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Broker review
RBC Direct Investing Review
Up to 3% Cash Back on Assets You Transfer In, to $15,000
- Deposit at least $2,500 by 30 November 2026; hold until 30 November 2028
- Half paid by 31 December 2027, half by 31 December 2028; new clients only
- GoSmart: $100 for a first account funded with $2,000 by 2 February 2027
Open through a promotional link by 2 November 2026. A bonus is paid once; fees are paid every year, so treat it as a tie-breaker.
Full offer detail
RBC’s Summer–Fall 2026 Cash Offer pays up to 3% of assets transferred into registered accounts and up to 1% into non-registered accounts, to a maximum of C$15,000. You must open through a promotional link between 31 July and 2 November 2026, deposit at least C$2,500 by 30 November 2026, and hold the assets until 30 November 2028; half is paid by 31 December 2027 and half by 31 December 2028. It is for new clients only. Separately, GoSmart pays C$100 if you open your first GoSmart account between 4 August and 2 November 2026 and contribute at least C$2,000 by 2 February 2027. RBC also reimburses up to $200 in transfer fees charged by your old institution on transfers of $15,000 or more. Check the terms on RBC’s site before applying.
RBC Direct Investing Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Royal Bank of Canada and a member of the Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization and the Canadian Investor Protection Fund.
Canada’s largest bank has not followed BMO to free stock trading. Instead, it has removed fees around the edges: no maintenance fee on any account, commission-free mutual funds, and a list of commission-free ETFs. Whether that adds up to a good deal depends on whether you buy individual stocks or not.
Is It Right for You?
Good Fit
- You build a portfolio from mutual funds and the 50-plus free ETFs; those trades cost nothing
- You want bank-grade research: Morningstar, Trading Central, FactSet and more
- You hold US stocks in registered accounts; every account except an RESP has a free US-dollar side
- You bank with RBC and want a first account: GoSmart adds 50 free trades a year
Look Elsewhere If
- You trade individual stocks often; $9.95 is hard to justify against $0 elsewhere
- You convert modest amounts; 230 basis points under US$25,000 is the highest published entry tier here
- You use trailing stops; RBC does not list them
What It Costs
| What you are doing | What RBC Direct Investing charges |
|---|---|
| Buying or selling a stock or ETF | $9.95 |
| The same trade at 150 or more trades a quarter | $6.95 |
| More than 50 select ETFs | $0 |
| Buying or selling a mutual fund | $0 |
| Trading options | $9.95 plus $1.25 per contract; $6.95 plus $1.25 at 150 or more trades a quarter |
| Trading through a representative | At least $43 a trade |
| Maintenance fee | None, and no minimum balance |
| Moving your account to another firm | $150 |
| RRSP withdrawal, including LIRA unlocking | $50 |
| TFSA or FHSA withdrawal | $0 |
| Home Buyers’ Plan or Lifelong Learning Plan withdrawal | $25 |
Free mutual funds are more unusual than they sound: Questrade charges $9.95 and Scotia iTRADE $9.99 for the same trade. On the maintenance fee, RBC’s pricing page is clear that there is no quarterly or annual fee and no minimum balance on any account. RBC adds that the $25 quarterly maintenance fee still mentioned in some older articles no longer exists.
What a Year Might Cost You
Worked from RBC Direct Investing’s own fee schedule for four common patterns: 12 ETF purchases a year, 60 stock trades, 100 options contracts across 10 trades, and converting $10,000 to US dollars once. Where pricing is per share we assume 100 shares an ETF purchase and 200 a stock trade. Illustrations, not quotes.
Buying US Stocks at RBC Direct Investing
A US stock settles in US dollars. If your account holds only Canadian dollars, the broker converts on every purchase and again on every sale, taking a markup each time. Holding US dollars means you convert once. Two things matter: whether you can hold US dollars, and what the conversion costs.
US-Dollar Side
Yes, automatically on every account except RESPs, including TFSAs, RRSPs, RRIFs and locked-in plans.
What It Costs
RBC states that it does not charge any extra fees or transaction costs when you choose to settle in US dollars.
As with BMO and CIBC, the two columns measure the same spread in different units: the basis points are points on the exchange rate (230 basis points is 0.0230 Canadian dollars per US dollar), and RBC’s percentages express that against its stated Bank of Canada reference rate, so the entry tier costs about 1.6% of the amount converted. Two further details matter: when currency is converted as part of buying a US security rather than as a straight cash conversion, the lowest rate you can get is the US$100,000 to US$499,999 tier, and RBC notes that the table is not itself the conversion rate you will be quoted.
