National Bank Direct Brokerage and XEQT: The Quietly Good Option Most Canadians Skip
October 26, 2026
National Bank Direct Brokerage (NBDB) charges $0 commissions to buy and sell XEQT, and it is a perfectly good home for the ETF if you live in Quebec, already bank with National Bank, are 30 or under, or have $20,000 or more to invest. It is not meaningfully cheaper than Questrade or Qtrade anymore, though, so nobody should pay a transfer fee to move there. As of the most recent 2026 reviews, the question is no longer who has free trades. It is who charges you something else.
That shift is why NBDB gets skipped in the Questrade versus Wealthsimple debate, and why it deserves a second look. I compared the 2026 broker reviews from Million Dollar Journey, the Canadian Portfolio Manager Blog’s NBDB tutorial, and the J.D. Power and Globe and Mail rankings those reviews cite, then ran the trading-cost math on XEQT myself using a recent price of about $44.84.
Why Zero Commissions in Both Directions Matter for XEQT Holders
An XEQT investor does two things with a broker for decades. They buy a little every month, and eventually they sell a little every month. A broker that is free in only one direction taxes the second half of that plan. NBDB was early on this. The Canadian Portfolio Manager Blog noted back in 2016 that NBDB had already stopped charging commissions on Canadian-listed ETF purchases and sales, and in August 2021 NBDB became the first of Canada’s big bank brokerages to cut stock trades to $0 as well, according to Million Dollar Journey.
The old edge over Questrade has mostly disappeared, though. For years Questrade offered free ETF purchases but charged about $5 on sales. As of May 2026, Million Dollar Journey reports that all Questrade ETF and stock trades are $0, with only ECN fees applying. If you have read older comparisons claiming Questrade sell orders cost extra, they are out of date.
The remaining Questrade cost is tiny. ECN fees apply to orders that remove liquidity from the market, which includes most market orders and marketable limit orders. For Canadian-listed ETFs, the Canadian Portfolio Manager Blog puts the rate at $0.0035 per share, and Million Dollar Journey notes the fee is capped at $5 per trade. A $1,000 purchase of XEQT is about 22 shares, which works out to roughly 8 cents. Twelve monthly purchases cost under a dollar a year.
The commission war is over and everyone won. What separates Canadian brokers now is account fees, platform quality, and how much friction you hit when you actually need something.
NBDB still earns its reputation as a pure zero-cost venue on the trading side, since it charges no commission and has no ECN layer on top. As Million Dollar Journey points out, though, it makes money elsewhere, through currency conversion on U.S. stock trades, margin interest, and an account fee on smaller balances. Only the last one matters for you.
The Real Platform Gap: When Good Enough Is Enough
NBDB’s platform is the weak point, and pretending otherwise would be a disservice. Million Dollar Journey scored it 3.4 out of 5 in its 2026 review and ranks Qtrade ahead of it. Its older broker roundups cite a labour-intensive onboarding process, and reader comments describe signing forms, mailing void cheques, and being asked to visit a branch at the end of what was supposed to be a digital signup.
The app has improved a lot. The old complaint that NBDB had no mobile app is out of date, since there is now a combined NBC Wealth app for Apple and Android. As of 2026 it is rated 4.7 stars on the Apple App Store from about 4,400 ratings and 4.5 stars on Google Play from about 1,300 reviews. The same review notes that users still report bugs, slowness, crashes, and login trouble. A high star rating and a flaky login screen can both be true.
The trend line is encouraging. According to Million Dollar Journey, NBDB ranked dead last, 8 out of 8, in J.D. Power’s 2019 survey, climbed to fourth in 2020, and topped the rankings by 2022. The Globe and Mail gave it a B+ in its 2025 Digital Brokerage Ranking. For a bank brokerage that used to be an afterthought, that is real progress.
