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Best crypto exchanges in Canada among CSA-registered platforms, compared on dollar costs, CIRO, Interac e-Transfers and custody.
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By Alpha Finance Editorial Team
Data maintained by Vince Dioquino
Each fee, registration and set of Canadian terms behind a score links to the page we read it on. We go back through the platforms' Canadian pages and the CSA and OSC lists every quarter, and sooner when a fee, a registration or a set of terms changes.
How we score → Editorial policy Report an errorA crypto platform that serves Canadians must register with the provincial and territorial securities regulators. Some go further and become investment dealers that answer to CIRO, the industry regulator. Others still hold the interim registration as a restricted dealer.
Each of the ten is registered with Canada's securities regulators, and three also sit in our worldwide ranking. Unlike that list, this one gives no weight to futures or global volume. It rewards a cheap Bitcoin price in dollars, CIRO membership and free e-Transfers.
Every figure comes from the platform's own Canadian fee page, its terms or the regulators' lists, and links to where we read it. Choosing a platform in the table takes you straight down to its review.
Who leads each category, and the number that puts it there.
NDAXFull marks for Canadian regulation.9.0 out of 10
Crypto.com400 coins for Canadian accounts.6.2 out of 10
KrakenA security mark of 7.0 of 10, level with Coinbase and ahead of the rest.8.3 out of 10
BitbuyThe highest mark for Canadian regulation, 10.0 of 10. Level with NDAX, Shakepay, Newton, Wealthsimple and Webull on this, and ranked above all of them but NDAX.7.7 out of 1010 of 10 on the CSA's authorised list6 of 10 CIRO investment dealersDollar prices read 11 Oct 2026
| # | Exchange | Score | Feestaker / maker | CAD deposits | Proof of reserveslatest published | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | NDAXNot on worldwide list | 9.0 | 0.20% / 0.20%NDAX BTC/CAD, flat at every size | e-Transfer freeNo card deposits | None | Visit |
| 2 | Kraken#6 worldwide | 8.3 | 0.80% / 0.40%Kraken Pro BTC/CAD, entry tier | e-Transfer freeCard 3.75% | Audited Merkle | Visit |
| 3 | BitbuyNot on worldwide list | 7.7 | 0.50% / 0.50%Bitbuy Pro; 0.95% in the Robinhood app from 1 Nov 2026 | e-Transfer freeNo card deposits | Out of dateLast Nov 2023 | Visit |
| 4 |  ShakepayNot on worldwide list | 7.4 | 0.5% to 2% spreadShakepay app; no spread on recurring Bitcoin buys from day 8 | e-Transfer freeNo card deposits | Out of dateLast Aug 2020 | Visit |
| 5 |  NewtonNot on worldwide list | 7.1 | 1.00% to 1.15%Newton app, Bitcoin before any Signature discount | e-Transfer freeNo card deposits | None | Visit |
| 6 |  Coinbase#4 worldwide | 6.8 | Not publishedCoinbase Advanced; Canada's rate shows only after sign-in | e-Transfer freeCard not listed | Audited accountsNo per-user proof | Visit |
| 7 |  NetcoinsNot on worldwide list | 6.7 | Not publishedNetcoins app; spread inside the quote, size not published | e-Transfer freeNo card deposits | None | Visit |
| 8 |  WealthsimpleNot on worldwide list | 6.4 | 0.50%, no spreadLimit orders; market orders add a spread | e-Transfer fee not publishedCard free | None | Visit |
| 9 |  WebullNot on worldwide list | 6.2 | 1% flatWebull app, every order | e-Transfer freeNo card deposits | None | Visit |
| 10 | Crypto.com#14 worldwide | 6.2 | Not publishedCrypto.com app; admin fee shown at the trade preview | e-Transfer freeCard not listed | Out of dateLast Dec 2022 | Visit |
Score: how well each platform serves a Canadian paying in dollars, out of 10. The top platform is set at 9 and the others scale from it. Hover a score to see its six parts. Click the small worldwide rank under a name to see how that platform does on our global list, where derivatives and volume count. Fees: the starting rate each platform publishes, before any volume discount. An order matched against a waiting seller pays taker, and one left waiting for a seller to come along pays maker. An app that sets its own price earns a spread inside that price, and our cost check measures it. No platform pays to be listed or ranked, and the table knows nothing of your circumstances. Read how we're funded.
