Widely known in Germany, Trade Republic has attracted the attention of several Canadian investors, offering interest on uninvested cash, a slick and modern app, and low commissions.
Want to know if Trade Republic is available in Canada, the company’s expansion plans, and the alternatives available for Canadian investors? We’ve got you covered.
Is Trade Republic available in Canada? 🇨🇦
No, Trade Republic is not available in Canada.
Trade Republic keeps investing in its expansion, but that expansion has been strictly European. It has not announced any plan to enter Canada, and there is a structural reason to expect the wait to be long: the company operates under a German banking licence passported across the European Economic Area, which carries no weight in Canada. Serving Canadian clients would mean a separate registration with provincial regulators, not an extension of what it already has.
Currency is the other obstacle. Trade Republic is a euro platform, including the interest it pays on cash. Even if it arrived, a Canadian investor would be converting Canadian dollars in and out.
We tried to open an account, and Canada was not among the supported countries:
Trade Republic is not available in Canada
Where is Trade Republic available? 🌎
Trade Republic currently serves 18 European countries: Austria, Belgium, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Spain.
Poland, added in September 2025, was its first market outside the eurozone. Beyond Europe, it is unavailable in Canada, the US, the UK and Switzerland, with no published timeline for any of them.
Trade Republic alternatives in Canada
- Interactive Brokers: best overall
- Plus500: best for active CFD traders. It offers a first deposit bonus.
- Wealthsimple: the closest alternative, and best for beginners
A note before you read on: Trade Republic is known for low-cost, long-term investing and interest on uninvested cash. Wealthsimple is the closest match for that style, and it is the one to look at first if Trade Republic is what you were after. Plus500 is here for a different reader, someone who wants an active CFD trading platform rather than a buy-and-hold app. CFDs are leveraged products and a different proposition entirely, so choose based on your goals rather than on the order of this list.
81% of retail CFD accounts lose money.
*This information is NOT relevant to EU residents who are to be serviced by EU subsidiaries of the Plus500 Group, such as Plus500CY Ltd, authorised by CySEC (Reg. 250/14). Different regulatory requirements apply in Europe, such as leverage limitations and bonus restrictions.
Moving to Canada: what happens to your Trade Republic account?
If you are moving from Germany or another supported country to Canada, a common question comes up: what happens to your Trade Republic investments? Since Trade Republic is not registered in Canada, becoming a Canadian tax resident generally means it can no longer serve you as a retail client.
What you need to know
- Once you become a Canadian tax resident, Trade Republic may not be able to keep serving you, since its European licence does not extend to Canada;
- Where possible, transfer your holdings rather than selling them. An in-kind transfer to a Canadian broker moves the securities themselves, which avoids turning your move into a taxable event before you have to;
- Open the Canadian account first. Transfers need a receiving account, and doing it in the wrong order is how people end up forced to liquidate;
- Contact Trade Republic directly to confirm what it can do for your specific case, and check the tax consequences on both sides with an adviser. Departure tax rules in the country you are leaving and the cost base of your holdings on arrival in Canada both matter, and they are not something to work out from a blog post.
Conclusion
If you want to open a Trade Republic account from Canada, you are out of luck: it is not possible, and nothing suggests that will change soon. The brokers above are solid choices, with Wealthsimple the closest in spirit to what Trade Republic offers.
Whether you value security and reputation or want a commission-free platform, the alternatives presented are a good starting point. Explore their websites and decide for yourself.
If you haven’t found a match, you can still look at our comparison of online brokers available by country.
Risk disclaimer: when investing, your capital is at risk and you may get back less than invested. Past performance doesn’t guarantee future results.
FAQs
What is Trade Republic?
Founded in 2015, Trade Republic is an investment app that allows users to invest in stocks, ETFs, bonds, derivatives and crypto, plus savings plans covering all of these. It has grown into one of Europe’s largest savings platforms, with around 10 million customers and roughly €150 billion in client assets and cash across 18 countries.
It holds a full banking licence from the European Central Bank, obtained in December 2023, and is supervised by BaFin and the Bundesbank. Cash is protected up to €100,000 by the German deposit guarantee scheme, and client securities are held with a custodian bank, separate from Trade Republic’s own balance sheet.
How does Trade Republic make money?
As economists like to say, there is no such thing as a free lunch. Trade Republic historically earned a meaningful share of its income from payment for order flow (PFOF), which means being paid to route client orders to particular market makers, a practice that creates a potential conflict of interest between broker and customer.
That route is closing. The EU ban on PFOF takes effect on 30 June 2026, so the company has been shifting its revenue mix towards:
- Net interest income: with a full banking licence, Trade Republic earns a margin on customer cash, paying part of it back as interest and keeping the rest. This is now central to the model;
- Securities lending: brokers commonly lend out client securities in exchange for a fee. Third parties borrow them to hedge, to arbitrage, to build structured products or to sell short;
- Transaction and third-party fees: a small external fee applies to individual orders, while savings plan executions are free;
- Other charges: small withdrawal, corporate action and administrative fees.
Knowing how a free app pays for itself is worth two minutes of anyone’s time, whichever broker you end up choosing.
Can I use a VPN to open a Trade Republic account from Canada?
No. Onboarding requires identity and address documents from a supported country, and a VPN changes neither. Beyond not working, using a broker that is not registered to serve your province leaves you outside local investor protection and creates tax reporting problems that fall on you, not on the broker.
