TD Ameritrade in Canada
If you are a TD Ameritrade fan in Canada, you are out of luck.
TD Ameritrade does not accept
applications from the citizens of Canada.
Alternative to TD Ameritrade in Canada
As an alternative, we suggest a broker called
WealthSimple,
which is ranked #1 in Canada for online investing.
It offers hands-free investing, no commissions, and crypto trading.
Visit WealthSimple Website
Open WealthSimple Account
Can I Buy Canadian Stocks at TD Ameritrade?
If you have a TD Ameritrade account and are wondering if you can buy and sell Canadian stocks, the
short answer is both yes and no. The brokerage firm does not provide direct access to any foreign
stock exchanges; so it is not possible to trade directly on the Toronto Stock Exchange. There are a
few methods around this, however.
How to Find Canadian Companies on TD Ameritrade’s Platforms
With TD Ameritrade’s stock screener, it’s possible to
sort through lots of foreign-based stocks. Unfortunately, there is no method to specify
Canadian-only securities. So you have to sort through a long list on your own if you don’t have a specific company in mind.
The website’s stock screener is able to search for American Depository Receipts (ADR’s),
although as we mentioned, there is no method to specify Canadian equities. The screener can also look exclusively in the OTC and Bulletin Board
marketplace, where foreign companies often have securities. Once again, however, we weren’t able to specify Canadian-based companies in the search
criteria. thinkorswim, the desktop platform, isn’t able to look on OTC exchanges or scan for
ADR’s.
Probably the best way to trade a Canadian stock at TD Ameritrade is first find a stock outside of TD Ameritrade’s platform, and then take the ticker
symbol and enter it into the search field on the broker’s website. If the stock is available, the site will generate a profile page.
Free TD Ameritrade Account
Open Schwab Account
Examples of Canadian Equities
Using an Internet search for Canadian stocks on U.S. exchanges and then entering the ticker symbols on TD Ameritrade’s site, we were able to locate several Canadian
companies with stocks trading on U.S. exchanges.
One is Bank of Montreal, which is an ADR trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol BMO. We verified that it’s possible to trade this security (technically, it’s an ADR and not a stock).
TD Ameritrade’s profile for BMO presents several very important research tools. There are multiple third-party research reports that can be downloaded free of charge. Some of the analysts include TheStreet.com, CFRA, and MarketEdge. Most of the ratings are bearish.
There are also news articles on the Bank of Montreal from sources such as Dow Jones and Globe Newswire. Company events are shown, and important stock data (such as short interest and % held by institutions) is also available.
We also found a Canadian company in the OTC marketplace. Advantage Oil & Gas Ltd. trades on the pink sheets under the ticker AAVVF. It trades around $2 and has low volume. Compared to the Bank of Montreal, there is far less information on this security. For example, most analysts don’t cover the stock; and the short interest and % held by institutions fields are left blank. We did find some 6-K reports, which are mandatory SEC reports from foreign companies.
Trading Canadian Marijuana Stocks on TD Ameritrade
Since many popular medical cannabis stocks from Canada - Aurora, Canopy Growth, Cronos, Tilray - are
traded on NYSE or NASDAQ, any TD Ameritrade client can trade these with no problem.
Cannabis Penny Stocks at TD Ameritrade
When trading foreign companies, be especially cautious with OTC or penny stocks securities, because as we just saw, they tend to have far less information on them.
Updated on 6/24/2024.
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