The gap over the market price on a C$1,000 Bitcoin buy ran from C$4.12 at NDAX to C$8.13 at Kraken Pro. The market price here is the midpoint between the two BTC/CAD order books open to the public. Every bar stacks two things: the Canadian trading fee and the distance between the platform's price and that midpoint.
Extra you pay to buy C$1,000 of BitcoinAbove the midpoint of the public BTC/CAD books, priced on each platform's own book
NDAX0.41%C$4.12Order bookKraken Pro0.81%C$8.13Order bookWithout a visible price these can't be checked before you buy, so they have no bar: Bitbuy, Shakepay, Newton, Coinbase, Netcoins, Wealthsimple, Webull and Crypto.com. Since you can't see their price in advance, we charge each the dearest figure on the chart, Kraken Pro's, or its own published fee if that is steeper.
Kraken Pro and NDAX run the only BTC/CAD books among the ten that anyone can read, and they show why fee and price have to be read together. Kraken's best offer sat right at the market, but its 0.80% entry taker fee made it the dearer of the two. NDAX's offers sat further up, and its flat 0.20% fee still made it cheaper overall.
Depth favoured NDAX, which had C$1.1M of Bitcoin offered within 0.5% of the market price, to C$381k at Kraken. A large order eats through the best offers first, so a deeper book holds its price for longer.
The apps set their own price. Shakepay aims for a 0.5% to 2.0% spread, Newton charges 1.00% to 1.15% on Bitcoin and Webull 1% on every order. Wealthsimple's 0.5% fee comes with no spread when you place a limit order.
For every review we read the platform's Canadian fee page and terms ourselves and checked its company against the CSA and OSC lists. Each card shows its registration, where a complaint goes and the dispute clause in its terms.
Top score · Not on worldwide list
Best for order-book buyers: the cheapest Bitcoin we priced, at a flat 0.20% on a public BTC/CAD book, with free e-Transfer and wire deposits. Each e-Transfer out costs C$1.50.
Good for
Incidents in the last five years
NoneNo hacks, fines or market failures in the last five years.
Best for buyers who place their own orders on a real BTC/CAD book, funded by free e-Transfers. Its 0.80% entry taker fee is high, and cashing out by e-Transfer costs C$10.
Good for
Incidents in the last five years
Disclosed an extortion attempt after support staff viewed limited data on about 2,000 client accounts. Kraken says there was no breach of its systems and no client funds were at risk.
Ordered by Australia's Federal Court to pay A$8M after ASIC action over its margin product.
A deposit bug let security researchers withdraw about US$3M from Kraken's own treasury, not from client accounts; the funds were returned.
and 2 earlier
Strongest regulation · Not on worldwide list
Best for existing Bitbuy customers trading on its BTC/CAD book at 0.50%, now owned by Robinhood. The Robinhood app that replaces it starts with market orders only and charges 0.95% from 1 November 2026.
Good for
Incidents in the last five years
NoneNo hacks, fines or market failures in the last five years.
Since 2015 · Not on worldwide list
Best for Bitcoin savers who buy on a schedule: recurring and payroll buys pay no spread from day 8, and e-Transfers are free both ways. It sells only BTC, ETH and USDC.
Good for
Incidents in the last five years
NoneNo hacks, fines or market failures in the last five years.
Not on worldwide list
Best for Canadians who want free e-Transfers both ways and a free nightly Bitcoin withdrawal from a CIRO dealer. Bitcoin trades cost 1.00% to 1.15% before any Signature discount.
Good for
Incidents in the last five years
NoneNo hacks, fines or market failures in the last five years.
