CI Direct Trading Review 2026

What is CI Direct Trading?

In 2009, Virtual Brokers came out onto the scene as one of Canada’s best online discount brokerages with a commitment to offer rock-bottom prices to help investors cut costs to the bone. 

In 2021, Virtual Brokers rebranded, becoming CI Direct Trading.

Fortunately for Canadian investors, but perhaps unfortunately for CI Direct Trading, five years on, it is struggling to maintain its former glory. This is for several reasons, the biggest being that it is no longer competitive in its pricing.

When it first launched as a much needed alternative to high priced big bank brokerages, it was a much appreciated alternative for DIY investors. Now, most of its competitors offer free ETF and stock trades and charge zero account fees.

With a $1,000 minimum investment, annual fee, a $7.99 per trade options fee, and up to $24.95 per quarter administration fee, CI Direct Trading’s costs can add up fast.

CI Direct Trading Fees and Pricing

When it comes to CI Direct Trading, it’s similar to the former Virtual Brokers’ fees and pricing, there are a few different levels of costs that you have to be aware of.  There are different models for ETFs, Options, Active Traders, and Non-active Traders. 

It should be noted here that there is a minimum deposit of $1,000 GBP, USD, or EUR to get started, which compared to some of the other free-to-open accounts out there, makes CI Direct Trading a little less desirable in comparison. 

No Fee ETF Purchases

Just like many other brokers, CI Direct allows investors to purchase ETFs for free if they trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX).  

They do charge a fee when you sell ETFs, but it’s a mere $0.01 per share for a minimum share price of $1.99 up to max $7.99 per trade, so even if you’re selling your ETFs, it’s not a huge cost to you. That said, most passive investors who use basic vanilla index options such as all-in-one ETFs are not likely to sell any ETFs until they are retired and withdrawing from their portfolio. 

You have to have accumulated quite a substantial nest egg before you can’t re-balance your asset allocation simply by purchasing more of one ETF than another (if you’re not using the all-one-one options).

Trading Fees

There are two different paths when it comes to trading fees at CI Direct.

The first path is the one that 98%+ of the people reading this article will choose, and that’s the basic penny-per-share model.  This CI Direct Trading pricing model applies if you make less than 150 trades per quarter.  The investors who prefer Canadian dividend stocks or who are putting the Smith Manoeuvre into action will likely make 5-30 trades per quarter, and are often investing $1,000 – $5,000 at a time. 

Under this model, it’s a penny-per-share that you purchase, with a minimum cost of $1.99 (even if you buy less than 199 shares) and a maximum cost of $7.99 (even if you buy more than 799 shares).  There are some very small fees tacked on in addition to this amount on most trades (usually a couple of pennies, at most).

The second path is for folks who are investing big time money and/or making many trades each quarter.  It allows ALL trades to go on at the flat rate of $3.99.  You can only access this rate if you made more than 150 trades last quarter.  If you do some basic math, you’d have to be buying and selling a lot of shares to make that level of activity worth it.  

We wouldn’t recommend going down that route.

It might be worth mentioning briefly that the CI Direct Trading fee for options trading is $7.99 per trade + $1.25 for the options contract.  That drops to $3.99 + $1.25 if you do 150+ trades per quarter.  We’re personally not into options trading, but some folks love that adrenaline rush.

CI Direct Trading Platform Fees

The vast majority of people reading this will be fine with the free dashboard and mobile app that CI Direct provides.  They do offer a wide variety of other options for more advanced traders, however.  

Below is a complete breakdown of the CI Direct Trading Fees.

CI Direct Trading Admin and Account Fees

One area where discount brokerages like to bury some of their overall pricing is the account administration fees, and CI Direct Trading is no different.  The two costs that really stand out to me are the RESP administration fee and USD RRSP/USD TFSA quarterly fees (multiply by four to get the per-year costs). 

See the below table for the complete look at CI Direct’s Account Admin fees.

