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Broker review
Scotia iTRADE Review
10 Free Trades for Newcomers Under StartRight
- Permanent residents in their first five years, international students and foreign workers
- Codes SRPE15 or SRPF15; fund $1,000 from outside iTRADE within 60 days
- Refer-a-friend pays up to 50 free trades or $100
No end date published. A bonus is paid once; fees are paid every year, so treat it as a tie-breaker.
Full offer detail
Scotia’s StartRight offer, for permanent residents in their first five years in Canada, international students and foreign workers, gives 10 free trades with promo codes SRPE15 or SRPF15, requiring at least CAD $1,000 funded from outside iTRADE within 60 days, capped at $99.90 in rebates, and credits transfer-in fees up to $150 per client. A refer-a-friend programme pays up to 50 free trades or up to $100 cash. Scotia does not publish end dates for these, so check the terms before relying on them.
Scotia iTRADE is a division of Scotia Capital Inc., an investment dealer registered in all Canadian provinces and territories, regulated by the Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization and a member of the Canadian Investor Protection Fund.
For years a $9.99 flat commission put iTRADE in the middle of the Canadian pack. In September 2026 BMO InvestorLine, the first of the Big Five brokerages to do so, dropped stock and ETF commissions to zero and eliminated its account fees. That leaves Scotia, alongside TD, as the highest-priced of the major bank platforms, and the gap with BMO is now $9.99 against nothing.
Is It Right for You?
Good Fit
- You bank with Scotiabank and want everything in one login
- You mostly buy from the 200-plus commission-free ETF list
- You are new to Canada and qualify for StartRight
- You hold $25,000 or more in registered plans, so the annual fee is waived
Look Elsewhere If
- You trade stocks often; $9.99 is the highest standard rate here
- You buy US stocks; Scotia will not say what it charges to convert
- You hold a small RRSP and trade rarely; $100 a year applies under $25,000 with fewer than 12 trades
What It Costs
| What you are doing | What Scotia iTRADE charges |
|---|---|
| Buying or selling a stock or ETF | $9.99 |
| The same trade at the active rate, 150 or more commission-generating trades a quarter | $4.99 |
| More than 200 eligible ETFs | $0 commission online or via Teletrader |
| Trading options | $9.99 plus $1.25 per contract; $4.99 plus $1.25 at the active rate |
| Buying or selling a mutual fund | $9.99 online; $0 on high interest savings and money market funds |
| Bonds in the secondary market | $1 per $1,000 face value, minimum $24.99 and maximum $250 |
| Placing a trade through a representative | Add $65 to the online rate |
| RSP, RIF, LIRA or LIF annual fee | $100, waived at $25,000 and over or with 12 or more commissionable trades a year |
| TFSA or FHSA annual fee | None |
| RESP annual fee | $25, waived at $15,000 and over |
| Non-registered low activity fee | $25 a quarter, with several waivers |
| Moving your account to another firm | $150 |
| Paper statements and trade confirmations | $3 a statement, $2 a confirmation |
The $25 quarterly low-activity fee on non-registered accounts is waived in a number of situations worth knowing: for new clients within six months of opening, with at least one commission-generating trade in the preceding three months, on total account equity above $10,000, on all registered plans, and for clients aged 18 to 25 during the years before they turn 26. The registered fee works differently, waived on balances of $25,000 and over or with 12 or more commissionable trades a year.
What a Year Might Cost You
Worked from Scotia iTRADE’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 Scotia iTRADE
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, on RRSP, TFSA, RRIF, LIRA and LRSP accounts. RESPs cannot hold a US-dollar side.
What It Costs
Scotia publishes no enrolment or ongoing fee for the standard US-dollar side. It does not state affirmatively that it is free either, so we report only that no fee is published.
Scotia’s help centre goes as far as saying the rate “may vary depending on the size of the transaction” — so there is tiering, and Scotia knows what the tiers are, but a prospective client cannot see them. Eight of the eleven brokers we cover publish theirs. The only way around it Scotia sells is for RESPs, which cannot hold a US-dollar side: the US-Friendly RESP service costs $30 plus tax per calendar quarter per account and lets trades in US securities skip the retail markup. In other words, Scotia charges $120 a year to avoid a spread it will not size.
