How to Automate Your Investments in Canada (2026)

Automating your investments means money moves from your bank account and gets invested on a schedule without a decision each time. This page covers the three levels of automation, how to set each one up, which platforms support it, and the mistakes that undo it. It is part of our investing basics guides; how much to automate is covered in how much to invest each month.

Why Automate Your Investments?

Manual Investing	Automated Investing
Requires discipline to invest every period	Happens automatically, with no decision needed
Easy to procrastinate or forget	Never miss an investment period
Tempted to time the market	Dollar-cost averaging happens automatically
Emotional decisions (fear, greed)	Removes emotion from the process
Inconsistent amounts	Consistent, predictable investing

Three Levels of Investment Automation

Level	What’s Automated	Platform	Best For
Level 1: Auto-deposit only	Money moves to brokerage automatically	Any brokerage	DIY investors who want control over purchases
Level 2: Auto-deposit + auto-invest	Money deposits and buys specific ETFs automatically	Wealthsimple; Questrade (eligible US-listed fractional shares)	Investors who pick their own ETFs
Level 3: Full robo-advisor	Deposits, purchases, rebalancing and, in some products, tax-loss harvesting	Wealthsimple managed investing, CI Direct Investing, Questwealth	Completely hands-off investors

How to Set Up Automated Investing on Wealthsimple

Auto-Deposit + Auto-Invest

Step	Action
1	Open a Wealthsimple self-directed account and choose the account type (TFSA, RRSP, FHSA or other)
2	Link your bank account for deposits
3	Set up a recurring deposit from your bank account
4	Set up a recurring investment for each ETF: weekly, bi-weekly or monthly
5	Set the amount for each (e.g., $250 bi-weekly)
6	Wealthsimple then buys the ETF on schedule, in fractional shares if needed

Menu names in the app change from time to time; Wealthsimple’s help centre has the current steps.

Wealthsimple managed investing (robo-advisor)

Step	Action
1	Open a managed investing account (formerly called Wealthsimple Invest)
2	Answer the questions about your goals and risk, which place you in a portfolio
3	Set up automatic deposits
4	Wealthsimple then rebalances the portfolio and reinvests dividends in the ETFs that are underweight

Platform Comparison for Automated Investing

Feature	Wealthsimple (self-directed)	Wealthsimple managed investing (robo)	Questrade (self-directed)	Bank brokerages
Recurring ETF purchases	✅ Weekly, bi-weekly or monthly	✅ Deposits invested automatically	✅ Eligible US-listed fractional shares only	Varies by bank
Fractional shares	✅	Managed for you	✅ Eligible Canadian and US securities	Varies by bank
Auto-rebalancing	❌ (DIY)	✅	❌	❌
Dividend reinvestment	✅ Eligible ETFs	✅	✅ (DRIP)	Varies by bank
Cost	$0 commission	0.5% management fee (0.4% at the Premium tier)	$0 commission on stocks and ETFs	$0 at BMO InvestorLine to $9.99 at TD Direct Investing per trade

Features and prices change; confirm them on each provider’s own pricing page. The online brokers hub compares the bank brokerages in detail.

Suggested Automated Portfolios

Simple One-Fund Automation

Risk Profile	ETF	Deposit Amount (Example)	Frequency
Aggressive	XEQT or VEQT	$500	Biweekly
Growth	XGRO or VGRO	$500	Biweekly
Balanced	XBAL or VBAL	$500	Biweekly
Conservative	VCNS	$500	Biweekly

Two-Fund Automation

Risk Profile	ETF 1	ETF 2	Allocation
Growth	XEQT	ZAG	85% / 15%
Balanced	XEQT	ZAG	60% / 40%
Income	VDY	ZAG	50% / 50%

How Much to Automate

The amount is a separate decision from the automation itself. How much to invest each month covers the savings-rate guidelines and how to work out a personal target, and the investment calculator shows what a given monthly amount grows to.

Which Account to Automate Into

Automatic deposits can go into any account type: TFSA, RRSP, FHSA, RESP or a taxable account. Which one to fill first is covered in TFSA vs RRSP for beginners; for children’s education, the RESP grant is explained in the RESP guide.

Reinvesting Dividends Automatically

A dividend reinvestment plan (DRIP) uses each dividend to buy more units of the same holding instead of paying it out as cash, so the income compounds without a manual purchase. Most Canadian brokerages offer it, usually as an account setting or on request; the DRIP investing guide covers how it works, how it affects your adjusted cost base, and how to set it up.

Automation Best Practices

Practice	Why
Aligning deposits with payday	Money is invested before you spend it
Starting small and increasing	Starting with $100 a month rather than waiting until you can afford $500 is a common approach
Increasing with raises	Allocating 50% of every raise to increased auto-investing is one option
Checking less often	Checking quarterly at most; automation tends to work best when left alone
Reviewing annually	Once a year, reviewing allocation and contribution amount
Using registered accounts	Tax-sheltered accounts before a taxable one

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Mistake	Problem	Solution
Setting deposits too high	Overdraft or cash flow issues	Starting conservative and increasing over time is a common approach
Not enabling auto-invest	Money sits as cash in brokerage	The auto-invest feature on Wealthsimple can help with this
Pausing during market dips	Misses potential buying opportunities	Continuing to automate through dips is a common strategy
Too many ETFs	Over-complexity, overlap	One or two ETFs is often sufficient for many people
Ignoring account type	Tax inefficiency	Registered accounts (TFSA, RRSP) are often prioritized

Sources

The figures and rules on this page come from these sources. How we check facts.