Best Forex Brokers in Canada for 2024

To identify if a forex broker is regulated as Dealer Member by IIROC, the first step is to identify the registered name from the disclosure text at the bottom of the broker's homepage. For example, here's the key disclosure text from OANDA's website:

OANDA (Canada) Corporation ULC is regulated by the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC), which includes IIROC's online advisor check database (IIROC AdvisorReport), and customer accounts are protected by the Canadian Investor Protection Fund within specified limits.

Next, look up the firm name on the Dealer Member section or AdvisorReport module of the IIROC website. Here is the official page for OANDA and results are also available on the CSA's website which shows each province that the broker can operate in Canada.

As of June 2023, CIRO is the new regulator in Canada, following a rebranding and reorganization from IIROC. IIROC was a national self-regulatory organization (SRO) that was established as a non-profit corporation on June 1st, 2008 as part of the consolidation of the Investment Dealers Association of Canada (IDA) and the Market Regulation Services Inc. (RS). CIRO is recognized by the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) which includes all Canadian provinces including the following regulatory bodies in Canada:

• British Columbia Securities Commission
• Alberta Securities Commission
• Financial and Consumer Affairs Authority
• Manitoba Securities Commission
• Ontario Securities Commission
• Autorité des marchés financiers
• Financial and Consumer Services Commission
• Nova Scotia Securities Commission
• Prince Edward Island
• Government of Yukon Securities Registrar
• Newfoundland Securities Commission
• Northwest Territories Securities Commission
• Office of the Superintendent of Securities (Nunavut)

For a historical breakdown, here's a link to IIROC's webpage on Wikipedia.

Yes, forex trading is legal in Canada. It’s always recommended to choose a broker that is well-regulated (preferably locally) and highly trusted. Forex trading in Canada is regulated provincially; each Canadian province is regulated by its own respective regulatory authority. It’s worth noting that regulators in certain jurisdictions – such as the British Columbia Securities Commission– regulate more strictly than others.

With the important caveat that we cannot provide tax advice, it should be said that residents of Canada must report all income to the Canadian Government – including all capital gains (or losses) over $200 that come from trading forex.

According to the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA), “Foreign exchange gains or losses from capital transactions of foreign currencies (that is money) are considered to be capital gains or losses. However, you only have to report the amount of your net gain or loss for the year that is more than $200.”

How your tax professional may elect to apply any such gains or losses you have from trading in the financial market may vary depending on your unique circumstances. It may be best for Canadian citizens or residents to consult a tax professional to determine any potential Canadian tax obligations. If you are not a Canadian resident or citizen, you must report your global income from forex trading in the country of your permanent residence.

To open a forex trading account in Canada, it’s important to start by selecting a forex broker that is well-regulated and properly licensed in Canada by the Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization (CIRO). Once you’ve chosen a forex broker, you can follow this step-by-step guide to getting started with forex trading in Canada:

1. Complete the live account application process with your forex broker and read through the applicable terms and conditions.
2. Next, you’ll need to fund your new brokerage account. Choose your preferred deposit method, and make sure you are starting with an amount you can afford to risk.
3. Check out a demo (or, virtual trading) account to familiarize yourself with the broker’s trading platform. Get comfortable with the broker’s website and product offerings, and consume any available educational content.
4. Put together a trading plan. Even the best traders can lose money, but the key to long-term success lies in sticking to a trading plan that keeps your average losses low (relative to your average profits).
5. Now, you can enter the forex market. Choose your desired trade size, and open a long position by clicking buy on a given currency, or open a short position by clicking sell.

CMC Markets is our number one rated forex broker in Canada in 2024. CMC Markets is a highly trusted brand that is publicly traded (LON: CMCX) and regulated by the Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization (CIRO), CMC Markets offers an extensive range of 10,000+ tradeable investment products on its Next Generation web trading platform and mobile app.

The best forex trading app available to forex traders in Canada is CMC Markets’ mobile app. CMC Markets delivers a terrific overall mobile app experience. Featuring a clean, intuitive design, CMC Markets' mobile app delivers powerful charts, multiple research tools, integrated educational content, and much more. Our researchers have rated CMC Markets’ mobile forex trading app highly in our full-length review of CMC Markets.

Check out our walkthrough of CMC Markets' highly rated mobile app:

Check out a gallery of screenshots from CMC Markets' mobile trading app, taken by our research team during our product testing.

AvaTrade is my pick for the best forex broker in Canada for beginner forex traders in 2024. The quality (and quantity) of educational content provided by AvaTrade helped it win Best in Class honors for our Beginners and Education categories in our 2024 Annual Awards. AvaTrade offers over 100 educational articles as well as a wide assortment of videos to help beginners learn the ropes of forex trading. Well over 100 lessons are available, accompanied by dozens of quizzes for beginners to test their forex trading knowledge. Third-party educational content from award-winning providers, such as Trading Central, is available to AvaTrade clients. Simply put, AvaTrade delivers a high-quality experience for beginner forex traders.

