Hi everybody, can anybody recommend a solid futures broker available to Canadians, specifically those living in British Columbia? I was interested in signing on with AMP but was told I could not do so. Looking for a broker that specializes in futures, is open to Canadians / BC'ers, and offers real-time tick data that I can hook up to NinjaTrader. Thanks in advance for your replies!
I would try US futures brokers with a Canadian office first. The only drawback is that RTH margin limits won't be as low as with a US based account, due to Canadian regulations. Interactive Brokers Canada http://www.interactivebrokers.ca/en/main.php RJ O'Brien Canada http://www.rjobrien.ca/ RJO might be better to get free tick data, check if they support CTS T4 platform. With IB you would probably need to pay for DTN IQfeed, IB data is 100 ms snapshot, not tick. I don't really know how this would work with Ninja (I use SierraChart). Here are two older threads you could also check. Just ignore references to MF Global Canada and PFG Best Canada, they have both gone belly up since then. RJO has high rankings in the US, they actually took over all Canadian PFG accounts. That's the beauty of Canadian regulatory framework, everything went smooth up here and in the US it's still a big mess. http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?threadid=212686&perpage=6&pagenumber=5 http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?threadid=243227&perpage=6&pagenumber=2
This is definitely what you should do, so as to have the benefit of the Canadian insurance fund. This covers $1 million per account. If you go directly to a U.S. broker, you will not have this insurance. If you go to the Canadian subsidiary of these U.S. brokers, you will.
Awesome, thanks for your replies. I am already with Interactive Brokers but you're right, their data is aggregated / not true "tick" data and in any case, I'm looking to find a broker that specializes in futures. I'll check those links out. Appreciate any other suggestions.
DDT accepts Canadian Traders. They even have a picture of Canada within their website : http://deepdiscounttrading.com/TradingFirm.html But definitely shop around & research everything thoroughly.
I am not sure but I suspect that its due to OSC and our clearing FCM simply do not work with one another.
I asked since working with US brokers seems to be so hit and miss. Some have no problem while others can't for regulatory reasons (and I'm referring to US brokers who aren't registered with the OSC, nor have a Canadian subsidiary.)
The Ontario Commodity Futures Act forbids unregistered foreign brokers BUT has an exemption for those who do not solicit. http://www.canlii.org/en/on/laws/stat/rso-1990-c-c20/latest/rso-1990-c-c20.html "Exemption of trades 32. Subject to the regulations, registration is not required in respect of, ........ (c) a trade in a contract to be executed on an exchange situate outside Ontario resulting from an order placed with a dealer who does not carry on business in Ontario, not involving any solicitation by or on behalf of the dealer;" Some U.S. brokers will go to the trouble of getting a certification from the client that they were not solicited and accept the account under that exemption: See e.g. http://www.mirusfutures.com/sites/default/files/RCGAcctForms/Ontario_Non-Solicit.pdf "RCG relies upon certain exemptions from registration under the Commodity Futures Act (Ontario). " Obviously the broker is going to have to spend money on legal advice before he can deal with this complication. It is just too much complication for some others.