This review covers TD Direct Investing, TD Bank’s self-directed brokerage: what it charges, what its platforms (WebBroker, Advanced Dashboard and TD Active Trader) include, how it differs from the TD Easy Trade app, and who it suits. For the rest of the market, see the online broker comparison.
TD Direct Investing charges $9.99 per online stock trade, or $7.00 for households making 150 or more trades a quarter, and offers 108 ETFs that trade without a commission online. Its strengths are the range of accounts and investments, research, and trading platforms linked to TD banking; its main drawback is the commission on everything outside that ETF list, at a time when several brokers charge $0 per trade.
TD Direct Investing is a division of TD Waterhouse Canada Inc., a subsidiary of The Toronto-Dominion Bank. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. is a member of the Canadian Investor Protection Fund (CIPF).
TD Direct Investing fees
From TD’s pricing page and its Commission Schedule and Statement of Disclosure of Rates and Fees, as of September 2026:
| Online or app trade | Under 150 trades a quarter | 150+ trades a quarter |
|---|---|---|
| Canadian and US stocks and ETFs | $9.99 | $7.00 |
| ETFs on TD’s commission-free list | $0 | $0 |
| Orders for less than one share | $1.99 | $1.99 |
| Options | $9.99 + $1.25 per contract | $7.00 + $1.25 per contract |
| Mutual funds (buy, sell or switch) | $0 | $0 |
The trade count is per household (TD Direct Investing accounts at the same address that you have told TD about), and counts stock, ETF and option orders that paid a commission. TD reviews it monthly over the previous three calendar months, and a change in pricing takes effect on the fourth business day of the month. Commissions on US-dollar trades are charged in US dollars.
Other fees
- Account maintenance: $25 a quarter when a household’s accounts total less than $15,000. It is waived if any one of these applies: a systematic investment plan or pre-authorized deposit or contribution totalling at least $100 a month; 3 or more commission-paid trades in the preceding quarter; an RDSP in the household; an FHSA as the household’s only account; or a first household account open less than 6 months.
- Phone trades: trades placed with an Investment Representative use a separate, higher schedule with a $43 minimum commission.
- Option exercises: $15 for an automatic assignment or exercise, and $43 for an exercise you request.
- Mutual fund short-term redemption: selling or switching a fund held less than 30 days costs 1% of the redemption value or $45, whichever is greater (money market funds and deferred-sales-charge funds are excluded).
- Transfer out: $150 to transfer an account (in full or in part) to another institution.
- Currency conversion: TD adds a published spread to the exchange rate when a trade or payment needs converting: 1.07% for amounts under 10,000, falling in tiers to 0.27% at 1,000,000 or more, plus a surcharge equal to one-third of the spread. Holding US-dollar accounts avoids converting on every US trade.
- Bonds and GICs: TD’s fee schedule says the commission is included in the quoted price (convertible debentures have their own schedule).
What commissions cost over a year
Buying two ETFs a month that are not on the commission-free list is 24 trades, or $239.76 a year at the standard rate. Buying funds from the commission-free list, or TD’s mutual funds, brings the commission on those purchases to $0.
Commission-free ETFs
As of September 2026, TD’s list has 108 ETFs: 56 from TD Asset Management, 33 from Vanguard, and the rest from other providers including iShares, State Street SPDR, Global X, CI, VanEck and Schwab. The $0 commission applies to orders placed online or in the app (WebBroker, the TD app, Advanced Dashboard and TD Active Trader), not to phone orders or TD Easy Trade, and a multi-leg strategy order that includes one of these ETFs is charged a commission. TD changes the list from time to time, so check it before choosing funds.
TD’s e-Series index mutual funds are another low-cost option inside TD Direct Investing, since mutual fund trades carry no commission; the TD Canadian Index Fund - e-Series, for example, has an MER of 0.22% as of June 30, 2026.
Accounts
TD Direct Investing offers TFSAs, RRSPs, FHSAs, RESPs, RDSPs, RRIFs, LIRAs, LIFs and other locked-in plans, cash and margin accounts, and joint and corporate accounts. Cash, margin, RRSP (other than the Basic RRSP), RRIF and TFSA accounts, and some locked-in plans, can hold US dollars; RESPs and RDSPs are Canadian-dollar only.
Platforms
WebBroker and the TD app
WebBroker is TD’s main platform, in a browser and through the TD app. It includes real-time Level 1 quotes, portfolio performance and gain/loss tracking, goal planning (TD calls it GoalAssist), stock, ETF and mutual fund screeners, charting with technical analysis tools, and order tickets for stocks, options, mutual funds, fixed income and new issues. Research includes TD Securities reports, the daily Bull & Bear reports, Morningstar equity research video, and reports from other firms including LSEG.
Advanced Dashboard
Advanced Dashboard adds streaming market data, screeners with preset and custom strategies, an earnings calendar, heat maps, charting with more than 100 technical and fundamental indicators, option chains with the Greeks, and aggregated analyst recommendations. Access requires 30 or more trades a quarter or $500,000 in household assets at TD Direct Investing. That threshold is separate from the 150-trade commission discount.
TD Active Trader
TD Active Trader is a separate desktop and mobile platform for frequent traders, and it needs an Active Trader margin account (the margin account guide explains how margin works). It supports options strategies of up to four legs, conditional orders (such as one-cancels-other) with up to eight linked orders, and tick-level charting with timeframes down to one second. Streaming real-time US equity and option quotes cost US$32 a month under 30 trades a quarter and $0 at 30 or more; Level II depth needs US$5,000 in cash or eligible securities. A practice account is available. TD sometimes runs market-data offers for new accounts; confirm the current offer on TD’s site.
TD Easy Trade
TD Easy Trade is TD’s separate app for stocks and ETFs, with cash, TFSA, RRSP and FHSA accounts. It has no maintenance fee and no minimum balance, and gives 100 free trades a year, then $9.99 a trade. It has none of TD Direct Investing’s options, fixed income or advanced platforms, and TD Direct Investing’s commission-free ETF list does not apply to it. The investing apps comparison sets it against other apps.
How TD compares
Among the bank brokerages, BMO InvestorLine charges $0 per online stock and ETF trade, while RBC Direct Investing, CIBC Investor’s Edge and Scotia iTRADE charge a commission with a commission-free ETF list, as TD does; Wealthsimple vs the Big 5 banks compares them. Questrade and Wealthsimple charge $0 on stock and ETF trades, and Interactive Brokers charges per share. For options costs across brokers, see the options trading platforms comparison. If you want a portfolio managed for you instead, robo-advisors such as Questwealth are compared separately.
Pros and cons
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| 108 commission-free ETFs, plus commission-free mutual funds | $9.99 commission on other stock and ETF trades |
| Wide range of accounts, including RDSPs, locked-in plans and US-dollar registered accounts | $25 quarterly fee for small households that meet no waiver |
| Three platforms, from WebBroker to TD Active Trader | TD Active Trader market data costs US$32 a month below 30 trades a quarter |
| Linked to TD banking | $150 to transfer an account out |
Who TD Direct Investing suits
TD Direct Investing suits TD banking clients who want investing next to their banking, investors who use its research and platforms, and ETF or index-fund investors whose chosen funds are on its commission-free list or among its mutual funds. Investors who regularly buy other stocks and ETFs pay less in commissions at a $0-commission broker, and those who only need stocks and ETFs in a TFSA, RRSP or FHSA can compare TD Easy Trade’s free-trade allowance with other apps.