For an XEQT investor, though, the gap barely registers. NBDB offers stock screeners, a Value Analyzer, a Strategy Builder, and options tools through an OptionsPlay partnership, and reviewers disagree on how good they are overall. None of that applies to you. XEQT holds thousands of stocks across Canada, the U.S., developed markets, and emerging markets, so there is nothing to research or chart. You log in, buy the same ticker, and log out. What you need is a site that is up when you click the button. If you are new to the fund itself, the complete XEQT guide covers what you are actually buying.
NBDB’s Fee Structure: The $100 Fee Almost Nobody Pays
As of 2026, NBDB charges an annual account fee of $100 plus tax on balances under $20,000, according to both the Canadian Portfolio Manager Blog and Million Dollar Journey. That is the number competitors lead with, and it is also misleading, because a long list of people never pay it.
The Canadian Portfolio Manager Blog lists three ways to avoid it: you are 30 or under, you have $20,000 or more in assets as of May 31, or you participate in a financial program for engineers, teachers, business, or healthcare professionals. The 2026 Million Dollar Journey review adds that NBDB now offers incentives for certain groups. Students, newcomers to Canada, and existing National Bank clients are reported to qualify for waivers as well, but I could not confirm those categories against a second source. Check the current fee schedule before opening an account and confirm your category in writing.
Annual fee at $10,000 invested: An NBDB account fee of $100 on a $10,000 balance equals 1% of your money each year, which is five times the 0.20% MER on XEQT. The same fee disappears once you meet the $20,000 asset test or another exemption.
That is the whole story on fees. If you are under 30 or meet another exemption, NBDB likely costs you nothing. If you are 35, unaffiliated, and starting with $8,000, you will pay $100 a year to hold an ETF that Questrade and Qtrade hold for free. At that balance, the fee eats far more than the entire MER of the fund. If you want to see how small costs compound, the breakdown in XEQT Fees: The Real Cost of Owning Canada’s Most Popular All-In-One ETF shows why a flat fee on a small balance is worth avoiding.
How NBDB and Qtrade Stack Up for Your XEQT Allocation
Qtrade is the broker Million Dollar Journey measures NBDB against, and it wins on most points that matter to a small XEQT account. As of November 2025, that review reports that Qtrade charges $0 for stock and ETF trades, no ECN fees, and no annual account fees. Qtrade confirmed it does not charge ECN costs, which makes it a strictly free place to buy and sell XEQT.
Questrade sits between the two. As of 2026 it charges no account fees on TFSAs, RRSPs, FHSAs, RESPs, or non-registered accounts, and its trades are $0 apart from the pennies in ECN fees. Reviewers rate its customer service as weaker, with long phone queues, while NBDB’s customer service has historically struggled to keep up, although the improvement in its rankings suggests that is changing.
NBDB’s real strengths are its institutional backing and its bank integration. It sits under National Bank of Canada, which reviewers describe as providing a strong level of security. For 2026, the TFSA limit is $7,000, the RRSP limit is 18% of prior-year earned income up to $32,490, and the FHSA allows $8,000 a year with a $40,000 lifetime cap. Confirm that your preferred broker supports the exact account you need, particularly the FHSA, before you open anything. Our article on using the FHSA for XEQT explains why that account deserves attention.
2026 registered account limits: The TFSA limit is $7,000 a year, the RRSP limit is 18% of prior-year earned income to a maximum of $32,490, and the FHSA limit is $8,000 a year with a $40,000 lifetime cap. XEQT in an RRSP avoids the roughly 15% U.S. dividend withholding tax that applies in a TFSA, FHSA, or non-registered account.
These limits behave identically at every broker. The account type determines your taxes, and the broker only determines your fees and convenience.
The Quebec Advantage: Why Local Banking Matters
This is where NBDB stops being a second-best and becomes a genuine pick. National Bank is headquartered in Montreal, and Million Dollar Journey labels NBDB “Quebec’s Favourite Canadian Broker” and credits it with a good bricks-and-mortar presence in the province. Questrade and Qtrade are online-first, and a phone queue is a different experience from walking into a branch and speaking with someone in French.