TFSA, RRSP and Other Accounts

Like all of the leading Canadian discount brokers these days, CI Direct offers all of the usual accounts including:

• Non-registered accounts (both CAD and USD)
• RRSP (both CAD and USD)
• TFSA
• RESP
• RRIF
• LIF
• LIRA
• Non-registered (All-in-One) Accounts include Options and Margin capability
• FHSA

Canadian Expat Non-Resident Investors

The one area where CI Direct Trading really shines is their commitment to Canadians who live overseas. Many discount brokers don’t want to take on expat clients because of the increased paperwork involved. CI Direct Trading also doesn’t gouge you on extra administration fees and their pricing is still very low. However, you will need to pay a higher commission structure on equities and options. 

Even as an expat, you will have access to registered accounts, but keep in mind you will have to have a Canadian bank account to fund the account. While there is no minimum amount needed to get started with CI Direct Trading in Canada, non-residents are required to have $25,000 CAD to open an account.

This makes sense considering the increased administrative burden they are taking on with expat clients.  Given how expensive non-USA discount brokerages are to use around the world, I know that many non-residents are happy they have the CI Direct Trading option back home in Canada.

CI Direct Trading and Wealthscope – a New Addition

With several of Canada’s leading online brokerages adding a portfolio analysis tool to their platforms in 2020 and 2021 CI Direct has not been left behind. Their partnership with Wealthscope has provided CI Direct users information about their portfolios appropriate risk level, diversification, market exposure, and fees.

The Wealthscope features offer a great way for those who already have a CI Direct Trading account to try out robo-advisor services, if that is something that interests them.

Kambiz Vatan-Abadi, CEO and President of Toronto-based BBS Securities Inc. stated, “With this new partnership, Virtual Brokers’ clients have access to a data-driven, state-of-the-art portfolio level analysis, one account at a time, or combined for a big picture view.”

The tool also allows investors to answer some of their own questions when it comes to retirement target setting, RESP goals, and probabilities of future returns based on past results (which is admittedly of questionable value).

What Is the CI Direct Kickstart Investors Program (KIP)?

One of the more unique programs that CI Direct has implemented is their Kickstart Investment Program (KIP).  The idea is to get investors used to systemically building their wealth through automation. 

In order to give investors an added incentive, CI Direct is willing to allow a small amount of free share purchases each month.  Here’s the steps that have to be taken in order to get the benefits of the KIP program:

1) Fill out a form that allows CI Direct to automatically debit (withdraw) a specific amount from your main chequing/savings account each month.

2) Decide on up to 5 ETFs or Canadian Stocks that you want to automatically buy each month.

3) Understand that you won’t be able to determine which stock gets a specific amount of money or anything like that – it’s all automated (like a robo advisor).

4) The price for this program (assuming you’re not a student or recent graduate) is a flat rate of $50 per year.

It’s a pretty cool way for CI Direct to nudge investors towards index-based couch potato investing.

CI Direct Platform and App

Over the last year, CI Direct Trading seems to have taken a nosedive on the quality and functionality of its app. One look at its app reviews and you will see the updates seem to be more like downgrades, with even basic one-day charts and trading volume missing. This should pretty much be a given in today’s trading world, but you won’t get it with CI Direct’s trading app.

On the flip side, the platform has a range of options available for more active traders, but they are not free. PowerTrader Pro runs $250 USD per year, RealTick $400 per month and its premium offering IRESS will cost you $1,120 per year.

Most Canadian investors will be using the free dashboard and app, and it seems that unfortunately, they will be disappointed.

CI Direct Trading Review: FAQ

Who is CI Direct Trading Best For?

If you have been with the brokerage since back in the day when it was Virtual Brokers, maybe you want to stay with CI Direct Trading for ease and nostalgia. It does have its strengths after all, especially if you are an expat or an active trader. For those unique circumstances, CI Direct is really one of the top choices. 

For everyone else who is looking for free ETF trading, an easy to use app and desktop platform with helpful features and information, and access to excellent customer service, look no further than Qtrade. Plus right now you will get up to $2,000 with qualifying investments.

Another one of our top picks for best Canadian online brokerage, Questrade offers some of the same benefits as Qtrade, with fully commission-free trades and access to Questrade’s Market Intelligence tool, allowing customers to access Morningstar’s in-depth market analyses. You can find out more on how CI Direct Trading and Questrade comparison on our full write up.

In the end, if you want happy customers, you have to make it easy for them to do so. With a sub-par app and trading platform for everyday traders, customers will not be happy. Will CI Direct ever return to its former glory days? Only time will tell.