Withdrawals overview

• The most popular withdrawal method is an Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT).
• EFTs are completely free, however they may take up to 5 business days to be processed.
• Wire transfers are faster, but there is a small processing fee attached.
• If you recently sold investments to “free up” the cash for a withdrawal, please take note of the different settlement times for each security. The sections below have more information on these times.
• EFT withdrawals can only be sent to bank accounts in Canada, Wire transfers can be sent internationally if needed.
• The name and information of your receiving bank account must match the information in your Questrade profile exactly.

Please note: EFT Withdrawals of Canadian dollars (CAD) can only be sent to CAD bank accounts. U.S. dollars (USD) can only be sent to USD bank accounts.

This only applies to EFT withdrawals.

If the cash in your Questrade account does not match your bank account’s currency, you may need to exchange the funds before withdrawing. You can do so ahead of time, or at the time of your withdrawal.

If your funds need to be converted between currencies before a withdrawal, this will add one business day to your request’s processing time.

When you sell an investment (or cover a short sale), behind the scenes there’s something known as settlement time. This refers to the amount of time it takes for the different brokers to formally exchange money and securities between buyers and sellers.

Although the cash is available in your account right away for another investment, it takes a few business days (in most cases) for the actual cash to be exchanged for shares and the trade to be settled.

If you place a trade to “free up” cash for a withdrawal, please keep the settlement time in mind since this may delay your withdrawal until the settlement is finalized.

For Stocks, ETFs, Mutual Funds, and most Bonds, settlement time is T+1 business day, which is the date of the trade, plus two business/trading days. For example, if you sold a stock on Monday, the trade would settle on Tuesday.

For Options contracts, settlement time is also T+1 business day.

Because Questwealth Portfolios are managed on your behalf by our Portfolio Management team, withdrawals from these accounts have a slightly different timeline and process.

For most withdrawals from a Questwealth Portfolio, some Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs) will need to be sold/liquidated to “free up” the cash required. Depending on the desired currency of the withdrawal (CAD or USD) and the specific ETFs sold in the account, a currency conversion may need to take place.

This currency conversion cannot take place until settlement has finalized (see above for more info). Due to this, most Questwealth Portfolio withdrawals may take an additional 3 business days on top of the standard processing times.

It’s important to remember that withdrawing from certain types of registered accounts (i.e. RRSP) may have additional tax implications or restrictions.

This will depend on the type of registered account, and whether you’re requesting a special type of withdrawal (I.e. qualifying FHSA withdrawal, RRSP Home Buyer’s Plan).

Explore the related articles in this lesson for more information specific to each type of account.

When you request a cash withdrawal from your Margin account, it’s very important to keep your overall Buying Power in mind to make sure you don’t accidentally enter a Margin call.

Because Margin accounts allow you to borrow funds to invest, there’s a possibility that your requested withdrawal exceeds the amount of available cash due to your buying power, or leverage being used to hold/short securities.

Before placing your withdrawal request, please take a moment to examine your account balances and holdings to ensure you have sufficient cash for your request in the required currency.

If your withdrawal causes a negative cash balance, interest charges will apply for as long as the negative balance is held.

Keep the following tips in mind when requesting a withdrawal:

• Withdrawals can only be made to your own individual bank account that matches the name and information from your Questrade profile.
  • Joint accounts are only available if your name is formally listed on the account, and supporting documentation may be required (I.e. void cheque, direct deposit form.)
• Individual accounts cannot withdraw to corporate bank accounts unless you are the sole beneficial owner of the corporation. Supporting documentation may also be required.
  • Likewise, corporate accounts can only be withdrawn to corporate bank accounts with matching corporation names.
• Electronic Fund Transfer (EFT) withdrawals are free, but Wire withdrawals can be faster.
• For EFT withdrawals exceeding $50,000 CAD or $25,000 USD, these will take an additional business day to process for every $50,000 CAD/$25,000 USD above the threshold.
  • For large, time-sensitive withdrawals (I.e. down payment), we recommend using a wire transfer if you don’t have time for your withdrawal to arrive over a few days.
  • For example, an EFT withdrawal of $200,000 CAD would take four business days to arrive (in addition to normal processing times) since only $50,000 CAD can be sent per day via EFT.
• Note: Tangerine and EQ Bank do not support wire transfers, therefore only EFT withdrawals are available for these institutions.
• Some banks may charge you for an incoming wire transfer. This fee is charged by the bank, and is independent of Questrade’s wire processing fee(s).
• You cannot make a withdrawal to another individual’s bank account.
• Some credit unions may have additional processing times added before the funds are available in your account. This is especially true around weekends and holidays, as some withdrawals may take an additional 1-2 business days to arrive in rare cases.
• Withdrawals can only be made in CAD or USD. Other currencies are not supported at this time.
• Cheque withdrawals are also available in both CAD and USD, however due to the processing and mailing time required, this withdrawal method is not recommended.

Note: The information in this blog is for educational purposes only and should not be used or construed as financial or investment advice by any individual. Information obtained from third parties is believed to be reliable, but no representations or warranty, expressed or implied, is made by Questrade, Inc., its affiliates or any other person to its accuracy.