With a population of over 37 million people, Canada has a thriving Forex scene. The country also has one of the best sets of regulations to protect traders from poor practices by disreputable Forex brokers. Our team of analysts and experts have searched and found the best Forex brokers in Canada.
Top Forex Brokers & Trading Platforms in Canada at a Glance
- FP Markets, ECN trading with leverage up to 1:500.
- Eightcap, Competitive pricing + excellent daily videos.
- Friedberg Direct, Competitive spreads + deposit insurance up to 1 million CAD.
- IFC Markets, 600+ Instruments, 0% deposits, free Autochartist signals .
- PU Prime, Ultra-low trading fees for $10,000+ portfolios..
Canadian Brokers Comparison
FP Markets
In Summary ECN trading with leverage up to 1:500FPMarkets is a well-established forex and CFD broker operating out of Sydney, Australia’s financial capital. However, as a Canadian trader, don’t let the fact that these guys are located in Australia put you off. As it so happens, Australia’s financial regular, ASIC, is more lenient when it comes to leverage than regulators in the USA, EU or the UK are. This allows FPMarkets to offer their clients leverage as high as 500:1. FPMarkets is considered to be one of the best forex and CFD brokers in the world today, and they tend to stand out from the crowd thanks to their very diverse range of tradeable assets.
Pros & Cons
- Choice of trading platforms and auxiliary trading tools
- Very competitive cost structure and excellent asset selection
- Low minimum deposit requirement and leverage of up to 1:500
- Well-regulated and trustworthy
- Availability of Iress geographically restricted
Eightcap
In Summary Competitive pricing + excellent daily videosThe bulk of Canadian retail Forex trading volume occurs via international brokers, but many have restrictions on accepting Canadian-resident clients. Eightcap onboards Forex traders from Canada via Eightcap International, a subsidiary in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, operated by CLMarkets Limited (registration number 24750). It allows Canadian Forex traders to manage portfolios in a competitive environment, including higher leverage versus Canadian-based brokers and lower trading fees.
Eightcap International features MT4, MT5, Capitalise AI, Crypto Crusher, and TradingView. Algorithmic traders can qualify for free VPS hosting, and beginners get quality research and education, making Eightcap an excellent choice for Canadian-resident Forex traders.
Pros & Cons
- Low minimum deposit and high leverage of up to 1:500
- Competitive cost structure
- Excellent technology infrastructure and seasoned management team
- Daily research and quality educational content
- Limited leverage in some areas
Friedberg Direct
In Summary Competitive spreads + deposit insurance up to 1 million CADFriedberg Direct was founded in 1971 and has since become one of the largest independent brokers in Canada. Friedberg Direct is governed by the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada or IIROC. That also means it will be covered by the Canadian Investor Protection Fund (CIPF) which covers a depositor up to $1,000,000 if a member firm fails. Friedberg Direct is powered by AvaTrade Technology.
Pros & Cons
- Very Competitive Spreads
- Deposit Protection
- No Bonuses
- No Education Offering
IFC Markets
In Summary 600+ Instruments, 0% deposits, free Autochartist signalsIFC Markets offers its NetTradeX platform alongside MT4/MT5 and shines with its unique Portfolio Quoting Method, allowing traders to create synthetic assets and generate trading opportunities. PAMM accounts cater to traditional account management services, and IFC Markets offers competitive, commission-free Forex spreads from 0.4 pips or $4.00 per 1.0 standard round lot. Therefore, I rank IFC Markets among the best Forex brokers in Canada.
High-frequency traders and scalpers benefit from fast order execution and VIP trading conditions for deposits above $50,000, which include flexible trading conditions. The IFCM Trading Academy provides beginners with a well-structured educational program.
Pros & Cons
- Excellent regulatory track record and secure trading environment
- Outstanding asset selection and patented PQM asset generation technology
- Extremely competitive commission-free trading cost structure
- Valuable research and educational section, low minimum deposit, and high leverage
- No direct support for social trading
PU Prime
In Summary Ultra-low trading fees for $10,000+ portfolios.I rank PU Prime among the best Forex brokers in Canada as it offers a choice of trading platforms, fully supports algorithmic trading, and has dedicated solutions for copy and social traders. The well-balanced asset selection covers seven sectors, and traders get five account types with a minimum deposit requirement of $50. PU Prime offers a choice of commission-free and commission-based accounts, and it also features a cent account with a $20 deposit requirement.
PU Prime publishes quality daily market commentary, which includes actionable trading setups. PU Prime also has a proprietary mobile app and 24/7 customer support.
Pros & Cons
- Well-balanced asset selection and competitive commission-based fees
- Full support for algorithmic, copy, and social trading
- Upgraded MT4 trading platform, MT5, and proprietary mobile app
- Partnered with Financial Commission making clients eligible for up to €20,000 in compensation.
