The Best Canadian Discount Brokerage

There are quite a number of discount brokerages in Canada.

QTrade
QuestTrade
Scotiabank iTrade
BMO Investorline
RBC Direct Investing
TD Waterhouse

...just to name a few.

But which one have I chosen to hold my all-important stocks and investments?

Credential Direct.

It wasn't that they had a fantastic review. It wasn't that they were the cheapest, or the fastest, or the best customer service.
In fact, for the cheapest trades, I would be best off with Questtrade.
With TD Waterhouse, it's said you get very quick trades.
With BMO, you get to speak with a real person at a bank when you have issues.

No, it wasn't due to these particulars that I chose Credential.

It was simply the fact that it seemed like the least amount of people hated them.

You can go on any blog that 'reviews' the discount brokerages, and there will be upwards of 900 comments, all from people just about ready to kill their brokerage for making some unbelievable mistake. One man lost $40,000 due to a mis-communication on the brokerages end. Another had his trade delayed until nearly a two days later, losing him hundreds.

I'm sure there are people that have had such issues, or worse with Credential, but low and behold, in my (not-very) exhaustive search of the inter-webs, I was unable to find many people with such a passionate dislike of this brokerage.

Add to the fact that I live not too far from their office, so if for some reason I wanted to go throttle someone in person, I just might be able to; in less then an hour or two commute!

Plus, I've called them up multiple times, asking asinine newbie questions, and they were usually able to help me, even though they really didn't have to. I've actually applied for Questrade, and iTrade, but never felt comfortable enough to finish the application. With my Credential application, they never made me feel nervous, or worried.

They just seem like decent people charging a decent rate for a decent service.

So, my application is in, and I've provided all the paperwork. I'll keep this blog updated with my experiences with Credential Direct as I have them.






Who do you invest with?
Why are they better or worse then other Canadian Discount Brokerages?