve paid 1.20 USD in currency conversion fees

USD to CAD

• You decide to convert 100 USD to CAD
• In this example, the corporate exchange rate for converting U.S. Dollars to Canadian Dollars is 1.3
• With a 1.5% currency conversion fee, the total foreign exchange rate becomes 1.3198 (FX rate of 1.3 / (1 - 0.015)
• You receive 128.05 CAD
• You’ve paid 1.95 CAD in currency conversion fees