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Top FAQs

It’s easy. Visit our Open an Account page to get started.

We’re receiving a significantly higher than normal volume of new account applications, and working hard to process them as quickly as possible. Due to the demand, it is taking several days longer than our typical 24 hours to open your account. We will notify you by email as soon as your account has been opened.

An RRSP is the go-to choice for most investors saving for retirement, and you can save on a tax-deferred basis until retirement. A TFSA can be used to save for any purpose—including retirement or short-term goals. A TFSA also lets you invest in qualified investments, tax-free, and you can contribute and withdraw funds at any time.

If you’re comfortable with fluctuating returns, stocks offer a variety of benefits, including the:

  • Potential for superior long-term returns compared to cash and fixed income investments
  • Possibility to earn dividends and capital gains

Learn more about stocks

Choose from Canadian and U.S. stocks; common and preferred shares; new issues; options; rights and warrants; equity, fixed income and money market mutual funds; exchange-traded funds (ETFs); and fixed income investments such as T-bills, bonds and GICs.

View all investment choices

Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) offer a number of benefits, including:

  • Most ETFs have low fees, making them a cost-effective way to diversify a portfolio
  • ETFs can give you access to a wide variety of sectors and indices, helping you achieve diversification
  • ETFs offer the same liquidity (ability to easily buy and sell) as other securities that trade on major exchanges

Learn more about ETFs

You can purchase call options or put options, write covered calls and, with special exception, write naked puts. Additional spread strategies are not allowed.

Learn about options trading with us

While many GICs cannot be sold prior to maturity, RBC Direct Investing offers cashable GICs that can be redeemed after 30 days.

Learn more about GICs

The commission for GICs is included in the quoted price.1 For T-bills, Bonds, Debentures and Money Market Instruments, a commission of $25 - $250 per transaction2 is included in quoted price.

To download forms visit rbcdirectinvesting.com/forms.

Enjoy no maintenance fee3  when you hold combined assets of $15,000 or more across your RBC Direct Investing accounts. And there are several other ways to lower your fees at RBC Direct Investing. For example, set up a Pre–Authorized Contribution Plan4 of at least $100 per month ($300 per quarter).

See our Pricing page for more ways to save on fees with us.

If you don’t have an account with us yet, the easiest way to transfer an account from another institution is when you open your account online. If you’re an existing client, you can use our secure online transfer form to transfer your account from another institution. You can also download the form and visit us in person, or call us at 1-800-769-2560.

For details, see Transfer from Another Brokerage or visit an Investor Centre.

GIC remuneration does not have a maximum or minimum amount per transaction.
For Treasury bills, bonds, strip bonds, debentures and other money market instruments, the commission is included in the quoted price. The minimum commission is $25 per transaction ($43 minimum commission for orders placed using an Investment Services Representative) and the maximum commission is $250 per transaction for all orders. Commissions for exchange-listed debentures are charged according to the Stocks Commission Schedule.
There is no quarterly maintenance fee charged if your combined assets are C$15,000 or more across all of your RBC Direct Investing accounts. If your combined assets are less than C$15,000 across all of your RBC Direct Investing accounts, you will be charged one maintenance fee of C$25 per quarter (split across all of your accounts). For full details please refer to the complete Commissions and Fees Schedule at www.rbcdirectinvesting.com/pricing/fees.html.
Clients with a Pre-Authorized Contribution (PAC) must have a net contribution of $300 or more for the quarter to qualify for the maintenance fee waiver.