Questrade Custom Indexing: How It Works and What It Costs
Questrade Custom Indexing lets you build and own a personalized basket of US stocks, with no management fees, no MERs, and no trading commissions, rebalanced in one click. It launched June 2, 2026 as the first self-directed product of its kind in Canada. The catch: indices are US dollar and US stock only, so Questrade's 1.5% currency conversion fee applies.
What is Questrade Custom Indexing?
Custom Indexing is Questrade's tool for building your own index instead of buying an off-the-shelf ETF or handing the job to a robo-advisor. You start from a template, adjust the holdings to match your strategy, and Questrade buys fractional shares of every stock in the weights you set. You own the actual shares directly, with full voting rights, not a unit of a pooled fund.
Three things separate it from what Canadians could do before. Unlike an ETF, you can edit what is inside and you pay no MER. Unlike a robo-advisor, you decide the holdings and weights rather than leaving them to an algorithm and a risk questionnaire. And unlike traditional direct indexing, which is usually a managed, advisor-run product aimed at tax-loss harvesting in taxable accounts, Custom Indexing is fully self-directed and works inside registered accounts.
Templates come in two flavours. Broad market templates track the largest 100, 200, or 500 US companies. Community templates are built by Canadian finance creators, each with a different philosophy, and you can also start from a blank slate. A single index can hold up to 600 securities drawn from a universe of more than 10,000.
How much does Questrade Custom Indexing cost?
The headline answer is that there are no account fees, no management fees or MERs, and no trading commissions on Custom Indexing trades or rebalances. The minimum to buy into an index is 10 dollars.
That no-fee headline carries one large asterisk, and it is the most important thing to grasp before you start. Every Custom Index is held in US dollars and, for now, can only hold US listed securities. If you fund the account in Canadian dollars, Questrade converts CAD to USD at its standard rate, which builds in a 1.5% currency conversion fee. You pay it going in, and again if you convert back to CAD coming out.
So the fee you escape is the recurring one, the MER or advisory fee that compounds against you every single year. The fee you take on is a one-time conversion cost each time you move money between currencies. For a buy-and-hold investor who funds once and holds for years, that trade can work out well. For someone moving money in and out often, the FX drag adds up. You can soften it by funding the account with US dollars you already hold, so you are not converting on every contribution.
How does Custom Indexing actually work?
The flow runs in four steps.
Open a dedicated Custom Indexing account. Each index needs its own account, opened as a TFSA, RRSP, FHSA, or cash account. You select Custom Indexing as the account purpose during the normal account-opening process.
Start from a template. Pick a broad market index of the top 100, 200, or 500 US companies, a community index built by a Canadian finance creator, or a blank slate.
Remix the holdings. Adjust weightings at the individual stock or sector level, filter by sector to see what is inside, then scale your edits to total 100% in one click and save.
Execute and maintain. Questrade buys fractional shares of every holding at your chosen weights. After that, drift alerts tell you when your index moves more than 10% from your targets, and one click rebalances everything back into line.
Dividends are your call. Hold them as cash, or switch on automatic reinvestment at the account level so returns keep compounding. You can run multiple indices across multiple accounts, with no cap on how many you draft, though the funds in any one account back only one index at a time.
Custom Indexing vs ETFs vs robo-advisors: which fits you?
The honest summary is that an index ETF is still the simplest, cheapest way to get diversified exposure if you are content owning the market as is, especially a Canadian listed ETF that sidesteps the currency question entirely. A robo-advisor makes sense if you want the whole thing automated and would rather not make decisions. Custom Indexing sits between them, offering index-style diversification with the ability to tilt toward or away from specific companies, sectors, or themes, while owning the shares outright and skipping the management fee. If you are weighing this against other platforms, our guide to choosing a Canadian online broker walks through the trade-offs in more depth.
What accounts can hold a Custom Index, and what are the tax catches?
Custom Indexing is available in TFSA, RRSP, FHSA, and non-registered cash accounts. It is not available for margin, RESP, or joint accounts.
The account type matters more here than with most products, because of how rebalancing interacts with tax. In a registered account, there is no capital gains tax, so rebalancing across hundreds of positions has no tax consequence and no adjusted cost base to track. In a non-registered cash account, every rebalance can trigger sells across hundreds of holdings, and each sale is a separate taxable event with its own adjusted cost base to calculate. Questrade has said tax-reporting features for Custom Indexing accounts are planned ahead of next tax season, but they are not all in place yet.
One more constraint worth knowing: you cannot move an existing portfolio into a Custom Indexing account in kind. To fund it, you sell your existing holdings and move the cash proceeds, which is itself a taxable event in a non-registered account.
Who is Custom Indexing actually for?
It is a strong fit if you want index-level diversification but hold convictions, whether that means trimming an overweight mega-cap, leaning into a theme, or excluding companies you would rather not own, and you are holding inside a registered account where the rebalancing tax friction disappears.
It is a weaker fit if you want pure simplicity, if you would be holding in a taxable account and dread tracking adjusted cost base across a long list of positions, or if you specifically want to avoid currency conversion. In that last case a Canadian listed index ETF stays the cleaner route until Questrade adds Canadian securities, which it says is coming.
The bottom line
Custom Indexing is a genuinely new tool, not a rebrand, and the zero management fee on a directly owned, customizable basket is a real edge over both ETFs and robo-advisors. Open it inside a TFSA, RRSP, or FHSA, fund it with US dollars where you can, and treat it as a long-term hold rather than something you churn, and the economics are compelling. Use a taxable cash account for it only if you are comfortable tracking adjusted cost base across a lot of positions, at least until Questrade's tax-reporting tools land. If you are still deciding whether Questrade is the right brokerage in the first place, start with our full Questrade review and our broker comparison, and check current promotions before you open an account.
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FAQs
Is Questrade Custom Indexing really free?
There are no management fees, MERs, or trading commissions on Custom Indexing trades or rebalances, and the minimum buy-in is 10 dollars. But every index is held in US dollars, so Questrade's 1.5% currency conversion fee applies when you convert Canadian dollars to fund it.
What is the difference between Custom Indexing and direct indexing?
Direct indexing is typically a managed product, run by an advisor or an algorithm, offered for non-registered accounts and focused on tax optimization. Custom Indexing is fully self-directed. You pick the holdings and weights yourself, and it works in registered accounts including the TFSA, RRSP, and FHSA.
Which accounts can hold a Questrade Custom Index?
TFSA, RRSP, FHSA, and non-registered cash accounts. It is not offered for margin, RESP, or joint accounts, and each index needs its own dedicated account.
Can I hold Canadian stocks in a Custom Index?
Not yet. As of June 2026, Custom Indexing supports US listed securities only, held in US dollars. Questrade has said Canadian securities and indices such as the TSX are on the way, but no firm date has been confirmed.
How does rebalancing work?
Questrade sends a drift alert when your index moves more than 10% from your target weights. You log in, review the prepared order summary, and confirm in one click to bring every holding back into line.
Can I move my existing portfolio into Custom Indexing?
Not as an in-kind transfer. You would need to sell your existing holdings and move the cash proceeds into the Custom Indexing account, which can be a taxable event in a non-registered account.
How many stocks can a Custom Index hold?
Up to 600 securities per index, chosen from a universe of more than 10,000. You can also create multiple indices and run a different strategy in each.
