Best TFSA & RRSP brokerage accounts

For most people: Questrade or Wealthsimple — $0 trades, $0 account fees, fractional shares for small contributions, and full account lineups for later. Among the banks, Scotia iTRADE’s TFSA stands out: no annual fee at any balance, exempt from activity fees, free USD side. The TFSA traps to avoid: TD’s $25/quarter household test (registered accounts aren’t auto-exempt) and Disnat’s inactivity fee (a TFSA alone doesn’t waive it).

The challengers mostly don’t: Questrade, Wealthsimple and Qtrade charge no account fees on either. The banks run per-account annual fees with waivers — typically $100/yr under a $15k–$25k threshold — and the waiver fine print differs by account type at the same bank (Scotia’s TFSA: never a fee; Scotia’s RRSP: $100 under $25k). Webull charges $7.50/yr on everything despite the $0 marketing. The full split is in our table above — it’s the detail no broker’s own pricing page makes easy.

At most brokers now, yes — and it matters more than commissions if you hold US stocks. Free USD sides on both accounts: Questrade, NBDB, RBC, CIBC, Scotia, Disnat, TD, BMO. Paid: Qtrade (US$15/quarter per account), Wealthsimple ($10/month below the $100k tier). Not available: Webull (CAD only — every US trade pays the 1.5% spread). One tax note for TFSAs specifically: US dividends in a TFSA still lose the 15% US withholding tax (the treaty exempts RRSPs, not TFSAs) — that’s IRS policy, not your broker’s.

By December 31 of the year you turn 71, an RRSP must convert to a RRIF, an annuity, or cash out (fully taxed). At 11 of our 13 brokers that’s an in-place conversion — same holdings, same login, mandatory minimums begin. At Moomoo and Webull it’s a forced, fee-bearing transfer to another institution, because they don’t offer RRIFs at all. If the account is retirement money, start where it can finish — the retiree ranking goes deeper, and the RRIF calculator previews the minimums.

Yes — an “in-kind” contribution — with a tax asymmetry worth knowing before you do it: CRA treats the transfer as a sale at market value, so any gain is taxed that year, but a loss is denied (you can’t claim it). Winners can move in; losers should generally be sold first (wait out the 30-day superficial-loss window before repurchasing inside). General rules, not advice for your situation — the tax-loss harvesting guide covers the mechanics.

Every figure verified at the brokers’ own pricing and fee pages on June 10, 2026, drawn from the same dataset as our 13-broker ranking and each linked review. Account fees and waiver thresholds change quietly — the review pages carry full schedules and as-of dates. See our methodology.