4 Best Forex Brokers Canada for 2023

Best Forex Brokers Canada

To start trading forex, you need to choose a regulated broker. in Canada, there are strict financial market regulations by the Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization (CIRO), formerly known as IIROC.

CIRO regulated forex brokers & dealers are mandated to be part of & contribute to the Canadian Investor Protection Fund (CIPF), meaning individuals get compensated up to $1 Million for pecuniary losses caused by events like broker insolvency.

From our examination of CFD & currency trading brokers accepting Canadian clients, Forex.com is the best forex broker in Canada in the overall category.

However, other forex brokers had good ratings in specific categories. as we explain further in this guide.

Best Forex Brokers Canada

• com – Best Forex Broker Canada Overall
• CMC Markets – CIRO Regulated Forex Broker with Low Spreads
• Avatrade – Best Forex Broker in Canada for Beginners
• FXCM – Forex Broker for Active Traders

In ranking the best brokers in Canada, the first and the most important factors we consider is regulation of the broker which assures the financial safety of your funds.

Other factors considered include the various trading costs of the brokers, platforms offered, minimum deposit, and availability of CAD base currency.

1. Forex.com – Best Forex Broker Canada Overall

Forex.com has been around since 2001, and features a Raw Pricing Account, & an Active Trader Reward Program. They have a range of markets for CFD trading; 80+ FX Pairs, Stock CFDs, CFDs on Indices, CFDs on ETFS, & Commodities.

Regulation – 4.5/5

Forex.com Canada is a regulated forex broker as they are duly licensed by the Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization (CIRO). This can be confirmed on the IIROC website It's registered under the name GAIN Capital – FOREX.com Canada Ltd and its trading name is Forex.com.

Trading costs – 3.5/5

The Forex.com Standard Account features a spread as only trading cost but the Raw Pricing Account features both a $7 per round turn commission & low spreads.

CAD & USD base currencies are available when opening an account. A maximum of 1:33 leverage is available depending on the asset traded.

Forex.com accounts that have not experienced any trading activity for 12 months attract a $15/month inactivity fee.  

Platforms – 4.5/5

Forex.com has its in-house proprietary platforms. They also support MetaTrader platforms. Both Standard & Raw Pricing Accounts work on all Forex.com platforms.

Customer Support – 4.5/5

Forex.com support is available for 24 hours on weekdays only. You can reach them on live chat with an Agent, which has 10 second average hold time, which is very good. Email contacts are available with up to 24-hour response time.

Forex.com Pros & Cons

Read about offerings & account opening requirements of Forex.com Canada  

2. CMC Markets – CIRO Regulated Forex Broker with Low spreads

CMC Markets is a global brand forex & CFD broker that has been in the industry for 30 years. The Group has been a publicly listed company on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) since 2016, which adds credibility to the broker.

CMC Markets pays a lot of attention to education and their trading desk lets you trade 330+ FX Pairs, and CFD trading on Indices, Shares, Commodities, & Treasuries via CAD or USD base currency trading accounts. They also have Premium services like Rebates & Alpha Trader.

Regulation – 5/5

CMC Markets is licensed by the Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization (CIRO). This can be confirmed on the IIROC website. It's registered under the name CMC Markets Canada Inc.

Trading costs -3/5

CMC Markets charges commission on share CFDs only (excluding US & CA Share CFDs). For trading currencies, the commission is part of the spread.  

Dormant accounts incur a monthly inactivity fee of $15 CAD. CMC also charges for Market data subscription service for Australian share CFDs only. There is also a charge for Guaranteed Stop Loss Orders (GSLOs).

Spreads are variable and for majors you can expect it to start from 0.7. Forex traders can open an FX Active account to access rock-bottom spreads as low as 0.0 pips when trading majors, but this attracts a commission which is pegged at 0.0025% per transaction. Maximum leverage accessible is 1:33

Platforms – 4.5/5

CMC Markets have their own in-house trading platform called the "Next Generation", and the MT4 platform. CMC doesn't offer the MT5 platform but the Next Gen attempts to fill that space except for its lack of back-testing capability.

