The best investment apps in Canada have made investing in the financial markets easier than ever.
The road to self-directed investing was tough when I started almost two decades ago. It used to require calls and sometimes trips to my broker’s office, and there was always something to worry about.
A wrongly filled order, excessively delayed trades that made me miss out on significant market moves, outrageous commissions, and in a few cases, outright fraud by unscrupulous brokers. These issues were prevalent many years ago.
Not to worry, the wealth management landscape has changed a lot over the years for the better. These days, whether you are a beginner investor or an experienced stock picker, you can easily invest using your phone and from the comfort of your home.
The list below covers some of the best investment apps in Canada.
Best Investment Apps in Canada
| Investment App | Best for |
|---|---|
| Wealthsimple Invest | Automated Investing |
| Questrade | Self-Directed Investors |
| Wealthsimple Trade | Beginner Investors |
| Moka | Micro-Investing |
| Passiv | Portfolio Rebalancing |
| Wealthica | Net Worth Tracking |
| EQ Bank | Best for GICs and Savings |
Best Overall Investment App: Wealthsimple Invest
Managing your investment portfolio can be a tricky endeavour, and you will need to be comfortable with picking stocks/ETFs and rebalancing your portfolio when its allocations go off-track.
Wealthsimple Invest offers a practical and economical middle-ground between doing all the work (DIY investing) and paying high fees (bank mutual funds).
As an automated investment platform, it offers personalized and diversified low-cost ETF portfolios that are automatically rebalanced as needed.
This hassle-free service includes free financial advice, tax-loss harvesting, dividend re-investing, CIPF protection, automatic deposits, and low fees.
You can open an RRSP, TFSA, RRIF, RESP, personal, joint, and business taxable investment accounts.
The Wealthsimple Invest app and web interface caters to everyone and has features including:
- Spare change investing
- Socially responsible investing
- Halal investing
- High-interest cash savings
Over 1 million people use Wealthsimple products. Learn more in this Wealthsimple review.
- Available in: Canada and the United States
- Account minimum: $1
- App rating: 4.5/5 from more than 4K reviews on the App Store
- Best for: Overall best investment app in Canada
Fees: 0.40% to 0.50% per year.
Security: CIPF protection against insolvency up to $1 million; offers bank-level encryption and 2FA protection.
Promotion: Our readers get a $25 cash bonus when they open an account and deposit at least $500.
Best Stock Trading App: Questrade
Questrade has been breaking boundaries and lowering fees for over 21 years.
This app is a great choice if you are looking at not just buying stocks and ETFs but also other financial instruments such as options, foreign exchange, CFDs, initial public offerings (IPOs), and precious metals.
They offer all the popular investment accounts, including TFSA, RESP, RRSP, LIRA, RRIF, LIF, margin, and corporate accounts.
And you get access to several trading platforms (mobile, desktop, and web), plus elaborate investment monitoring tools, charts, and market data.
To start trading on the platform, you need a $1,000 minimum balance. You can learn more about Questradeand why it is the best stock trading app in Canada in this review.
- Available in: Canada
- Account minimum: $1,000
- App rating: 3.1/5 on the Google Play Store
- Best for: Self-directed investors
Fees: Free ETF purchases; pay $4.95 to $9.95 per transaction for stocks and when you sell ETFs; $9.95 per trade for options and mutual funds. Some fees are waived for active traders.
Security: Members of CIPF plus an additional $10 million in insurance; offers DIGICERT encryption and 2-step verification.
Promotion: Our readers get $50 in free trade credit (no promo code required).
Best Investing App for Beginners: Wealthsimple Trade
If you are just starting as a self-directed or DIY investor, the last thing you need is a platform that overwhelms you with too many options.
Wealthsimple Trade offers a clutter-free, user-friendly platform to trade thousands of stocks and ETFs. With no minimum balance required and $0 commission trading, you don’t need much money to start investing.
Wealthsimple Trade allows you to open a TFSA, RRSP, or personal non-registered investment account, and the signup process takes about 5 minutes or less.
You can learn more about what the app offers in this review of Wealthsimple Trade.
- Available in: Canada
- Account minimum: $1
- App rating: 4.7/5 from over 31K reviews on the App Store.
- Best for: Beginner investors and no-fee trading (best free Canadian stock trading app for beginners).
Fees: Commission-free trading; an FX fee may apply when you make USD trades.
Security: Your account is protected by the Canadian Investor Protection Fund (CIPF) against insolvency; it offers state-of-the-art data encryption and two-factor authentication.
Promotion: Our readers get a $25 cash bonus when they open a Wealthsimple Trade account and deposit at least $150.
Best Spare-Change Investment App: Moka
Moka (formerly Mylo) is Canada’s fully-dedicated micro-investing app. It is one of the best investing apps for beginners.
Like the U.S. Acorns app, Moka utilizes an ingenious strategy for saving and investing your spare change in a diversified ETF portfolio.
When you open a Moka account and link your bank, it automatically rounds up your purchases to the nearest dollar and invests the difference in a registered investment account (TFSA or RRSP), or non-registered account.
You can also set up automated deposits to your investment account.