Accounts You Can Open
Registered
TFSA, FHSA, RRSP including spousal and group plans, RESP including family plans, RRIF and spousal RRIF, LIRA, RLSP, LIF, LRIF, PRIF and RLIF.
Non-Registered
Individual and joint accounts, cash or margin.
Non-Personal
Corporate, estate, sole proprietor, partnership, non-profit, investment club and formal trust accounts.
RBC states that no minimum balance is required to keep an account open. It does not publish a separate minimum to open one.
The Platform and Research
Platform
There is the main online platform, with screeners, real-time quotes and income projections; the RBC Mobile app, which ties into RBC banking and Avion points; and the Trading Dashboard, which RBC offers to all clients at no extra cost, with up to five custom workspaces, real-time streaming quotes and Level 2 data for the TSX and TSX Venture. Practice accounts let you trade with simulated money. US pre-market trading runs from 8:00 to 9:25am Eastern, and after-hours sessions run to 5:00pm.
Research and Data
The research list is the longest of any broker here: Morningstar, Trading Central, LSEG, FactSet, S&P Global Market Intelligence, RBC Capital Markets, RBC Economics and RBC Global Asset Management, with analyst-built and custom screeners, a portfolio analyzer and alerts. Order types are more basic than the research: RBC lists market, limit, stop and stop limit orders, for the day or up to 90 days, with all-or-none available. Trailing stop and bracket orders are not listed on the pages we checked. You can hold Canadian and US stocks, ETFs, mutual funds, GICs, bonds, T-bills, options, new issues and gold and silver certificates.
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 RBC Direct Investing publishes.
GoSmart and Client Tiers
GoSmart is a separate, mobile-first product inside the RBC Mobile app, aimed at new investors who already bank with RBC. It includes 50 free stock and ETF trades a year, counted per person and reset each January, plus unlimited trades on the same list of more than 50 ETFs. It has no maintenance fee and no minimum, but it covers TFSAs, FHSAs and RRSPs only, settles in Canadian dollars only, and offers no options or mutual funds.
On the full platform, the Active Trader Program starts at 30 equity or options trades a quarter and adds more Level 2 data and premium Morningstar and RBC Capital Markets research, with the $6.95 rate at 150 trades. Royal Circle, reached with $250,000 held for four consecutive months or more than $5,000 in annual commissions, adds a priority phone line, preferred margin rates, transfer fee reimbursement of up to $500, and waives several fees including RSP partial withdrawals.
Before You Open an Account
Where It Falls Short
$9.95 Against $0
Five brokers here now charge nothing to trade stocks, including BMO. RBC’s free list covers mutual funds and 50-plus ETFs, not individual stocks.
The Highest Published Entry-Tier Currency Spread
230 basis points on conversions under US$25,000 is the highest of the brokers that publish in basis points.
$150 to Leave
Wealthsimple and BMO now charge nothing to transfer out.
$50 to Take Money Out of an RRSP
BMO charges nothing for the same withdrawal.
Basic Order Types
Market, limit, stop and stop limit only, on the pages we checked. Trailing stops are not listed.
Common Questions
Is my money safe at RBC Direct Investing?
RBC Direct Investing Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Royal Bank of Canada and a member of the Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization and the Canadian Investor Protection Fund. CIPF protects property held by a member firm that becomes insolvent, within set limits, not against investments falling in value.
What is the difference between RBC Direct Investing and GoSmart?
The full platform offers every account type, options, mutual funds and the complete research suite, at $9.95 a stock trade. GoSmart is a separate app with 50 free stock and ETF trades a year plus unlimited trades on the select ETF list, but it covers only TFSAs, FHSAs and RRSPs, settles only in Canadian dollars, and offers no options or mutual funds.
Can I hold US dollars in my RRSP or TFSA?
Yes. RBC states that the US-dollar side is automatically available in all accounts except RESPs, and that it charges no extra fees or transaction costs when you settle in US dollars. GoSmart accounts are the exception: they settle in Canadian dollars only.
Is there really no maintenance fee?
Yes. RBC’s pricing page states there is no quarterly or annual maintenance fee and no minimum balance on any account, and says the $25 quarterly fee mentioned in some older articles no longer exists.
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 RBC Direct Investing. The links on this page earn us nothing.