Questwealth Portfolios • Review
What Questrade's Robo-Advisor Costs in Dollars, and What You Get for It
Affiliate disclosure: DaveManuel.com may earn a commission if you open an account through links on this page. It does not change what I write. General information only, not personalized financial advice.
Expert-managed ETF portfolios for a quarter of a percent a year
New clients: management fees rebated on the first $10,000 for one calendar year. Questrade also rebates up to $150 per account of the transfer fee your old bank or broker charges.
Questwealth Portfolios is Questrade's robo-advisor. You answer a short questionnaire, Questrade Wealth Management puts your money into one of five ETF portfolios, and it rebalances them for you. The pitch is price, so that is where I started: what it charges against the other big Canadian robo-advisors, in dollars, and then what you get for it.
What it costs, against the other robo-advisors
| Yearly management fee on | $10,000 | $50,000 | $100,000 | $250,000 | ETF costs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Questwealth | $25 | $125 | $200 | $500 | 0.09-0.12% |
| Wealthsimple (Core, Premium from $100,000) | $50 | $250 | $400 | $1,000 | 0.12-0.15% |
| RBC InvestEase | $50 | $250 | $500 | $1,250 | 0.12-0.20% |
| Justwealth | $59.88 | $250 | $500 | $1,250 | about 0.20% |
| CI Direct Investing | $60 | $300 | $600 | $1,300 | 0.16-0.26% |
| BMO SmartFolio | $70 | $350 | $700 | $1,600 | 0.20-0.35% |
Management fee only, before ETF costs and sales tax, from each provider's own pricing page, checked October 26, 2026. BMO's fees are marginal by tier; CI does not show its method, so CI is worked out the same way (at 0.40% on the whole balance, $250,000 would cost $1,000). Justwealth has a $4.99 monthly minimum fee ($2.50 for RESPs and FHSAs). Wealthsimple's rate depends on your total assets with it.
Questwealth has the lowest management fee of the six at every balance, and its ETF costs are at the low end of the group. Small yearly gaps compound, though, so here is $100,000 left alone, growing 6% a year before fees, at each service's all-in cost: the management fee plus the top of its ETF cost range.
Illustration only, not a forecast: 6% a year before fees, fees taken once a year, no contributions, withdrawals or taxes. All-in cost at $100,000: Questwealth 0.20% + 0.12%; Wealthsimple Premium 0.40% + 0.15%; RBC Select Balanced Portfolio Series A, MER 1.94% (RBC fund page dated September 30, 2026).
How Questwealth works
You open a Questrade account, add Questwealth and answer 10 questions about your goals and how much risk you can stomach. Questrade recommends one of five portfolios, from about 20% stocks to almost all stocks, and you can switch it to the socially responsible (SRI) version. You sign the investment management agreement, upload ID and fund it. Questrade says documents can take up to 10 business days to process.
After that, Questrade Wealth Management runs it. The portfolios hold low-cost ETFs from iShares, BMO, SPDR and Global X; Questrade does not put its own funds in them. It rebalances quarterly, or sooner when it deems it necessary, and in non-registered accounts it can sell losers to harvest tax losses. You do not pick individual ETFs or build a custom mix; you pick the portfolio.
The five portfolios
Questrade's published returns as of September 30, 2026. The 3- and 5-year figures are yearly averages. Questrade does not say whether they are before or after its management fee. Past returns do not predict future ones. Each portfolio also comes in an SRI version with similar returns over the same periods and higher ETF costs.
The portfolio is the decision that matters most, far more than the fee. Over these five years the almost all-stock portfolio returned roughly three times as much a year as the most conservative one, and it would also have fallen the hardest in a bad year. Questrade's questionnaire is there to match the mix to how long you are investing and how you handle drops.
Every fee, in one place
| Fee | Amount | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Management fee | 0.25% a year on $250 to $99,999; 0.20% from $100,000 | Worked out daily, charged quarterly (on the January, April, July and October statements). Tax-deductible in non-registered accounts only. Sales tax (GST/HST) generally applies to management fees. |
| ETF costs (MER) | 0.09% to 0.12% a year; SRI 0.20% to 0.24% | Taken inside the ETFs, not billed to you. |
| Opening, trading, inactivity | $0 | No commissions on the portfolio's trades. |
| Currency conversion | 100 pips (0.01) added to the exchange rate | Applies when the portfolio buys or sells US-dollar ETFs. |
| Withdrawals by EFT | $0 | Free up to $50,000 CAD or $25,000 USD. |
| Wire or cheque out | $20 to $75 | Wires $20 CAD, $30 USD, $40 international; cheques $50, certified $75. |
| Transferring out | $150 | Full or partial transfer to another institution. |
| Deregistering an RRSP | $100 full, $50 partial | RESP deregistration is free. |
From Questrade's Questwealth fee and administrative fee pages, checked October 26, 2026.
Is your money safe?
Registered portfolio manager. Picks the ETFs and rebalances. Not a CIRO or CIPF member.
Investment dealer and custodian. Your assets sit in a segregated account here. CIRO member.
Covers what Questrade, Inc. holds if it fails, up to its limits. Not market losses.
The wording matters here. Questwealth itself is not covered by CIPF, the Canadian Investor Protection Fund. The firm that holds your assets, Questrade, Inc., is a member, and CIPF protects the cash and securities a member holds for you if that member goes under: up to $1 million across your general accounts (cash, TFSA and FHSA combined), a separate $1 million for retirement accounts such as RRSPs, and a separate $1 million for RESPs. It does not protect you from the market going down.
