Tag: promotion

cosplay battle performance in medieval setting

Battle of the Free Money Offers

RobHLeave a comment

The gravy train that is run by the new account acquisition department of Canada’s online brokers continues to chug along. Here we take a quick peek at free money offers from BMO Investorline, QTrade and Wealthsimple. I’ve summarized them all here, and simplified. Some of the offers have extra contests and that sort of thing but I’ve ignored them for the purposes of the table below:

BrokerDeadlineCashback Max CashbackHold PeriodPayoutLink
BMO InvestorlineAugust 31, 20261%$10,000Until September 30, 2027Lump sum after holdhere
QTradeAugust 31, 20261%1$2000Until September 30, 2027Lump sum after holdhere
WealthsimpleAugust 31, 20261%$20,000+$160022 yearsMonthly for 24 months after funds landhere

As trading platforms go, I’ve used all three in the past few years. For the DIY buy-and-hold investor, they are all good enough. Unlike QTrade and Wealthsimple, BMO Investorline doesn’t offer free trades, but they have a long list of free-to-trade ETFs that are quite complete, and include all-in-ones like ZEQT and VEQT as well as range of ETFs that mirror various indices and bond markets (BMO has good bond funds, nice selection and inexpensive to own).

In my view, Wealthsimple has the best offer since it has the highest cap. You see payouts sooner, too, at the cost of having to keep your money with Wealthsimple a year longer, however.3

In all cases, you have to make your move this month, because you never know when the gravy train will come to an end!

  1. Sort of. It’s $2000 if you shift $200k. It’s $1000 if you shift $199.99k. ↩︎
  2. It’s 1% for the first $2M, dropping to 0.5% up until $10M ↩︎
  3. If you want to give me some free cash if you decide to take up the offer, my Wealthsimple referral code is www.wealthsimple.com/invite/WOWQT1 ↩︎

News: QTrade Offers Free Money

RobHLeave a comment

New year, new promotions! QTrade (different from Questrade, don’t mix them up) is offering free money to new clients. It’s featured prominently here.

Detailed terms and conditions are here, but it’s pretty straightforward: register for the promotion with promo code CASHBACK26 and fund your account by April 30th. Keep it there for a year, and this is what you can expect your payout to be in May 2027:

The higher tier amounts aren’t particularly noteworthy as compared to others out there. But you’d be hard pressed to find a better ROI than $250 for a $1000 investment.

News: Wealthsimple offering free money

RobH3 Comments

Stop me if you’ve heard this before, but yes, there’s another offer out in the market that demonstrates the seemingly never-ending gravy train for the DIY investor who isn’t too dedicated to any particular broker.

It’s Wealthsimple’s turn, again, with a promotion they are calling “The Un(Real) Deal”. Marketing page here, Ts and Cs here, but step one, as in all Wealthsimple promotions, is a registration for the promotion that is painless, but must be done by March 31, 2026. After registering, you have 30 days to initiate account transfers.

In this promotion, Wealthsimple is trying to keep the rewards modest for the deal-hopper, but are pretty darn attractive for the more loyal investor. When you register for the promotion, you pick a lock-in period for transferred-in funds of one of:

  • 1 year, and get 1% cash back payable over 12 months
  • 2 years, and get 3% cash back payable over 36 months
  • 5 years, and get 3% cash back payable over 60 months1

What is particularly noteworthy about this promotion (besides the 3% cash back) is that the maximum you can earn in free money is 3% of five million dollars2. That’s (checks math) $150,000 possible in free money. That is a nice slice of pizza, if you ask me.

It appears that the usual kinds of accounts count as eligible for the promotion: non-registered, TFSAs, RRSPs, RRIFs, RESPs, LIRAs…One missing is spousal RRIFs, but spousal RRSPs are shown, so not sure about that.

If you’re tired of missing out on the gravy train, this could be an even better deal than the aforementioned Questrade deal.

Anyway, there you have it. This is one that I will take a closer look at. If you want a little extra incentive, you can use my referral code and get some additional free cash.