1. Interactive Brokers – 12,000+ CFDs

Interactive Brokers is publicly traded (NASDAQ: IBKR) and among the most trusted brokers in the ForexBrokers.com Trust Score database. IBKR is regulated in Canada and caters well to Canadian investors and traders across its award-winning platform suite (which earned our 2024 Annual Award for #1 Platform Technology). Whether you trade forex, stocks, crypto, or CFDs(over 12,000 CFDs are available), IBKR delivers access to more markets and global exchanges than any other broker we review. IBKR ranks highly across the board, earning Best in Class honors in key categories such as Platforms & Tools, Commissions & Fees, and Offering of Investments. Learn more by reading my Interactive Brokers review.

2. CMC Markets – 10,000+ CFDs

CMC Markets is publicly traded (LSE: CMCX) and regulated across multiple Tier-1 jurisdictions – including Canada’s CIRO. Canadian retail clients at CMC Markets are protected against insolvency up to $1 million from the Canadian Investor Protection Fund (this is true of all brokers regulated in Canada). CMC Markets grants access to over 10,000 CFD markets and has won our Annual Awards for #1 Most Currency Pairs for three years and counting. One of CMC Markets’ strong points is its low spreads for forex traders, particularly for active traders. CMC Markets also caters to algo trading via its MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5 platform offerings. Check out my CMC Markets review.

3. FOREX.com - 4,500+ CFDs

FOREX.com, part of StoneX Group (NASDAQ: SNEX), is a highly trusted forex broker holding regulatory licenses across a range of major financial centers. FOREX.com offers over 4,500 CFDs alongside forex across multiple trading platforms, including MetaTrader, TradingView, and its flagship proprietary web and mobile application. FOREX.com’s high-quality educational content helped it win our 2024 Annual Award for #1 Interactive Educational Experience. Clients also benefit from FOREX.com’s in-house Performance Analytics, which combines behavioral finance and quantitative analysis of your trading history to deliver feedback on a per-trade and post-trade basis. Find out more by reading my FOREX.com review.

Article Resources

• Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization (CIRO)
• Investment Industry Regulatory Organization
• New Self-Regulatory Organization (New SRO)
• IIROC Wikipedia

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Methodology

At ForexBrokers.com, our reviews of online forex brokers and their products and services are based on our collected data as well as the observations and qualified opinions of our expert researchers. Each year we publish tens of thousands of words of research on the top forex brokers and monitor dozens of international regulator agencies (read more about how we calculate Trust Score here).

Our research team, led by Steven Hatazkis, conducts thorough testing on a wide range of features, products, and services. We test all available trading platforms for each broker – whether they are proprietary or come from third-party providers – and evaluate them based on a host of data-driven variables. Our research team collects and validates thousands of data points each year.

We also take an in-depth look at each broker’s commissions and fees, such as bid/ask spreads – including the average spread data for some of the most popular forex currency pairs. We research other trading costs, such as inactivity or custody fees, minimum deposit requirements, VIP rebates and/or discounts, and a range of other important fee-based data points.

Some of the other important research categories that are factored into our testing include mobile trading accessibility and capability, availability of market research and educational content, and each broker’s regulatory status and number of held regulatory licenses.

All websites and web-based platforms are tested using the latest version of the Google Chrome browser. Our Desktop PCs run Windows 11, and we use MacBook Pro laptops running the latest version of macOS to test trading on the go.

We also test on mobile devices; for Apple, we test using the iPhone XS running iOS 16, and for Android we use the Samsung Galaxy S9+ and Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra devices running Android OS 13.

Read our full explanation and accounting of our research and testing process to learn more about how we test.

About the Editorial Team

Steven Hatzakis is the Global Director of Online Broker Research for ForexBrokers.com. Steven previously served as an Editor for Finance Magnates, where he authored over 1,000 published articles about the online finance industry. A forex industry expert and an active fintech and crypto researcher, Steven advises blockchain companies at the board level and holds a Series III license in the U.S. as a Commodity Trading Advisor (CTA).

John Bringans is the Managing Editor at ForexBrokers.com. An experienced media professional, John has a decade of editorial experience with a background that includes key leadership roles at global newsroom outlets. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in English Literature from San Francisco State University, and conducts research on forex and the financial services industry while assisting in the production of content.

Joey Shadeck is a Content Strategist and Research Analyst for ForexBrokers.com. He holds dual degrees in Finance and Marketing from Oakland University, and has been an active trader and investor for close to ten years. An industry veteran, Joey obtains and verifies data, conducts research, and analyzes and validates our content.