Brokerage transfer in request

Is a transfer of cash or investments considered a contribution or withdrawal?

No. As long as you submit a transfer request for the same account type, everything stays the same. The only thing that changes is the institution holding your investments. For example, your RRSP/ TFSA contribution room/limit will stay the same after a transfer.

Can I transfer investments like Stocks, ETFs or Mutual Funds without selling them?

Yes, absolutely. With a broker-to-broker transfer, in most cases we can usually bring your investments over as-is (known as in-kind). All publicly traded North American Stocks & ETFs can be transferred in-kind, and most Mutual Funds can also be transferred in-kind. In some situations, certain Mutual Funds can only be held with specific institutions. If this is the case, we’ll follow up with you about your request with alternative options to choose from.

How much does a transfer in cost?

From the Questrade side? $0. Transfer requests processed by Questrade are completely free to initiate.

However, your outgoing institution/broker will usually charge a transfer-out fee. These range from $35-$150 for most Canadian institutions. The good news? We’ll cover your transfer fees charged by your outgoing institution. Please give a timeframe of 7-10 business days to process your rebate claim.

For more details, please see here, and to claim this rebate, please upload a copy of a recent statement showing the transfer charge as a ‘rebate’ document.

Can I transfer a “locked-in” plan to Questrade?

Yes, absolutely in most cases. Locked in RSPs and Locked in Retirement accounts (LIRAs) can be transferred the same way a TFSA or “regular” RRSP can. These account types usually originate from an employer-sponsored pension or retirement plan, and once you end your employment with the provider, you are free to transfer the funds elsewhere. Some locked-in plans also allow for partial transfers each year while you’re still with your employer, if you have questions, please contact the institution currently holding your locked-in account.

Most institutions will provide you with a detailed letter outlining your transfer options after you have concluded your employment. Please pay close attention to the instructions and options available in this letter.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact our New Accounts team for assistance. You can reach them via email at newaccounts@Questrade.com, chat, or on the phone at 1.888.298.4515.

Why does a transfer request take so long?

Great question, while we attempt to process every transfer as quickly as possible, processing times at other financial institutions are out of our control. We will generally send out every transfer request within 1-3 business days of your request online. Unfortunately however, certain institutions are a little slower at fulfilling the request. In many cases, we have to wait for the outgoing institution to mail us a transfer cheque, which can add an extra delay.

Can I transfer from different account types? I.e. TFSA to RRSP?

Unfortunately, no. Broker-to-broker transfer requests can only be for the same type of account. (I.e. RRSP to RRSP, TFSA to TFSA) If you have differing account types, and you’d like to make a transfer as a contribution, please transfer to the same type of account first, then submit an internal “transfer funds/investments” request.

Will the cost or ‘book value’ of my investments be transferred?

In most cases, yes. However this depends on the transfer method used by your outgoing institution. If you notice that your book value, (also known as average cost basis) is not accurately reflected after a transfer, we can help correct this. Simply upload a recent statement showing the ‘book cost’ from the outgoing institution, then contact us via email at support@questrade.com, chat, or on the phone at 1.833.588.6914.

Explore this article about average cost basis for more information and to help answer commonly asked questions.

What if I receive a dividend payment to my old account after a transfer completes?

In some rare cases, if a dividend is paid out to your investment account right before, or during the transfer process, this cash may stay with the outgoing institution. The outgoing institution will usually automatically perform something known as a ‘residual sweep’ after your transfer completes to move these dividends to Questrade. If you notice that these dividends have not transferred, feel free to contact us via email at support@questrade.com, chat, or on the phone at 1.833.588.6914 and our client services team is happy to assist.

• Some institutions may charge an additional penalty on top of the transfer fees themselves. For example, some mutual fund companies may charge something called a deferred sales charge (DSC) when selling a mutual fund during a transfer request (in-cash). If you are selling or liquidating any investments when requesting a transfer, we highly recommend speaking with the outgoing institution first so all the fees are clarified ahead of time.
• Broker-to-broker transfer requests typically take 20 business days or more to complete; however, depending on the outgoing institution, there may be additional delays from their end.
• Certain registered accounts such as RESPs or LIRAs may require additional documents when requesting a transfer. All details will be provided online when you submit your request.
• Unfortunately, Questrade is not able to cover or reimburse you for any penalties charged by the outgoing institution during a transfer. We will only reimburse the actual transfer fees themselves.
• Some institutions only support specific types of transfers out (In-cash only, or in-kind only) If this is the case, you will only see the option supported by your outgoing institution on the Questrade transfer request page. In addition, Questrade does not support partial RESP transfers-in.

