Overview

When you upgrade to USD accounts, you'll get a USD account associated with each of your CAD self-directed stock trading accounts. USD accounts allow you to trade U.S. securities without the conversion fee on every order.

Upgrading to USD accounts also grants you access to:

• U.S. dollar trading accounts with no foreign exchange fees or commissions for buying and selling U.S. equities. Instead, you only pay a foreign exchange fee when converting funds from one currency to another to use in your USD account.
• The option to deposit U.S. dollars from another Canadian institution into Wealthsimple with no foreign exchange fees.
• Lower FX conversion fees depending on the amount you convert each time between your CAD and USD accounts
• An instant trading limit of up to $50,000. 

After you upgrade to USD accounts, we’ll automatically transfer your U.S. assets from your CAD self-directed trading account into your new USD account. If you hold a security on a US exchange that is dual-listed on a Canadian exchange, we'll automatically convert it to the Canadian option. This is because we don't support dual-listed securities.

More on U.S. dollar deposits

• You can make U.S. dollar deposits directly into your USD self-directed stock trading accounts.
• USD deposits must be made from a U.S. dollar account held at a Canadian banking institution.
• To make a USD deposit, you will need to link your USD bank account.

Eligible accounts

You can only upgrade individual self-directed trading accounts to USD. Managed, Cash, and Crypto accounts aren't eligible for USD accounts. USD accounts are only available for trading stocks and ETFs, not cryptocurrencies.

How to upgrade to USD accounts

There are 2 ways that you can upgrade to USD accounts for your self-directed stock trading accounts:

1. Subscribe to USD accounts by paying a $10 CAD fee each month. This subscription fee isn't taxed.
2. Qualify by reaching either Premium or Generation status and opting into USD accounts for free.

Subscribe to USD accounts

Subscribing to USD accounts gives you instant access to all the benefits of USD accounts.

To subscribe to USD accounts, follow these steps:

1. Sign in to the Wealthsimple app on your mobile device
2. Tap the Profile icon at the top-right of the screen
3. Scroll down and tap USD accounts under More
4. Select Upgrade
5. Choose the account you want your monthly subscription payment to come from
6. Select Confirm

More details

• Your monthly subscription payment will be withdrawn from your Available to trade balance. Please make sure you have a cash balance in your account to cover the cost of your subscription each month. If you don't want to worry about whether you have enough cash in your account each month, consider setting up an auto-deposit to cover your subscription fee.
• We’ll notify you in the Wealthsimple app and by email if you don’t have enough funds in your account to cover your subscription fee. 
• If you decide to cancel your USD accounts in the future, we'll simply merge your Canadian Dollar and U.S. Dollar accounts back into a single account. We'll also convert any remaining USD in your account back to CAD.

Opt-in to USD accounts as a Premium or Generation client

As a Wealthsimple Premium or Generation client, you automatically qualify for free USD accounts. In order to open your USD accounts, you must first opt in. When you opt in, you'll get a USD account to go with each of your CAD self-directed stock trading accounts. Accounts managed by Wealthsimple won't receive a corresponding USD account.

To opt in when you first become a Premium or Generation client, tap Open USD accounts. This will take you through the flow to open your USD accounts.

To opt-in at a later time, click the X in the top right-hand corner of your screen. Then, when you're ready, follow these steps: 

1. Sign in to the Wealthsimple app on your mobile device
2. Tap the Profile icon at the top-right of the screen
3. Scroll down and tap USD accounts under More
4. Review how USD accounts work, then tap Open USD accounts
5. Your USD accounts will now be open

Are USD accounts right for me?

If you convert between CAD and USD, you’ll benefit from lower FX conversion fees with USD accounts.

Foreign exchange (FX) conversion fees

The more you convert between your USD and CAD accounts, the lower your FX conversion fee. If you don’t have USD accounts, your FX conversion fee is 1.50% for all FX conversion transactions.

The FX Conversion Fee is applied to the WSII Corporate Exchange Rate as described in the WSII Fee schedule. The WSII Corporate Exchange Rate is a live rate including a spread which may vary due to market conditions.

FX conversion fee example

In the following example, you can see how a USD account saves you money when you trade a series of U.S. securities. To keep things simple, all amounts are in CAD and reflect only the difference in the FX conversion fee.

Change your billing account

You can choose which account you'd like your subscription fee to come from. To change your billing account, follow these steps: 

1. Sign in to the Wealthsimple app on your mobile device
2. Tap the Profile icon at the top-right of the screen
3. Scroll down and tap USD accounts under More
4. Tap on Billing account and select a different account

Frequently asked questions