Accounts You Can Open
Registered
FHSA, TFSA, RRSP, RRIF, RESP and LIF, plus LIRA and LRSP.
Non-Registered
Cash and margin accounts.
Other
Non-personal and business accounts, and a practice account.
Scotia states there is no minimum balance required to open an account. Its own FAQ nonetheless suggests depositing at least $10,000 to avoid the low-activity fee, which tells you something about how the pricing is built.
The Platform and Research
Platform
There is the Scotia iTRADE mobile app, trading integrated into Scotia online banking, Trade Pro for equities and options, and Trading Desk, a rapid-entry console that can stage up to 200 orders in advance. You can trade equities, options, ETFs, mutual funds, GICs, bonds and new issues.
Research and Data
Market data on Trade Pro is priced by activity: TSX level one is $29.95 a month for clients placing up to eight trades a quarter and free above that, and NASDAQ level two runs $54.95, $24.95 or free across the same bands. Clients with 30 or more trades a quarter or more than $250,000 in assets get it free. Scotia does not name any third-party research provider or publish an enumerated list of order types, so we do not list them.
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 Scotia iTRADE publishes.
iClub and Banking Bundles
iClub has three tiers. Gold needs 30 or more trades a quarter or $250,000 in assets at Scotia iTRADE; Platinum needs 150 or more trades a quarter or $1,000,000; Platinum+ is for clients with $5,000,000. Platinum adds priority service, free access to the Trade Pro platform and waived annual fees on registered accounts regardless of balance.
More useful to ordinary clients are the banking bundles. The Ultimate Package at $30.95 a month, waived with a $6,000 minimum daily balance, includes $0 commission on 100 trades a year. The Preferred Package at $16.95 a month, waived at $4,000, includes 50. If you already hold one of these, iTRADE’s headline commission stops mattering for most of your trading.
Before You Open an Account
Where It Falls Short
$9.99 Against $0
The single biggest problem. Five of the eleven brokers here charge nothing for the same trade, including one other big bank.
The Currency Spread Is Not Published
Scotia confirms a markup exists, confirms it varies by transaction size, and will not say what it is. Eight rivals publish theirs.
Account Fees Survived
A $25 quarterly fee on small non-registered accounts and $100 a year on small registered plans, at a time when BMO has eliminated both.
$65 to Speak to a Person
Representative-assisted trades add $65 to the online commission.
Common Questions
Is my money safe at Scotia iTRADE?
Scotia iTRADE is a division of Scotia Capital Inc., an investment dealer registered across Canada, regulated by the Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization and a member of 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 does Scotia iTRADE charge to convert currency?
Scotia does not publish this. It confirms a markup is applied over spot rates, and its help centre says the rate may vary with the size of the transaction, but no figure or table is published anywhere we could find. The relationship disclosure states that conversion rates are available on request.
What is the US-Friendly RESP?
RESPs at Scotia iTRADE cannot hold a US-dollar side, so Scotia offers this service for them instead. For $30 plus tax per calendar quarter per account, regardless of balance or trading activity, trades in US securities inside the RESP are converted without Scotia’s retail foreign exchange spread. It covers equities, options, mutual funds and bonds; dividends, reorganizations, DRIPs and other non-trade transactions are excluded. The RESP stays in Canadian dollars. RRSPs, TFSAs, RRIFs, LIRAs and LRSPs do not need it, because they can hold US dollars directly.
Can I avoid the account fees?
Often, yes. TFSAs and FHSAs have no annual fee at any balance. Registered plans are waived at $25,000 or with 12 or more commissionable trades a year. The non-registered quarterly fee is waived above $10,000 in equity, with a trade in the preceding three months, for new clients in their first six months, and automatically for clients aged 18 to 25.
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 Scotia iTRADE. The links on this page earn us nothing.