  1. I (meaning chatGPT) ran the numbers at various discount rates (0%,5%,10%) and the present value of 5 year deal always came out ahead. My MSci prof would be so proud of me. At 10% discount rate, the PV of the three options assuming $200k is moved is $1900, $3350, and $4720. ↩︎
  2. Yeah, ok, I know most people aren’t moving that kind of dosh, but normally these promotions are capped at a much lower dollar amount. The aforementioned Questrade deal is capped at a maximum reward of $20k, requiring $750k to be moved across 3 accounts. ↩︎

News: Questrade Launches Free Money Promo

RobH1 Comment

The customer acquisition fun continues! Who benefits? Those of us with no particular loyalty to any particular online broker!

Questrade’s offer of free money (to a maximum of $20k) applies to both new and existing clients. (Regrettably, I think that since I started my — still uncompleted — transfer last year, I won’t be eligible myself. Now isn’t that a kick in the head? Of course, I’m still collecting from the transfer I did in early 2025.)

Here are the pertinent details, but in summary:

  • Minimum $10k transfer required
  • Base reward: 1% cash back for registered1 accounts, 2% cash back for non-registered accounts
  • Move 3 or more kinds of accounts (one of which has to be non-registered) and double your base reward to 2% for registered accounts, 4% for non-registered accounts
  • Maximum cashback for registered accounts: $10k
  • Maximum cashback for non-registered accounts: $10k
  • Must start the transfer before Feb 2, 2026, and it has to complete by May 29, 2026
  • Payouts start in June 2026 and last for 24 months
  • Asset levels must be maintained until June 20282

So one way to qualify for the maximum reward would be:

  • Move a TFSA worth $250k to get $2500 base
  • Move an RRSP worth $250k to get $2500 base
  • Move a non-registered account worth $250k to get $5000 base

This is 3 accounts so this triggers the multiplier that doubles the reward:

  • $5000 for the TFSA, $5000 for the RRSP, total $10k
  • $10k for the non-registered account

So by moving $750k, one could take advantage of a $20k reward. Which, admittedly, is a pretty high bar, but $20k is not nothin’ either3.

To me, if you’ve grown tired of not getting free money this seems like a pretty good deal, but only if you’re able to qualify for the bonus by moving 3 kinds of accounts. Otherwise, the reward is just 1% and brokers have been more generous than that of late (e.g. QTrade).

So act quickly and decisively, this one will be over before you know it. If you want to show some love, you can even use my Questrade referral code4 🙂

  1. For example: TFSA, RRSP, RRIF, RESP. LIRAs are not listed in the Ts and Cs, though. ↩︎
  2. You’re allowed to withdraw 5% with no penalty. If you exceed that, then you don’t get any more bonus payments. Exception: RRIF minimum payments :-). ↩︎
  3. It’s more than my current earned income 🙂 ↩︎
  4. My referral code is 755609544498867 which will earn you (and me) $50 for your first account. Follow this link to start: https://questmobile.onelink.me/tX0y/419708l0 ↩︎

News: TD offering up to $5k to transfer in

RobH1 Comment

The gravy train continues for those willing to put in some effort. TD’s offer is listed here, but I’ll give you the highlights:

  • TFSA, RRSP, FHSA, LIRA, LRSP accounts: 2% cash back on new transfers for new or existing customers
  • Non-registered accounts (margin or otherwise) are eligible for 1% cash back
  • Not eligible: RRIF accounts (boo!)
  • Register before March 2,2026; complete transfers by March 31, 20261
  • Keep the money there until March 31, 2027, and get paid by April 30, 2027
  • $5000 limit on free money provided (meaning $250k in assets transferred).

I myself have no experience with TD’s product, but per their fee schedule, I see they still charge for stock/ETF trades, $9.99 a pop2. It’s zero for mutual funds, if that’s your thing.

Given that Questrade is still giving me free money for another year, and given that RRIF accounts aren’t eligible, I’ll be sitting this one out. But this TD offer looks pretty generous, so of possible interest to others out there.

  1. You might not want to wait until the very last minute to register; the Ts and Cs make it sound like you’ll be out of luck if your transfer in doesn’t land by the 31st. ↩︎
  2. Reduced to $7 a pop if you trade a lot, defined by TD as >150 trades a quarter. ↩︎