- $10,000 minimum deposit requirement for ultra-low trading fees
Forex Trading in Canada - Regulations & More
The first thing to know about Canadian Forex brokers is that they are classed as “investment dealers” by the country’s regulators and as a result Forex regulation in Canada is governed by the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada, or IIROC. This is great news because IIROC has some of the best rules anywhere in the world making Canadian Forex brokers amongst the safest in the world. If you are looking for the best Forex broker for your trading, Canadian Forex brokers are a great please to start looking.
Canada is uniquely divided into multiple jurisdictions along the lines of their provinces and territories. Each province has its own regulatory body that can provide additional rules over and above IIROC requirements. For example, residents in the province of Alberta have to meet additional conditions, such as their net worth and level of trading experience, before being permitted to open a Forex trading account. Fortunately, many of the local layers of regulation have been recently harmonized, making it more consistent nationally.
Canada is one of the very few developed nations in the world that allow its citizens to invest their money with overseas Forex brokers that are not regulated in Canada. If you want the full protection of IIROC regulation as a trader, it is up to you to choose a Forex broker that is regulated by IIROC.
Understanding IIROC Regulation
IIROC has a comprehensive rule book for Canadian Forex brokers that govern how clients’ deposits are held, how much leverage is allowed and what information must be disclosed. When a Canadian Forex Broker is regulated by IIROC, it also means they will be protected by the Canadian Investor Protection Fund (CIPF) which covers depositors up to $1,000,000 each if a Forex broker fails. The best Forex brokers in Canada will have this level of coverage.
IIROC will set out a Canadian Forex brokers’ minimum capital requirement and screen every single employee for suitability of professional qualifications and good character. The maximum leverage which may be offered to any retail client by an IIROC regulated Canadian Forex broker is 50 to 1, which is a relatively generous limit for a Western OECD nation: in comparison, in the European Union, the maximum leverage is 30 to 1. Unless you are trading a very small account, 50 to 1 is enough leverage to enable profitable trading but still control risk so you do not lose your entire online Forex trading account overnight.
Verifying IIROC Regulation
It is easy to verify which Forex brokers in Canada are covered by IIROC. You can do that by scrolling down to the bottom of the homepage of the Forex broker to see their regulatory information. Some Forex brokers in Canada also put this information in the “About Us” section of their websites. You can visit IIROC’s website directly where it will list which Forex brokers in Canada they cover – this is the best way to verify that the information provided by the Forex broker in Canada is correct.
How to Choose the Best Forex Broker in Canada
Each Forex trader has requirements and preferences, determining the best Forex broker in Canada for their trading strategy. Still, all competitive and trustworthy Forex brokers in Canada will offer a similar core trading environment.
Traders should ensure their Forex broker in Canada offers the following:
- Transaction Costs - Trading fees directly impact each strategy and profitability. A competitive cost structure features commission-based pricing environments with raw spreads between 0.0 and 0.01 pips on major currency pairs for a commission below $7.00 per round lot, plus a volume-based rebate program. Alternatively, commission-free alternatives should have minimum spreads of 0.7 pips or less. Traders who keep leveraged overnight positions should ensure reasonable swap rates, including positive ones if applicable, exist.
- Regulation - Canadian Forex traders must trade with a broker regulated by the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC). Legit offshore Forex brokers do not accept Canadian-resident Forex traders, and those who do are scam brokers to avoid. IIROC-regulated brokers participate in the Canadian Investor Protection Fund (CIPF), which covers depositors up to $1,000,000 should a Forex broker fail.
- Trust - Traders should trade with an IIROC-regulated broker presenting a spotless track record spanning 10+ years to ensure a time-tested trustworthy trading environment.
- Account Types - Many Canadian Forex brokers have simplified their account types with the most notable difference between competitively priced commission-based account types and more expensive commission-free alternatives, with few exceptions.
- Security - Secure Forex brokers encrypt communications between traders and themselves, including the back office for deposits and withdrawals and the trading platform, where traders manage portfolios. 2FA will increase the security features, especially for mobile traders, and the best Forex brokers in Canada have cyber security teams monitoring traffic 24/7.
- Instruments - A well-balanced asset selection offers traders trading and diversification opportunities, but the requirements for each trader differ. Therefore, I recommend checking the broker’s asset selection to ensure the required trading instruments are available.
- Customer Support - Most brokers offer 24/5 customer support, but traders should check with their broker about office operating hours, contact methods, and response times. Phone support is an often overlooked support method, but the best option should an emergency arise.
- Fees - Besides trading fees noted above, quality brokers will have no additional or hidden costs. Traders should avoid brokers with non-trading fees, like deposit and withdrawal fees. Other fees to avoid are platform and data fees, administrative fees, and inactivity fees applicable after three months of dormancy.
- Deposit & Withdraws - Canadian Forex traders should ensure their broker has no internal transaction fees and low minimum requirements with a choice of e-wallets and preferably cryptocurrency deposits and withdrawals.
- Demo - Beginners and seasoned traders require demo accounts without expiration but with customization options to reflect their planned live portfolios. Beginners can test the trading environment and incorporate educational lessons, seasoned traders will use it to test and tweak strategies, algorithmic traders will bug-fix and test solutions, and copy traders can evaluate signal providers.
