{"id":834664,"date":"2026-07-29T23:12:09","date_gmt":"2026-07-29T23:12:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/834664\/"},"modified":"2026-07-29T23:12:09","modified_gmt":"2026-07-29T23:12:09","slug":"questrade-introduces-canadas-first-ai-connected-brokerage-accounts-as-competition-heats-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/834664\/","title":{"rendered":"Questrade introduces Canada\u2019s first AI-connected brokerage accounts as competition heats up"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Questrade CEO Edward Kholodenko, left, and president Rob Galaski say competitors are not driving the company\u2019s strategy and the brokerage is looking to deliver products that meet customers\u2019 rapidly evolving needs.Laura Proctor\/The Globe and Mail<\/p>\n

Online trade platform Questrade Financial Group Inc. is rolling out what it says is Canada\u2019s first direct connection between brokerage accounts and popular AI<\/a> assistants such as Claude and ChatGPT, as part of several products it\u2019s releasing as competition among online brokerages intensifies.<\/p>\n

The privately owned company unveiled the new offerings on Wednesday at an event in Toronto, betting that a growing generation of self-directed investors is looking for more sophisticated investing tools as brokerages race to add new features.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were fintech before there was fintech,\u201d chief executive officer Edward Kholodenko said in an interview with The Globe and Mail prior to the event. He said the company is looking to deliver products that meet customers\u2019 rapidly evolving needs.<\/p>\n

Questrade will let customers use an artificial-intelligence integration called Model Context Protocol to connect their accounts to AI assistants they may already use. <\/p>\n

The integration allows clients to ask AI assistants questions about their portfolios, market conditions and watchlists using their own account data. Investors can also draft trades through the AI assistant before approving them through the Questrade app. <\/p>\n

Rob Carrick: When the financial industry fails you, AI has your back<\/a><\/p>\n

In May, OpenAI released a tool<\/a> to allow ChatGPT Pro users in the United States to connect with financial accounts and ask the chatbot questions about their money.<\/p>\n

Artificial intelligence will play a growing role across Questrade\u2019s business beyond investing, the company said, with plans to eventually integrate AI into savings and borrowing products as well.<\/p>\n

Questrade is also introducing pre-IPO investing, allowing accredited investors to buy stakes in private companies before they go public. Not to be confused with IPO access<\/a>, which allows investors to request shares in select Canadian and U.S. initial public offerings at the launch price before public trading begins, pre-IPO investing allows investors to buy in weeks or sometimes months before a company goes public. Questrade is the first self-directed brokerage in Canada to offer this product, it said.<\/p>\n

The company also announced commission-free U.S. equity options trading, and for premium members, an added bonus of receiving five cents for every U.S. equity options contract traded.<\/p>\n

Questrade now manages about $100-billion in assets, up from $9-billion in 2019.<\/p>\n

The company is making the product push as Canada\u2019s online brokerage market has become increasingly competitive. Rivals including Wealthsimple, Coinbase Canada, and a new entrant, U.S. brokerage Robinhood, have all expanded their investing offerings over the past year, while millions of Canadians have opened self-directed investing accounts amid growing interest in the markets. <\/p>\n

Opinion: Online brokers are getting cheaper \u2013 that\u2019s great news for young investors<\/a><\/p>\n

Still, competitors are not driving the company\u2019s strategy, Questrade president Rob Galaski said in an interview. \u201cWe\u2019re not looking to do what everybody else does,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

While acknowledging the industry has accelerated the pace of innovation, he said Questrade\u2019s focus is on building products that better meet customers\u2019 long-term needs rather than simply matching rivals\u2019 offerings.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll launch similar types of things, but we\u2019ll do it in a more thoughtful and better way than everybody else does,\u201d Mr. Galaski said. <\/p>\n

Alongside the new products, Questrade revealed its first major brand redesign in more than 25 years. The company is ditching its green triangle logo and opting for a lighter green design with just the Questrade name. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been using the same brand, and life has changed around us,\u201d Mr. Kholodenko said. \u201cThe new brand reflects the direction of where we\u2019re going and the type of customer that we\u2019re looking to attract.\u201d He described that customer as someone ambitious who wants to become more financially secure and successful.<\/p>\n

Questrade also continues to pursue a foray into prediction markets, another area where it has been waiting for regulatory approval from the Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization. Wealthsimple is rolling out<\/a> its prediction market app this summer, partnering with U.S.-based Kalshi.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: Questrade CEO Edward Kholodenko, left, and president Rob Galaski say competitors are not…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":834665,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[49,48,44,136],"class_list":["post-834664","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-canada","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-news","tag-r-fp"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/834664","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=834664"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/834664\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/834665"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=834664"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=834664"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=834664"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}