Best for buyers who want a US-listed parent's audited accounts behind the platform, with free e-Transfer and EFT deposits. It has no BTC/CAD market, and its Canadian fee shows only after sign-in.
Good for
Incidents in the last five years
A faulty update took down transfers and trading for about 50 minutes.
Fined EUR 21.5M by the Central Bank of Ireland for transaction-monitoring failures.
Bribed overseas support contractors stole personal data of 69,461 customers.
and 1 earlier
Since 2014 · Not on worldwide list
Best for buyers who want to reach a person by phone any day of the week, with free e-Transfers both ways. It never publishes its spread, and it is still a restricted dealer.
Good for
Incidents in the last five years
NoneNo hacks, fines or market failures in the last five years.
Not on worldwide list
Best for Canadians who already bank or invest with Wealthsimple: a limit order pays the flat 0.5% fee with no spread, beside staking and wallet withdrawals. It publishes no proof of reserves.
Good for
Not on worldwide list
Best for Webull stock traders who want a few coins beside their portfolio at a flat 1% fee. It lists ten coins, and none can leave the app yet.
Good for
Incidents in the last five years
NoneNo hacks, fines or market failures in the last five years.
Best for buyers after breadth: 400+ coins priced in Canadian dollars, with free e-Transfer, Apple Pay and Google Pay deposits. Its app fee appears only at the trade preview.
Good for
Incidents in the last five years
A US judge let Nevada's cease-and-desist stand, so sports event contracts were pulled for Nevada residents.
An employee was phished and some users' personal data was exposed; it became public only through Bloomberg in September 2025.
Attackers bypassed 2FA and drained 483 accounts of about US$34M; Crypto.com reimbursed the affected users.
and 1 more
We looked up each company on the Ontario Securities Commission's list of registered platforms ourselves and took Canadian-dollar prices from the public books in one sweep. All ten are registered, so the order comes down to price, CIRO status, the cost of moving dollars and what each set of terms allows.
| Check | Weight | How it is marked |
|---|---|---|
| Cost to buy | 20% | On 11 Oct 2026 we read the public BTC/CAD books together, and the point halfway between them sets Canada's market price. C$1,000 of Bitcoin is then priced through each platform's cheapest published way to buy, with its Canadian fee, and the gap over that midpoint is marked. At 0.2% or less a platform keeps all 10, and past that it drops 0.8 for every 0.1%. Several Canadian apps reveal a quote only after you log in, so each of those is scored as if it were the most expensive platform we priced that day, unless its own fee schedule makes it dearer still. |
| Canadian regulation | 25% | Registration with Canada's securities regulators as a crypto trading platform is worth 5 to the company you open the account with. Becoming an investment dealer and joining CIRO, which the CSA and CIRO asked of every platform in August 2024, brings 2 more. A clean five years with the provincial regulators and FINTRAC brings 3. An order with no money paid cuts that to 1.5, and any penalty to nothing. |
| Security and reserves | 20% | As on the worldwide list. Reserves bring up to 4: the full 4 when you can search a proof for your own balance or when the platform or its parent files audited accounts with the SEC, 3 when only the reserves were audited and 2 for an accountant's attestation. A protection fund for customers counts for 1, rising to 2 when the platform states how large it is. The last five years bring up to 4, less 3 for a hack or collapse that cost customers (less 1 once they were made whole), less 1 for a data breach, less 1 for a regulator's action anywhere, and less 1 per market failure to a limit of 2. |
| Liquidity | 10% | Depth counts the Canadian dollars of Bitcoin sitting on a platform's own BTC/CAD book within half a percent above the midpoint, captured with the prices on 11 Oct 2026. C$10,000 or less earns nothing and C$10 million earns 10, along a logarithmic curve that gives roughly 3.3 at C$100,000 and 6.7 at C$1 million. No public BTC/CAD book, no marks. |
| CAD deposits and withdrawals | 15% | Interac e-Transfer is how most Canadians fund a platform, so a free e-Transfer deposit earns 4, and a charged or unpublished one 1. Card deposits earn 1, as does any other way in: a wire, EFT, Apple Pay or Google Pay. Getting dollars back to your bank for free earns 2. A platform that no bank or payment processor has cut off in two years gets another 2. |
| Product | 10% | The coin list earns 1 from 30 coins, 2 from 100 and 3 from 300. A Canadian-dollar Bitcoin order book counts for 2, as do accounts for incorporated businesses. Staking, an OTC desk and withdrawals to your own wallet bring 1 apiece. |
The total is then held under three ceilings. Without registration with Canada's securities regulators, nothing above 4.0. Customers still waiting to be repaid after a hack within the year means no more than 6.0. Any penalty in the last two years from a provincial securities regulator or FINTRAC caps the score at 7.5.
