Ontario is home to Canada's largest population of retail traders. Domestically, forex trading here follows the national CIRO framework with oversight from the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC). This page covers what's specific to Ontario if you're considering one of the internationally regulated brokers reviewed on this site instead.
What's different in Ontario?
In practice, very little changes broker-side for an internationally regulated firm — all six brokers in our rankings accept applications from Ontario residents, since they onboard clients globally rather than under a CIRO/OSC licence. Worth knowing: the OSC is among the most active Canadian regulators in publishing warnings about unregistered platforms marketing aggressively to Ontarians. That's not a reason to avoid every international broker, but it is a reason to independently verify a broker's claimed licence (via the regulator's own public register) rather than taking marketing claims at face value — a step we'd recommend before funding any account, and one we take seriously enough to flag directly in our Kudotrade review.
Taxes for Ontario traders
Trading profits are taxable regardless of which broker or country it's held with. Whether gains are treated as capital gains or business income depends on factors like frequency and intent — active day traders are more likely to be assessed as business income, and foreign-held accounts may carry additional reporting obligations (such as Form T1135 above certain thresholds). This is general information, not tax advice; confirm your situation with a Canadian tax professional.
All six brokers, compared
| Broker | Spreads | Min deposit | Platforms | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| VT Markets | From 0.0 pips on Raw ECN (plus ~$3/lot commission); from ~1.2 pips on Standard | $50 (Standard/Raw ECN) · from $0.01 on Cent accounts | MT4, MT5, TradingView integration, VT Markets mobile app | Open Account |
| StarTrader | From 0.0 pips on Pro/ECN (from ~$3–7/lot commission); from ~1.3 pips on Standard | $50 (Standard, Pro/ECN and Islamic accounts) | MT4, MT5, STARTRADER Web & Mobile, STAR Copy | Open Account |
| PU Prime | From 0.0 pips on Prime/ECN (plus $3.50/side commission); from ~1.3 pips on Cent & Standard | $20 (Cent) · $50 (Standard) · $1,000 (Prime/ECN) | MT4, MT5, PU Prime App, PU WebTrader | Open Account |
| Axi | From 0.0 pips on Pro (plus ~$3.50–7/lot commission); markup-only on Standard | $0 on Standard and Pro accounts | MT4, MT5 (added 2024), Axi proprietary platform with TradingView | Open Account |
| Bullwaves | From ~1.6–2.0 pips on Classic; from 0.8 pips on VIP; from 0.1 pips on ECN | $100 (Classic) · $3,000 (VIP) · $5,000 (ECN) | MT5 only (no MT4) | Open Account |
| Kudotrade | From 0.7 pips on Standard (no commission); from 0.0 pips on Pro (plus $8/lot commission) | $50 (Standard) · $5,000 (Pro) | MT5 only (no MT4) | Open Account |