To request a transfer, you will need the following information:

1. The name of the institution (Bank or brokerage) that you’re transferring from.
   • Please note: Many institutions operate under many different business names, (I.e. TD Direct Investing vs. TD Canada Trust) please pay close attention to who’s holding your current investments, and submit your request to that specific institution.
2. The account number for the account you’re looking to transfer.
   • Please note: Some institutions may have separate accounts for CAD and USD. If this is the case, you may need to request two transfers with differing account numbers for each currency account. At Questrade, every account type supports dual-currencies.
3. The address of the institution.

All of this information can usually be found online, or on a recent statement.

To request an account transfer, please follow these steps:

1. Log-in to your Questrade account.
2. Head to the “Accounts” section of the site (If you’re not already there) by clicking on the menu at the top left of the page, then click the “Accounts” icon.

3. Hover over the “Funding” button from the top navigation bar, and click “Transfer account to Questrade”.

4. Click the green “Start Request” button to begin.

1. Please choose the destination account, then click the green “Next” button.

2. Choose the financial institution from the drop-down menu. If your institution is not listed, please choose “other” from the bottom of the list. 
   • Please note: Pay close attention to the institution name here, many financial institutions operate under a variety of business names. (I.e. Scotiabank vs. Scotia iTrade)

3. After you choose the institution, please enter your account number. For some institutions, we may also ask for additional information.

4. If we need additional information for your request, please enter the institution’s address. If you have a direct contact such as a financial adviser, or personal banker, please provide their contact information as well.

1. Next, choose the type of transfer, then click the green “Next” button. There are 3 options available in most cases:
   • All-in-cash means your outgoing institution will sell or liquidate your current investments, then transfer the cash from the sale to your Questrade account.
     • Please note: Some institutions may charge for this sale/liquidation, if in doubt, please check with the outgoing bank/broker about specific fees. In addition, if this is a non-registered account, an all-in-cash transfer may trigger capital gains or income taxes, please check with an accountant if this is the case.
   • All-in-kind means your outgoing institution will transfer all of your cash and investments exactly as they are to your Questrade account.
   • A Partial request will ask for specific amounts of Cash (CAD or USD) and/or specific investments to be transferred. With a partial request you will also have to indicate what you’d like to transfer since it’s not the entire account.

2. On the “Transfer details” tab in the next section, please enter the estimated or approximate value of the transfer, and the currency. 
   • If the account you’re transferring contains both USD & CAD investments or cash, simply enter the approximate combined amount represented in either CAD or USD. Remember, you don’t have to be exact, we’re only looking for the estimated value.

3. On the next tab, please confirm the details of your transfer for accuracy. If everything looks fine, you can click the green “Confirm and Sign” button to move on to the final step.

The last step is to sign & submit your documents for your transfer request. Most institutions support electronic signatures, if this is the case, you will be redirected to our DocuSign partner to sign your forms.

If your outgoing institution does not support electronic signatures, you will see a prompt to download & sign your forms by hand. If you need any assistance uploading your documents, please see this article.

To sign electronically, simply click the green “Start” button on the left side, and then click the yellow box where it indicates a signature. When you click this, your signature will be pre-filled from other agreements, or you can choose to draw, or pick a pre-generated electronic signature.

Congrats! You’ve finished your transfer request. Your account and investments or cash will be on their way shortly.

Please note: For certain institutions, your transfer request may take 20 business days or more to complete fully.

If you’d like to check the status of your transfer request, simply click the “Request History” button on the transfers page here for more information.

If you were charged a fee by the outgoing institution for your transfer, we can help rebate up to $150 per account transfer in. For the full terms and conditions of the promotion, please see here.

To claim a rebate for these transfer fees, please upload a recent statement, or clear screenshot showing the transfer charge from the other institution.

Statements and screenshots must contain:

• Account number
• Matching customer name
• Institution logo, or other identifying feature
• Transfer fee/charge

You can upload your statement or screenshot through our secure upload portal. Please choose “rebate” as the “Document type”.

Please give a timeframe of 7-10 business days to process your rebate claim.

Please note: You must upload your statement or screenshot for your rebate within 60 days of the transfer request.