The June 2013 issue of MoneySense magazine looked at Canada’s Best Discount Brokerages.
MoneySense partnered with Surviscor to look at the Canadian Discount Brokers.
It compared the brokerages, in a chart, on several categories, including stock commissions and option commissions.
In their chart of the 14 brokerages, 12 brokerages tied for the ‘lowest’ option commissions at around $9.95+$1.25 per contract.
My disappointment? They forgot, or chose to ignore a 15th entry, Interactive Brokers Canada (IB). Interactive Brokers has always offered Canadians the best options pricing at $0.70 per contract.
Wow, no other Canadian brokerage is even close.
For example, 5 equity option contracts would cost:
Iteractive Brokers (IB) = $ 3.50
Canadian Banks = $ 16.20
Those 14 brokerages seem quite content in having the same non-competitive options commissions at $9.95+$1.25 per contract. They don’t seem worried about people discovering, or going over to IB.
No, this isn’t a paid advertisement post. The main reason that I use IB is for the cheap fees in executing the options portion of my non-registered portfolio.
I just don’t understand why IB always seems to be ignored as a viable candidate to hold your non-registered portfolio. If you are an options trader, I feel there is no better choice in Canada.