The bank connection matters beyond language. If your chequing, savings, and line of credit already sit at National Bank, the single NBC Wealth app shows everything in one place. Your TFSA contribution and your monthly XEQT purchase can happen without a separate login. That convenience is worth something to people who would otherwise open an account, forget their password, and let a plan slide for six months. I would test the French-language phone line before relying on it for anything urgent, since my sources do not measure it directly.
The strongest case for NBDB is a Quebecer who banks at National Bank, qualifies for the fee exemption, and wants every part of their financial life in one app. Their trading costs equal the cheapest options in the country, and they gain a human being nearby.
Should You Move Your XEQT to NBDB? The Transfer Math
If you already hold XEQT at Questrade, Qtrade, or Wealthsimple, the answer is usually no. The savings from switching are pennies a year in ECN fees at Questrade and nothing at Qtrade, while the cost of leaving can be real. Million Dollar Journey lists a $150 transfer-out fee at both Qtrade and TD Direct Investing, so check what your current broker charges. Even a generous breakeven comes out terrible. Saving about a dollar a year in ECN costs against a $150 fee takes well over a century to pay back, and that is before any NBDB account fee.
If you hold XEQT at a bank brokerage that charges real commissions, the calculation changes, because then switching eliminates a recurring cost. Qtrade reimburses transfer fees from your old broker when you move $15,000 or more, and it is worth asking NBDB whether it offers something similar. I could not confirm an NBDB reimbursement policy in my sources, so ask before you start.
If you do move, request an in-kind transfer so your units move as shares and are never sold. Selling XEQT to move cash would put you out of the market for days and could trigger a taxable capital gain in a non-registered account. Our piece on how much to invest each month is a good companion for setting up the automatic contributions once the transfer settles.
Do not switch brokers to save commissions that already round to zero. Switch if the bank relationship, the language, or the fee waiver gives you something your current broker does not.
What NBDB Doesn’t Offer, and Why It Doesn’t Matter for XEQT
NBDB is not a power-user platform. Reviewers describe its portfolio analysis as thin next to Qtrade’s, its onboarding as clunky, and its promotions as lighter than competitors’ cash-back offers. It also is not the place for cryptocurrency or advanced multi-leg options strategies, even though it does partner with OptionsPlay for simpler options tools. Its InvestCube robo-advisor service has reportedly been discontinued as well, although my sources do not confirm the details, so check directly if that matters to you.
None of this touches a buy-and-hold XEQT plan. XEQT is the robo-advisor. It rebalances itself across its underlying ETFs for a 0.20% MER, as covered in our look at why you never need to rebalance XEQT, so you do not need a managed portfolio on top of it. Mutual funds are available through NBDB with $0 commissions, but their annual fees are the same high ones charged everywhere, and that is exactly the product you are avoiding by buying XEQT.
The honest summary is that NBDB gives you a commission-free, bank-backed home for XEQT, and it asks you to put up with a slightly rougher app and clunkier signup. For the right person, that trade is fine. For a 40-year-old in Alberta with $9,000 and no National Bank account, it is not.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does National Bank Direct Brokerage charge commissions on XEQT?
No. NBDB charges $0 commissions to buy and sell Canadian-listed ETFs like XEQT, and it has no ECN fees. The only cost to watch is the $100 annual account fee for balances under $20,000, which many account holders avoid.
Is NBDB better than Questrade for buying XEQT?
Not on cost. Questrade also charges $0 commissions in both directions as of 2026, with ECN fees of about 8 cents on a $1,000 purchase of XEQT. NBDB makes more sense if you are in Quebec, bank with National Bank, or want French-language branch service.
Who avoids the NBDB annual fee?
Investors aged 30 and under, those with $20,000 or more in assets as of May 31, and participants in certain professional programs avoid the $100 fee. Other groups may qualify for waivers or incentives, so confirm your situation on NBDB’s current fee schedule.
Should I transfer my XEQT to NBDB?
Only if the bank relationship or fee waiver gives you something your current broker does not. The commission savings are close to zero, and a transfer-out fee of around $150 at some brokers would never pay back. If you transfer, ask for an in-kind transfer so you never sell your XEQT.