Our reading of the fees, terms and registrations is dated 12 Oct 2026. A new fee schedule, a change of registration or new Canadian terms sends us back before the quarterly recheck.
The first check costs nothing and takes a minute: look the company up on the regulators' own list.
Canada has no single crypto licence. The provincial and territorial securities regulators, working together as the CSA, register each platform.
In March 2021 the CSA and the industry regulator now called CIRO set out how securities law applies to crypto platforms, in Staff Notice 21-329. Platforms could start as restricted dealers for a limited time. In August 2024 the two ended that interim route and told platforms to become investment dealers and CIRO members. Of the ten here, 6 have made that move and 4 remain restricted dealers.
Every platform must also register with FINTRAC as a money services business, and FINTRAC fines those that don't follow its rules. It fined Binance C$6,002,000 in May 2024 and KuCoin's operator C$19,552,000 in July 2025, according to its list of penalties.
Stablecoins have their own rules. Kraken stopped USDT for Canadians in November 2023, while USDC stays on sale under an undertaking Circle gave the regulators. A Stablecoin Act received Royal Assent on 26 March 2026, and it puts issuers under the Bank of Canada once its rules are written.
Complain to the platform first, in writing, and keep a copy.
If you're unhappy with the answer, or none comes, the free ombudsman OBSI can look at it. An investment firm has 90 days to resolve your complaint before you can go to OBSI, or 60 days if you live in Quebec. OBSI can recommend up to C$350,000, though a firm doesn't have to pay.
Quebec residents can use the AMF's free mediation instead. Read the dispute clause too. Newton sends claims under C$30,000 to arbitration, and NDAX sends every dispute to arbitration in Calgary.
Registration sets rules for holding your coins. No fund repays you if a platform loses them.
CIPF, which protects clients of CIRO dealers, excludes crypto assets, and CDIC deposit insurance doesn't cover crypto or stablecoins. Most of the CIRO dealers here say CIPF does cover the cash in your account. The registered platforms keep most of your coins with outside custodians, at least 80% at Kraken, NDAX, Newton and Shakepay.
Canada knows what a collapse looks like. When QuadrigaCX shut down in February 2019, more than 76,000 clients were owed C$215 million. They lost at least C$169 million, most of it to its co-founder Gerald Cotten's fraud, the OSC found.
The terms set out who holds your coins and what the platform may do with them. Two US custodians, Coinbase Custody and BitGo, each hold coins for five of the ten.
| Exchange | What its Canadian terms say |
|---|---|
| Shakepay | At least 80% sits in cold storage with Coinbase Custody, and neither Shakepay nor its custodians may lend or pledge it. |
| NDAX | At least 80% is with Coinbase Custody and BitGo. A bond of C$1,000,000 or more covers the coins NDAX keeps itself. |
| Newton | At least 80% is in cold storage with Coinbase Custody and BitGo, and its hot wallets run on Fireblocks. |
| Bitbuy | BitGo and Coinbase Custody hold the coins in trust and carry US$680M of insurance between them. |
| Kraken | At least 80% is with Anchorage Digital Bank and BitGo, and eligible coins are staked unless you opt out. |
| Coinbase | Its US affiliate Coinbase, Inc. runs the custodial wallets, with your coins kept apart from the group's own assets. |
| Crypto.com | A US trust company holds the coins, so a failure there would follow US insolvency law. |
| Netcoins | BitGo and Fireblocks hold them, and the terms warn you could rank as an unsecured creditor if one fails. |
| Wealthsimple | Coins are held in trust and kept apart, but its help pages don't name the custodians. |
| Webull | Coinbase Custody holds them, and you can't move them out of the app. |
Reserve proofs count holdings on a single date, and debts stay out of the picture. Kraken's is the only proof here in which you can find your own account. Coinbase has no such proof but takes the full reserves mark anyway, because its parent files audited accounts with the SEC.
