Overview
To add funds to a USD self-directed investing account, you can either
- link a USD account and directly deposit USD into your account, or
- convert your Canadian Dollar cash balance into USD
There is a 1.5% currency conversion fee on top of the Wealthsimple Investments Inc. corporate exchange rate to convert your funds from CAD to USD. You can convert an unlimited amount of funds from CAD to USD.
You can only convert funds between a paired CAD and USD account. For example, you can convert funds from a CAD TFSA to a USD TFSA, but not from a CAD TFSA to a USD RRSP.
Convert funds between CAD and USD in your account
If you recently subscribed to USD accounts, you must wait approximately 2-4 hours for your account to be updated before you can convert funds.
To convert funds between CAD and USD:
- Open the Wealthsimple app on your mobile device
- Tap on the Move tab at the bottom of the screen
- Select Exchange CAD and USD
- Choose the account in which you'd like to convert funds
- Tap the drop-down menu at the top of the screen to convert CAD to USD or USD to CAD
- Enter an amount to convert
- Tap Continue
- Review the details and tap Submit conversion
- Log in to your Wealthsimple account
- Select Move from the top menu
- Select Exchange CAD and USD
- Select either CAD to USD or USD to CAD
- Choose an account and an amount
- Select Continue
- Review and submit your conversion request
View your currency conversation history
You can view your currency conversion history in your account activity.
Understanding the 1.5% currency conversion fee
If you have USD accounts, you pay a 1.5% currency conversion fee only when you convert funds between CAD and USD.
If you don't have USD accounts, you pay the 1.5% currency conversion fee every time you buy or sell a security. For example:
- 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
- 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 1.2805 (FX rate of 1.3 * (1 - 0.015))
- You receive $128.05 CAD
- You’ve paid $1.95 CAD in currency conversion fees
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