(See the complete table here)

The internet has provided a platform to encourage the democratization of the investment industry. If you watch TV at all you should be familiar with the comedic E*TRADE commercials featuring a baby and his tablet. The ads effectively communicate the simplicity with which the DIY (Do-It-Yourself) investor can manage her own finances online. The increasing popularity of DIY investing, in addition to engaging advertising, can be attributed in part to the cost effectiveness of online investing because of lower commission rates. Online trading reduces the need for human capital, lowering the overall cost of each trade. The benefit has been lower fees for the online investor and hopefully increased profits for the online brokerage managing the transaction.

Canadian banks and investment companies have made the transition from manual transaction based enterprises to web-based operations for quite some time now. The good news is that the metamorphosis to online trading, as mentioned, has leveled the playing field leading to an increase of consumer options into the financial marketplace. The big Canadian banks like the Bank of Montreal (BMO), TD Canada Trust (TD), the Canadian Imperial Bank of Canada (CIBC), The Royal Bank of Canada (RBC), ScotiaBank and the National Bank of Canada are not the only financial institutions to capitalize on this paradigm shift to online investing. Independent investment firms like Qtrade Financial Group, Questrade and Virtual Brokers have also joined the DIY party. More recently, 2014 has given birth to a number of  smaller boutique investment organizations like WealthBar and Wealthsimple, whose innovative financial SaaS applications are sure to cause some sort of disruption in the Canadian online investor market, although the extent of this disruption cannot yet be determined. It should also be mentioned that while DIY investing options are on the rise, online brokerages are recognizing that many Canadians still value some form of professionally managed investing. The hydrid investment solution featuring DIY tools with an element of expert management will be in high demand in the future.

With so many options to choose from and a myriad of information scattered across the web it is difficult to make an informed decision about which platform to use. Online Investor Canada sought to solve this problem by creating a simple sortable table of the top online investment companies in Canada. You can view the complete comparison table by clicking here. If you know of a company or some details that should be added to the comparison table please contact us to let us know.