One piece of history worth knowing: in November 2018, Questrade Wealth Management agreed to pay $2.9 million plus costs to settle an Ontario Securities Commission case over a 2017 conflict of interest in Portfolio IQ, the service Questwealth replaced. After selling its own ETFs to WisdomTree in 2017, it had bought about $15 million of WisdomTree ETFs for clients. Today's portfolios hold no Questrade or WisdomTree funds.
Questwealth, or one ETF in a self-directed account?
This is the comparison I would make for a friend. Canada now has all-in-one ETFs that hold a whole stock and bond mix and rebalance themselves, and any discount broker will let you buy one, Questrade included, without a management fee on top.
Questwealth
- About 0.3% to 0.37% a year all-in
- The questionnaire picks the mix
- Rebalanced for you; tax-loss selling in non-registered accounts
- Nothing to do after you fund it
One all-in-one ETF, self-directed
- Costs only the ETF's own fee
- You choose it and buy it yourself
- The ETF rebalances inside itself
- You place every trade, and have to resist tinkering
If you are comfortable placing a trade and leaving it alone, the self-directed route is cheaper. If you would rather not touch it, want deposits invested for you, or are moving money out of bank mutual funds charging close to 2%, Questwealth does the job for a fraction of that. On cost, either one beats a 2% fund by a wide margin.
Comparing self-directed brokers instead? See my Canadian online broker review.
Offers
Offers change, so here is what Questrade listed when I checked on October 26, 2026. Read the terms on Questrade's site before you rely on any of them.
Questrade's bigger cash bonuses for new accounts have been for self-directed accounts and have excluded Questwealth, so do not open a Questwealth account expecting one.
Pros and cons
PROS
CONS
How to open an account
- Open a Questrade account online and choose to add Questwealth Portfolios.
- Answer the 10 questions about your goals and risk tolerance.
- Review the recommended portfolio, and switch it to SRI if you want.
- Pick the account type (TFSA, RRSP, FHSA, RESP or non-registered) and fill in your profile.
- E-sign the investment management agreement and upload government photo ID.
- Fund it by bank transfer, or request a transfer from your old institution.
Questions
How much does Questwealth cost?
A management fee of 0.25% a year on balances of $250 to $99,999 and 0.20% from $100,000, plus the ETFs' own costs of 0.09% to 0.12% (0.20% to 0.24% for the SRI portfolios). On $100,000 that is about $290 to $320 a year for the standard portfolios, before sales tax.
What is the minimum to open an account?
Questrade's fee schedule starts at $250, and its new-client offer asks for a $250 deposit. Its account disclosure asks you to keep at least $100 in the account to stay invested.
Which accounts can I open?
Questrade lists RRSP, TFSA, FHSA, RESP and non-registered (cash) accounts for Questwealth. It does not list RRIF or LIRA accounts for Questwealth on its product page; ask Questrade if you need one.
Is my money protected?
Questwealth is run by Questrade Wealth Management Inc., which is not a member of CIRO or CIPF. Your assets are held in a segregated account at Questrade, Inc., which is a CIRO member and a CIPF member. CIPF protects what Questrade, Inc. holds for you if it fails, up to its limits; it does not cover a fall in the market.
Does Questwealth do tax-loss harvesting?
Yes, in non-registered (cash) accounts, at the portfolio manager's discretion. It does not apply in TFSAs, RRSPs or other registered accounts, where there are no capital losses to claim.
How often is my portfolio rebalanced?
Questrade's disclosure says quarterly, or when deemed necessary.
Can I move my RRSP from a bank to Questwealth?
Yes. Questrade rebates up to $150 per account of the transfer fee your old institution charges, if you send the statement within 60 days of requesting the transfer. Questwealth sells what comes in and reinvests it in your portfolio, so the investments are not moved over as they are.
Is there a sign-up bonus?
When I checked on October 26, 2026, Questrade offered new Questwealth clients a rebate of the management fee on their first $10,000 for one calendar year, and a $50 referral credit for both people when a friend opens an account. Questrade's larger cash bonuses for new accounts have excluded Questwealth accounts, so read the terms of any offer before you count on it.
Questwealth or Questrade self-directed?
Self-directed means you pick and trade everything yourself, with no management fee. Questwealth picks and rebalances the ETFs for you for the management fee. The rest of this page covers when each makes sense.
Can I talk to a person?
Yes. Questrade lists 1.888.783.7866 for Questwealth account questions. Its published phone hours are 7:30 AM to 8 PM Eastern on weekdays and 10 AM to 4 PM on weekends.
About Questrade
Questrade was founded in Toronto in 1999 by Edward Kholodenko, who still runs it as chief executive. It began as a discount broker and moved into robo-advising in 2014 with the service that became Questwealth Portfolios in 2018. In July 2026 the company said it had more than $100 billion in assets under administration.
Sources
- Questwealth Portfolios product page
- Questwealth Portfolios fees
- Questwealth administrative fees
- Questwealth ETF portfolios (allocations and returns)
- Questwealth SRI portfolios
- Managed account relationship disclosure
- Questwealth new-client offer terms
- Opening a Questwealth portfolio
- Wealthsimple managed investing fees
- Wealthsimple pricing (client status levels)
- Wealthsimple portfolio MERs
- RBC InvestEase pricing
- BMO SmartFolio pricing
- CI Direct Investing fee schedule
- CI Direct Investing pricing and MERs
- Justwealth pricing
- RBC Select Balanced Portfolio, Series A, fund page
- CIPF: about CIPF coverage
- Capital Markets Tribunal: Questrade Wealth Management settlement, 2018
Fees, offers and returns change. Everything on this page was checked against the sources above on October 26, 2026. This page is general information, not personalized financial advice.