What’s the difference between a stock broker and a trader?

When you buy and sell stocks as a consumer, you do so by giving your instructions to a stock broker. Stock brokers can include financial advisors as well as the services discussed on this page. Traders, on the other hand, primarily work for financial institutions buying and selling stocks and other investments on their behalf.

Is day trading legal in Canada?

Yes, <a href="https://www.wealthrocket.com/investing/best-day-trading-platforms/">day trading</a> is legal in Canada. That said, there are rules that need to be followed. Most importantly, investment income earned (or lost) by day trading is treated as business income (or loss) for tax purposes – not capital gains. This means your profits (you can deduct commissions and other expenses) will be taxed at your marginal income tax rate.

What’s the best Canadian trading platform for students?

CIBC Investor’s Edge is the only platform on this list with a specific student rate, but it’s only available to students who hold a linked, paid bank account. Students who qualify should instead look to Desjardins Online Brokerage for its Broker@ge offer that includes free trades and low fees for investors 30 and under.

Jordan Lavin

Jordan is a personal finance expert and marketing professional with more than 10 years’ experience creating content for leading media, financial, and technology companies. Jordan’s personal finance career began at Ratehub.ca, where he helped launch its GIC, savings account, chequing account, and insurance comparison tools.

He is a regular contributor to Forbes Advisor Canada and MoneySense, where he writes about mortgages, real estate, credit cards, bank accounts, insurance and investing. Jordan holds a bachelor of arts degree from Toronto Metropolitan University, and his work has been featured in The Globe And Mail, National Post, Global News, HuffPost, Strategy, BetaKit and Yahoo Finance Canada.