Customer support – 3/5

CMC support is open 24/5 on weekdays. The live chat is a bit slow as they have an average hold time of 2 minutes.

You can also reach them by email, but response time is about 1 hour. There are also Canadian telephone lines, and you can book a meeting on their website.

Pros and Cons

Read more on CMC Markets Canada for account opening requirements

3. AvaTrade – Best Forex Broker in Canada for Beginners

AvaTrade is a brand that has been around since 2006 and pushes the envelope of trading instruments by offering in-depth products like FX Vanilla Options. You can also trade 50+ FX pairs, Stocks, Commodities, Indices, and Bonds.

Regulation -4/5

Friedberg Direct, members of the Friedberg Mercantile Group Ltd. offer its services on AvaTrade's technology & platform in Canada.

Friedberg Mercantile Group Ltd are CIRO regulated, and accounts opened are under Friedberg Direct and not AvaTrade.

Trading costs – 4.5/5

Canadian clients can open Standard MT4 or MT5 Accounts with a $100 minimum deposit. AvaTrade commissions are zero because they are built into the spread. Maximum leverage is 1:33. An inactivity fee of $50 CAD is charged on accounts that remain idle for 3 months.

Platforms – 3/5

Friedberg Direct, through AvaTrade, offers multiple platforms for their clients to trade with which are compatible with many devices, Android and iOS.

Customer support – 5/5

AvaTrade support is only available on weekdays. Live chat is very responsive with a 3 second hold time. There is also email, phone and WhatsApp chat.

AvaTrade Pros and Cons

Go to AvaTrade Canada for more information and account opening.

4. FXCM – Forex Broker for Active Traders

FXCM is a forex & CFD provider and has been in existence since 1999. FXCM emphasizes discounts for Active Traders doing high volumes.  You can trade Forex, Indices, & Commodities on FXCM Canada.

 Regulation – 4/5

Friedberg Mercantile Group Ltd, the parent company of Friedberg Direct, are CIRO regulated and so your funds are safe. They use FXCM's technology & platform to onboard clients in Canada.

Trading costs – 3/5

FXCM has 2 account types- The CFD Trading Account & Active Trader Account (for huge transaction traders) also available in CAD base currency.

The Active Trader Account attracts a commission of $30 to $40 per $1 million while Standard CFD Trading Accounts attracts a commission of $14 CAD per round turn for majors and $18 CAD per round turn for minors.

The Active Trader Account also has an account minimum of $25,000. When using the Active Trader Account, you can save between 20% and 40% if you trade huge volumes between $50 million to $500 million.

FXCM also charges an inactivity fee, debiting up to 50 units of the account currency after 12 months of inactivity. This fee applies annually to dormant accounts with no trading activity for 12 months, defined as no new or open trades. Clients receive an email notification before the charge date.

Platforms – 4/5

FXCM doesn't offer the MT5, but it makes up for it with its proprietary Trading Station Platform.

Customer support – 3/5

There is 24/5 support in English & French via Live Chat, Phone, email, & Whatsapp. There is also a help center for common queries.

Live chat response is slow, and email takes at most 24 hours for responses.

FXCM Pros and Cons

Get more details on account opening. at FXCM Canada

How to verify that a Forex Broker in Canada is CIRO/IIROC Regulated?

The IIROC has changed its name to The Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization (CIRO).

However, to verify forex broker or dealers licenses you still need to go to the old IIROC website during the writing of this guide.

In this step-by-step guide we will use Forex.com as an example.

Step 1: Go to the IIROC/CIRO's website (regulator in Canada). Their website is iiroc.ca.

Step 2: Search their website & navigate to the "Investors" on the main menu > "Dealers We regulate" as the sub-menu url.

Step 3: Input the name of the dealer/broker (in this case Forex.com, which is our example broker) and click on "Apply" button. You will see a page that will look something like this.

By following these 3 simple steps you can verify the authenticity of any dealer/forex broker in Canada. You must verify that any broker who you deal with has a license issued to them by CIRO.

Our Criterias for Finding a Forex Broker in Canada

1. CIRO Regulation

The regulatory body for financial market in Canada is Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization (CIRO), formerly known as Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC).

