Personal Finance

Exchange fees from brokers

  • Last Updated:
  • Jun 15th, 2012 6:12 pm
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Newbie
May 22, 2008
39 posts
Toronto

Exchange fees from brokers

Hi, I just talked to my broker (questrade) and they told me they charge 1.99% when exchanging Canadian to U.S. funds. I buy mostly American stocks and realized that the amount I pay in exchange fees dwarfs anything I save in transaction fees. Can anyone recommend a broker with lower rates? The only requirement is that it must have registered accounts (Unfortunately Interactive Brokers won't do).

Thanks
4 replies
Deal Addict
User avatar
Dec 15, 2001
3416 posts
1251 upvotes
Toronto
+1

it hurts everytime i need to convert /w quest.
Deal Addict
Oct 4, 2009
3590 posts
2953 upvotes
Montreal
Norbert's gambit.

Google is your friend.
Newbie
May 22, 2008
39 posts
Toronto
Norbert's gambit is only useful for when you exchange big amounts. I'm dollar cost averaging monthly and pulling the gambit might still get expensive.

I just called Virtual Brokers. They claim that they charge 1.5%. That's an improvement!
Deal Addict
Feb 20, 2006
1186 posts
48 upvotes
Vancouver
Scotiabank lets you pay $30 a quarter and they'll change CAD to USD at market rates. If you change more than about $2000 a quarter you'll save.

Another option is to use Interactive Brokers - just change your money there first and then deposit USD into your RRSP if your institutions allows it. Or buy stocks with IB and do an in-kind transfer (but there are fees for this).

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