Is Forex Trading Legal in Canada?
Forex trading is legal in Canada. Forex brokers and service members must have a membership with the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC) and a regulatory license from any of the ten provincial regulators, which creates varying regulatory environments within Canada. It is unique compared to other countries, as IIROC membership is a requirement, but each of the ten provinces regulates Forex traders residing within their jurisdiction. It is one reason many international Forex brokers choose not to operate in Canada. The compliance fees to ensure a broker complies with the ten districts and the potential number of clients makes Canada unattractive for offshore brokers.
The IIROC and provincial regulators classify Forex as a security or derivative. The Canadian Investor Protection Fund (CIPF) offers protection of up to C$1,000,000 per taxable account, plus an additional C$1M per RRSP/RRIF account and RESP account for total coverage of C$3M.
Differences in Trading Rules for Canadian & American Brokers & Trading Platforms
Different rules apply to Forex brokers in Canada compared to Forex brokers in the US. For example, there are different leverage and margin rules between Forex brokers in Canada versus the US. Also, many Forex brokers in the US will not accept accounts from Canadian residents. If you are looking for a broker that offers the best currency trading platform in Canada for your trading needs, all the trading platforms offered globally are available from Forex brokers in Canada. For example, MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5 are a standard for many Forex Brokers in Canada.
How Do I Start Trading Forex in Canada?
Forex traders in Canada should start with in-depth education, which provides the foundation for successful Forex trading. Understanding the impact of psychology on trading and deploying strategies to overcome this challenge is one of the biggest barriers to success in trading and for many takes a long time to accomplish.
Here are tips once Forex traders in Canada feel comfortable approaching live trading:
- Respect Forex trading as the high-skilled profession it is.
- Have realistic profit expectations concerning your account size.
- Understand leverage and use proper risk management.
- Trade from a quiet place
- Avoid emotional decision making.
- Explore the importance of algorithmic trading.
How Do You Trade the Canadian Dollar?
The Canadian Dollar is a commodity currency, as Canada relies heavily on the oil sector and other hard commodities and precious metals. Some Canadian Sollar strategies exploit the relationship between global net oil exporters, like Canada, and oil importers, like Japan. They therefore trade the CAD/JPY pair, but Forex traders should keep an open mind and explore all possibilities since the US Dollar is the default oil quote currency.
Technical analysis forms the basis for most Forex traders, and the most profitable ones rely on algorithmic trading. MT4 is the leading algorithmic trading platform, and it is available in Canada.
What is the best Forex trading app in Canada?
The best Forex trading app in Canada depends on the preferences and requirements of Forex traders, but MT4 remains a market leader for a reason. It supports algorithmic trading, offers upgrades via 25,000+ EAs, plugins, and custom indicators, connects to third-party copy trading providers like ZuluTrade, DupliTrade, and Signal Start, and third-party trading tools, including Capitalise AI for code-free algorithmic trading, Trading Central and Autochartist, grants 24/5 Forex trading via VPS hosting, and allows advanced algorithmic traders to connect their solutions via API to the trading infrastructure of their Forex brokers. MT5 and cTrader are reasonable alternatives with a much smaller product and service portfolio.
How to Avoid Forex and CFD Scams?
While online trading revolutionized the retail financial market and continues to evolve positively in most areas, regrettably, scams have followed.
Here are my tips on avoiding Forex and CFD scams:
- Understand markets and realize what they represent by starting with in-depth education, which helps you spot scams
- Irrelevant to how good their offer sounds, avoid unregulated brokers
- Scam brokers call under the guise of helping beginners trade, which is a red flag, but legit brokers never call traders
- Scammers rely on social media to show fake live portfolio screenshots with linear portfolio growth or high success rates with the occasional loss with outsized returns, usually in groups, forums, channels, and via direct messaging. Therefore, never trust social media
- Never pay for trading bots, which only enrich sellers and fail to deliver long-term results
- Avoid paid-for educational courses, mentors, and trading coaches, offered primarily by failed traders who recover losses by selling useless products and services
- Ignore anything that promises quick profits from small deposits with no knowledge needed
- Consider that professional Forex traders average less than 12% annual profits consistently with few exceptions
- The majority of successful Forex traders do not share their strategies, use copy trading, or offer private lessons
Bottom Line
Forex trading in Canada is legal but presents a fractured and challenging regulatory environment, as each of the ten provinces regulates Forex individually, and all brokers must be IIROC members. Most offshore brokers avoid Canada due to its uneven regulatory approach. The Canadian Forex market has a restrictive regulatory environment but offers the highest investor compensation fund, with maximum coverage of up to C$3,000,000 per individual.
A few well-known and highly trusted Forex brokers cater to Forex traders from Canada, where traders have few restrictions on which strategies that can be deployed, but do lack access to some competitive trading tools available elsewhere.
You might also be interested in reviewing the below top brokers:
