Hey guys....I have been getting a lot of mixed answers on this.... Can you please tell me who you think the best broker in Canada is? I do not want to pay commissions.... They need to be built into the spread and I need to be able to trade small lots.... I also want to feel my funds are safe....I think IB is great but there is a minimum commission charge and this will not work for my automated strategy....... Thanks for any comments, much appreciated....
Nobody will be able to tell you what's good for you and traders have their own special needs. Simply, what's best for one trader will not be best for another trader. I highly recommend you just use Google @ http://www.google.com Next, look up "Canada Forex Brokers" or similar key words and there's a decent list of brokers. After that, start calling them each to find out which one works with your automated system and which ones has any other services that you need. You can also look up key words like "Top Forex Brokers" that will bring up a list of the worlds top rated brokers and then you can call each to determine if they accept Canadian citizens...most do.
Sounds like you want Oanda; they have an API, can trade down to 1 unit of currency, use a marked up spread instead of a commission structure, and are CIPF protected in Canada for Canadian residents. They aren't perfect... especially in how they handle spreads around news times, but unless you want to lose CIPF protection and go off-shore for better options, the choices in Canada are really limited.
Though this is an older post, I'll give an answer anyway because other Canadian traders may happen upon this. Your options are extremely limited in Canada for brokers who are registered with the IIROC. I am only aware of the following: Interactive Brokers, Freidberg Direct, Gain Capital, Oanda, Questrade Sounds like Oanda is the broker for you, for the same reasons that Jack describes.
I used to use Oanda and would like to use them again, however while I was with another broker Oanda had shut my account down due to inactivity. Does anyone know if Oanda would re open my account or do I need to go through the application process all over again?