When selecting a broker, it is important that you check for whether it is regulated or not with the Canadian body. Ensure that you avoid unlicensed brokers that could endanger your money and personal information.

Brokers will mostly display their regulatory information on the bottom or footer section of their websites.

You should always put your financial security first and pick a broker who complies with the CIROC/IIROC regulatory requirements.

2. Trading Costs

It is important that you check for the various trading costs on the official website of the broker. Some of these costs include Spreads, Commissions, Overnight financing fees, etc.

Spreads on major currency pairs should not be too wide since they have high liquidity. You can go through the broker's website to look at the typical/average spread on majors like the EUR/USD, to know what to expect.

The typical spread is different from the live spread and gives you a bird's eye view of what the spread has been like in the past.

Also watch out for other shadow costs like inactivity fees. If you are not a frequent trader, opt for a broker with zero or very low inactivity fees.

For example, CMC Markets & Forex.com take a $15 CAD monthly inactivity fee which is lower than the $50 CAD charged by AvaTrade and FXCM.

3. CAD Base Currency Accounts

Another important thing to consider before selecting a broker is the provision of Canadian Dollar (CAD) as a base currency for the account.

The base currency is the currency in which all account balances, profits, and losses are denominated. It serves as the reference point for valuing other currencies in the account.

Examples of brokers that offer are Forex.com, AvaTrade, CMC Markets, etc. 

The benefit of this is that you will be able to open an account using your Canadian currency without having to bear conversion fees on withdrawing, depositing, and trading in other currencies.

If you want to deposit money in a currency outside your account base currency, be prepared to accept currency conversion charges. Ask your broker how the percentage they take for the conversion.

4. Trading Software

The practicality of a broker's platforms is very important. While some brokers offer both MT4 and MT5, others offer only one of them.  

Some brokers develop their own in-house platforms different from MetaTrader, so they can customize it to their preference. These proprietary platforms are also a good addition to the platform catalogue. 

A typical functional platform should be User-friendly, contain advanced tools for analysis, quick order execution, and provide reliable standby technical support.

Besides, the platform should be available on different trading desks. A web-based platform is ideal because you can access it from any location as it requires no installation.

A desktop platform requires installation of the trading software and while you cannot carry it around, it has the advantage of preventing you from overtrading.

5. Quality of Customer Support

Depending on the assets you trade, you might find yourself trading on weekends. If you cannot access help on weekends, it could hamper your trading so, if possible, customer support should be 24/7.

Where you cannot get 24/7 customer support, 24/5 or weekday support can suffice but it should be prompt and responsive.

The Live Chat feature of brokers is an important bridge that links you to support as you chat with an actual human in most cases.

Before you choose a forex broker check how long the waiting time is on live chat, and how good the connection is. Other support channels include email, and even Whatsapp.

Comparison of Forex Brokers in Canada

 Facts About Forex Trading in Canada

Frequently Asked Questions – Forex Brokers Canada

Is Forex Trading legal in Canada?

Yes, forex trading is legal in Canada. Forex trading in Canada is regulated by the Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization (CIRO), formerly Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC).

Canada has 10 provinces & 3 regions each having their own local regulatory authorities. You should check the regulations under your jurisdiction.

How can you Trade Forex in Canada?

Most traders trade forex via CFD & forex brokers.

Note that trading currencies & CFDs is very risky for retail investors. You must understand the risks first, and you can lose your capital.

In general, trading forex requires choosing a desired CIRO regulated broker and opening an account with them. You can begin trading currencies as soon as your account has been funded.

Before placing a live trade, practice on the brokers demo account for some months using virtual money. This will give you enough time to familiarize yourself with the software and develop trading skills.

Which Forex Broker is the Best in Canada?

Putting different factors into consideration like CIRO regulation, offering reasonable trading costs, CAD currency account, etc., Forex.com is considered a somewhat safe broker in Canada based on overall factors.

They are regulated by CIRO, their trading costs are moderate, and support is fast.   

Which Forex Trading platform has the lowest trading fees in Canada?

AvaTrade Canada has the lowest trading fees out of the forex brokers we have compared in Canada. Their spreads on majors are as low as 0.6 pips on Standard Accounts and zero commission is charged.