In addition to low-cost investing, Moka offers users access to cash back at participating retailers, free financial coaching, and a personalized debt repayment plan.
Get more details in this Moka review.
- Available in: Canada
- Account minimum: $1
- App rating: 4.4/5 from over 11K reviews on the App Store
- Best for: Investing your spare change
Fees: $3 per month
Security: They provide bank-level security with 256-bit encryption; experienced portfolio management by Tactex Asset Management and funds with custodians are protected by CIPF.
Promotion: Readers get a $5 welcome bonus after linking a bank account.
Best Portfolio Rebalancing Tool: Passiv
Passiv makes managing your portfolio a lot easier.
If you have been putting off the idea of managing your investments because you are wary of the time commitment required to monitor and rebalance them, Passiv can help you automate the process.
The web app and tool sync with your brokerage account and:
- Helps keep your portfolio balanced
- Notifies you when you have cash or dividends
- Helps you execute trades with one click
- Helps you manage multiple accounts at once
Passiv is worth checking out if you want to spend less time tinkering with your DIY portfolio.
The app currently syncs with Questrade in Canada and Interactive Brokers, TD Ameritrade, and Interactive Brokers in the United States.
Get more details about how it works in this Passiv review.
- Available in: Canada and the United States
- Account minimum: N/A
- Best for: Automatic rebalancing in a self-directed account
Fees: $0 per year for a Passiv community user account; $99 per year for an Elite member account (Passiv Elite is free for Questrade clients).
Security: Passiv links to your investment account through a secure OAuth flow, and all data is encrypted at rest and in transit using SSL.
Best Investment Portfolio Tracker: Wealthica
Wealthica helps is our top pick for the best app to track your investments and net worth using a single dashboard. It is the Personal Capital option for Canadians.
Portfolio trackers offer a snapshot of all your investment and savings accounts, saving you the trouble of using complicated spreadsheets.
For example, Wealthica can track your investment accounts at TD Direct Investing, Wealthsimple, Questrade, RBC, and more than 100 Canadian financial institutions.
Instead of visiting each of these banks to view your account, a Wealthica dashboard shows everything in one place.
When you sign up for a free account, Wealthica automatically imports your data using secure API, and it automatically updates each day after market close.
Interestingly, you can now combine both Wealthica and Passiv to seamlessly manage your portfolio.
- Available in: Canada
- Account minimum: N/A
- App rating: 4.7/5 on the App Store
- Best for: Portfolio, net worth, and stock portfolio tracking
- Learn more: Full explainer
Fees: $0 per month; Paid add-ons are available.
Security: They use bank-level security (256-bit AES encryption) and 2FA to protect your account.
Other Saving and Investing Apps
In addition to investing, you can also manage your money by using the best personal finance apps in Canada.
Best Savings Account App: EQ Bank
EQ Bank offers one of the highest savings interest rates in Canada. And its mobile app is no less stellar.
An EQ Bank Savings Account provides access to:
- High savings interest rates
- $0 monthly fees
- Free and unlimited bill payments
- Free Interac e-Transfers
- Free mobile cheque deposits
- Mastercard for free ATM withdrawals
- Joint accounts
- Facial recognition and fingerprint authentication
The EQ Bank savings app has a 4.6/5 rating on the App Store.
- Available in: Canada
- Account minimum: $1
- Best for: High-interest savings accounts and Guaranteed Investment Certificates (GICs)
Fees: No monthly account or transaction fees ($0).
Security: Your funds are protected by the Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation for up to $100,000. Learn more about EQ Bank products.
Best Cash Back and Budgeting App: KOHO
With KOHO, you enjoy cash back rewards on all your purchases, budgeting features, and interest on your deposits simultaneously.
KOHO is a money management app and prepaid Mastercard that you can use to save money, cut your spending, and set financial goals.
It works like a chequing account but without the fees, and you earn cash back, rivalling some of the best cash back credit cards in Canada.
To get started, sign up for a KOHO account. They send you a snappy Visa card that you can load through e-Transfer or payroll deposit.
You earn up to 5% cash back on all purchases and can access even more perks if you have a premium account. The app also rounds up your spending and saves the difference.
- Available in: Canada
- Account minimum: $1
- App rating: 4.8/5 from over 8K reviews on the App Store
- Best for: Cash back on debit purchases and for budgeting
Fees: $0 per month for a regular or joint account (up to 5% cash back); $84 per year for KOHO Premium (higher cash back rates, no FX fees, free financial coaching, and price matching).
Security: Your funds are CDIC insured through Peoples Trust.
Promotion: Get a $20 welcome bonus when you sign up for a free account.
Best Investment Apps FAQ
The best investing app for beginners in Canada is the Wealthsimple Trade app. It offers commission-free stock and ETF trading and has a user-friendly interface.
Questrade supports multiple investment products, including stocks, ETFs, bonds, mutual funds, options, and GICs, and is the best investing app if you want access to many assets.
The robo-advisor app for Wealthsimple Invest is the best for automating your investments as a beginner.
You can track your investments on various platforms using Wealthica, a portfolio tracker that shows a snapshot of all your investment and savings at over 200 financial institutions.
