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CFD platform review
Plus500 Review
Tiered First-Deposit Bonus, From $40 on $200 to $14,000 on $70,000
- Credited only after you trade a set number of Trader Points, from 50 to 8,000
- Whether the credited bonus can be withdrawn as cash is not stated
- This rewards trading volume in a leveraged product; treat it accordingly
No end date published. A bonus is paid once; fees are paid every year, so treat it as a tie-breaker.
Full offer detail
Plus500’s promotions page lists a tiered first-deposit bonus by code: $40 on a $200 deposit (code Welcome), $100 on $100 (LAB2026), $150 on $700 (BRONZE), $300 on $1,500 (SILVER), $1,200 on $6,000 (GOLD), $3,000 on $14,000 (PLATINUM) and $14,000 on $70,000 (DIAMOND). The bonus is credited only after you have traded a required number of Trader Points, from 50 for the smallest tier to 8,000 for the largest. It is therefore an incentive to trade volume, not free money on deposit. No end date is published, and the page does not say whether a credited bonus can be withdrawn as cash. Check the terms on Plus500’s site before relying on it.
Plus500CA Ltd is registered as an investment dealer in every province and territory except Quebec, is a member of the Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization and the Canadian Investor Protection Fund, and is a subsidiary of Plus500 Ltd, listed on the London Stock Exchange. In Alberta it may serve accredited investors only.
A contract for difference is an agreement with Plus500 to exchange the difference in an instrument’s price between when you open a position and when you close it. You put up a fraction of the position’s value as margin and Plus500 lends the rest, which is what makes gains and losses larger than the price move itself. You never hold the share, the currency or the commodity.
Is It Right for You?
Good Fit
- You are an experienced short-term trader who wants leveraged exposure to price moves
- You understand a CFD is a derivative and that positions can be closed automatically
- You want negative balance protection in writing
Look Elsewhere If
- You are investing for the long term, or want a TFSA, RRSP or FHSA
- You live in Quebec, or in Alberta without accredited investor status
- You want to know the maximum leverage or the overnight rate before you sign up; neither is published
What It Costs
| What you are doing | What Plus500 charges |
|---|---|
| Commission | $0; the cost is in the spread between buy and sell prices |
| Spread | Varies by instrument and moment; Plus500’s own example shows 0.6 pips on EUR/USD |
| Overnight funding | Charged or credited daily on any position held past the cutoff; the rate per instrument is shown only inside the platform |
| Currency conversion on profit or loss | Up to 0.7% of the realized result when the instrument is priced in a currency other than your account’s |
| Inactivity fee | Up to US$10 a month after three months without logging in |
| Guaranteed stop | Built into a wider spread; no flat premium published |
| Deposits and withdrawals | $0 |
| Minimum deposit | Not published |
CFD costs do not map onto brokerage costs. There is no commission, but the spread is paid on every trade, overnight funding is charged every day a position stays open, and the currency charge applies to your result rather than to a conversion of your balance. Because positions are leveraged, each of these costs is large relative to the money you actually put up. Plus500 publishes the formulas for overnight funding but not the rates, which live inside the logged-in platform instrument by instrument.
What You Actually Pay
The costs of a CFD account sit in four places, none of them a commission.
Account Currency and the Conversion Charge
Account Currency
Not applicable. You choose a base currency when you open the account; Plus500 does not publish which currencies are available.
What It Costs
None for the base currency itself. The charge is on results: up to 0.7% of the profit or loss on any position priced in a different currency.
This is not the same thing as a broker’s conversion spread. It applies to what you make or lose, not to money you exchange, and because the position is leveraged the charge is large relative to your margin.
Accounts You Can Open
Registered
None. No TFSA, RRSP, FHSA, RESP or RRIF. Every dollar of profit is taxable.
Trading Account
A single CFD account in your chosen base currency. Whether you can hold more than one is answered only behind the login.
Not Available
Quebec residents cannot open an account. In Alberta, only accredited investors can.
You never own the underlying asset. That affects tax, since nothing can be sheltered in a registered plan, and it affects what CIPF protects: segregated client money if Plus500CA becomes insolvent, never trading losses.
The Platform and Research
Platform
Plus500 runs in the browser and on iOS and Android, with an unlimited demo account you can reset. Stop-loss and take-profit orders are standard, trailing stops are referenced, and guaranteed stops are available at the cost of a wider spread. Charting carries more than 100 indicators, with price alerts, an economic calendar and news.
Research and Data
The Trading Academy offers educational material and a glossary. The +Insights feature shows what other Plus500 clients are trading. Detailed contract specifications, including leverage and overnight rates per instrument, are visible only after you open an account.
We have not traded on this platform ourselves, so we make no claims about how it feels to use. Everything above is drawn from what Plus500 publishes.
Leverage and Margin
Plus500’s risk disclosure explains the mechanism, that 1:10 leverage turns a 1% move into a 10% change in your position, but neither it, the relationship disclosure, the user agreement nor the Ontario Securities Commission’s June 2025 decision authorising Plus500CA publishes a table of maximum leverage by asset class. The user agreement says Plus500CA can reduce leverage and raise margin requirements at its discretion.
What is published: negative balance protection, meaning you cannot lose more than your account balance, and a margin close-out process. If your margin falls below the requirement, Plus500 attempts to notify you, and if that is not met it may close positions, smallest margin first, without further notice.
Where It Falls Short
You Own Nothing
Every product is a contract with Plus500. There is no share, no dividend, no vote, and no long-term holding without a daily charge.
Leverage Is Not Published
No maximum-leverage table by asset class appears anywhere outside the logged-in platform.
No Loss Statistic
Plus500’s Canadian site and risk disclosure do not state what share of retail clients lose money, a figure CFD providers publish in several other countries.
The Bonus Rewards Trading, Not Depositing
Credited only after a set volume of Trader Points, which pushes clients to trade more of a leveraged product.
No Registered Accounts, No Quebec
All profits are taxable, and residents of Quebec cannot open an account.
Common Questions
Is Plus500 a stock broker?
No. Plus500CA Ltd is a CFD dealer regulated by CIRO. Every position is a contract for difference with Plus500 that pays or charges you the price movement. You never own the underlying share, ETF, currency or commodity.
Does CIPF protect my money at Plus500?
CIPF protects segregated client property if a member firm becomes insolvent, within set limits. Its coverage policy explicitly excludes losses from changing market values, so it does not protect you if a CFD position moves against you.
Can I trade CFDs in a TFSA or RRSP?
No. Plus500 offers no registered accounts. A CFD account is a taxable account and profits are not sheltered.
Is Plus500 available in Quebec?
No. Plus500CA is registered in every province and territory except Quebec. In Alberta it serves accredited investors only.
Brokerage terms change without notice. Verify current fees and offer terms with the broker before opening an account. This review is general information about a product. It is not investment advice and does not take your personal circumstances into account. MoneyMint is not a registered dealer or adviser. Consider speaking with a qualified professional about decisions that depend on your own situation.
Disclosure. MoneyMint has no paid relationship with Plus500. The links on this page earn us nothing.