Holdco Investing in Canada: Which Broker Should Your Corporation Use?
A Holdco invests its retained earnings through a corporate (non-registered) brokerage account, since corporations cannot hold TFSAs, RRSPs, or other registered plans. For most incorporated Canadians, the strongest brokers for Holdco investing are Wealthsimple, Interactive Brokers, and Questrade. The right pick depends on portfolio size, US exposure, and how much hand-holding you want.
What Is a Holdco Investing Account?
A Holdco (holding company) is a corporation whose main job is to hold assets, often the retained earnings swept up from a related operating company (Opco). Profits can usually move from an Opco up to a connected Holdco as tax-free intercorporate dividends, which defers personal tax and leaves more capital working for you. The Holdco then invests that after-tax corporate cash in stocks, ETFs, bonds, or funds.
This is informational, not a recommendation to incorporate or restructure. Whether a Holdco makes sense for you is a question for your accountant, not a broker.
How Is Investment Income Taxed Inside a Holdco?
Passive investment income inside a Canadian-controlled private corporation (CCPC) is taxed at a high rate, roughly 50% combined in most provinces, and part of it is refundable to the corporation when it later pays taxable dividends to you.
The federal portion on investment income is 38.67% (28% Part I tax plus a 10.67% additional refundable tax), on top of the provincial general corporate rate. A chunk of that flows into the corporation's refundable dividend tax pools and comes back when dividends are paid out, so the system is designed to limit any permanent advantage while still allowing a deferral.
Capital gains keep the 50% inclusion rate for 2026. The proposed increase to 66.67% was cancelled in 2025 and never became law, per the Canada Revenue Agency rules on capital gains. The non-taxable half of a corporate gain flows to the Capital Dividend Account and can be paid to shareholders tax-free, which is one of the real advantages of investing inside a corporation.
The catch most owners miss: passive investment income (technically adjusted aggregate investment income, or AAII) above $50,000 grinds your $500,000 small business deduction by $5 for every $1 over the threshold, and wipes it out entirely at $150,000. Earn too much passive income in the corp and your Opco's active profit starts getting taxed at the higher general rate. That single rule drives most Holdco investment planning.
What Account Type Does a Holdco Open?
A corporation invests through a corporate cash or margin account. There is no corporate TFSA, RRSP, or FHSA, because registered plans belong to individuals only. Holdco investing therefore always happens in a taxable corporate account, and the broker issues T5 and T3 slips to the corporation each year for its tax filing.
Which Broker Is Best for Holdco Investing?
The leading independent brokers, Wealthsimple, Interactive Brokers, Questrade, and Qtrade, all offer corporate accounts. Each is a CIRO member with CIPF protection on corporate accounts. The best fit comes down to cost and complexity.
Wealthsimple has aggressively courted corporate clients through 2025 and 2026, adding corporate margin and fast automated business verification, and it pairs investing accounts with a business chequing account in one app. Stock and ETF trades are commission-free. The cost to watch is currency conversion at 1.5% on the Core tier, though Premium and Generation clients can hold a USD account and sidestep per-trade conversion. It is the easiest on-ramp for most holdcos. Open a Wealthsimple account or read our Wealthsimple review.
Interactive Brokers is hard to beat on cost if your Holdco holds a large or US-heavy portfolio. Currency conversion runs about $2 on a $10,000 conversion, a fraction of what the others charge, and global market access is unmatched. The trade-offs are a steeper platform learning curve and a more involved corporate (Institution) application. Best for cost-focused, hands-on corporate investors. Open an Interactive Brokers account or read the Interactive Brokers review.
Questrade sits in the middle. Stock and ETF trades are now commission-free, the corporate account process is well established, and the platform is friendlier than IBKR for most users. The weak spot is the 1.5% currency conversion spread, which adds up if you buy US-listed holdings. Open a Questrade account or see the Questrade review.
What About Qtrade and the Big Banks?
Qtrade also offers corporate and trust accounts and moved to zero-commission stock and ETF trading, which makes it a genuine alternative, especially if you want a formal trust account alongside the corporate one. Open a Qtrade account or read the Qtrade review.
The big bank brokerages (TD Direct Investing, RBC Direct Investing, BMO InvestorLine, CIBC Investor's Edge, Scotia iTRADE, and National Bank Direct Brokerage) all support corporate accounts too, and the convenience of keeping everything under one banking relationship is real. You pay for it with higher commissions and wider currency spreads. You can compare every Canadian broker side by side, or start with the how to choose a Canadian online broker guide.
The Bottom Line
For most incorporated Canadians putting retained earnings to work, Wealthsimple is the path of least resistance: commission-free, app-based, built around corporate clients, and tied to a business chequing account. If your Holdco runs a large or US-weighted portfolio, Interactive Brokers will save you real money on currency conversion and commissions, provided you can handle the platform. Questrade is the sensible middle ground.
Whichever you pick, get the tax structure right first. How money moves into the Holdco, the $50,000 passive income threshold, and the refundable tax pools are worth an accountant's time before you fund anything. Check current promotions on our sign-up bonuses page before you open an account.
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