Not investment advice
This page is general information. Nothing on it is a recommendation to buy, sell or trade any asset or to use any exchange, and it does not take your situation into account. Digital assets are volatile and you can lose everything you put in. See the affiliate disclosure for how the site is funded.
Your bank's Interac e-Transfer limit usually binds before the platform's does, and a few banks block crypto purchases outright.
| Bank | What it lets you send or buy |
|---|---|
| CIBC | e-Transfers of up to C$3,000 a day, C$10,000 a week and C$30,000 in 30 days. |
| Simplii | The same C$3,000, C$10,000 and C$30,000 limits. |
| National Bank | C$4,000 per 25 hours and C$14,000 per 7 days, and the limit can't be raised. |
| Desjardins | C$5,000 per transfer per 24 hours, with no increase possible. |
| Tangerine | Says crypto can't be bought or sold with Tangerine accounts, and sends at most C$3,000 by e-Transfer in a day. |
| RBC | Doesn't allow RBC credit cards for crypto transactions. |
Scotiabank sets each customer's daily limit separately. On the platforms' side, most take up to C$10,000 per e-Transfer, and cashing out is free at 5 of the ten. NDAX charges C$1.50 an e-Transfer, Crypto.com C$1.99 and Kraken C$10, while Wealthsimple and Coinbase publish no fee for it.
The CRA taxes crypto when you dispose of it, and swapping one coin for another counts.
Selling for dollars, trading for another coin, spending crypto and giving it away are all dispositions. Shifting coins from one of your own wallets to another is not a disposition. Most people pay tax on half of the gain, because the plan to raise that share to two-thirds was cancelled in March 2025.
| What you did | How the CRA treats it |
|---|---|
| Sold or swapped crypto as an investor | A capital gain or loss, half of it taxable, worked out from your weighted average cost and reported on Schedule 3. |
| Traded often, as a business | Business income, fully taxable. |
| Earned staking rewards on a platform | Income when the rewards reach your account. |
Keep records for at least six years. The CRA tells you to export your platform history regularly, in case a platform closes. Reporting by the platforms themselves is on its way. The rules sit in Bill C-31, still before a House of Commons committee, and Budget 2025 set them to apply from 1 January 2027.
You can't hold coins themselves in a TFSA, RRSP or FHSA. The CRA's folio on qualified investments says cryptocurrencies are not qualified investments. Wealthsimple, for one, keeps crypto in non-registered accounts only.
Securities listed on a designated stock exchange do qualify, and that is how Canadians get Bitcoin into registered accounts: through exchange-traded funds. The Toronto Stock Exchange listed the world's first Bitcoin ETF, from Purpose Investments, in February 2021.
Coins in a wallet you control can't be frozen by a failing platform. The catch is that nobody can recover a lost key or seed phrase.
Sending Bitcoin out costs nothing at normal speed on Shakepay, on NDAX's Flex option or on Newton's nightly Free Lane, and 0.00014 BTC at Netcoins. Webull doesn't let coins leave yet.
Since 1 June 2021, FINTRAC's travel rule has made platforms send the sender's and receiver's names and addresses with every crypto transfer. Send a small test amount to a new address first. For the market-wide picture, the Bitcoin exchange flows dashboard tallies deposits to and withdrawals from the large exchanges.
No scam takes more money from Canadians than investment fraud, and crypto often features in the pitch.
Canadians reported over C$704 million in fraud losses in 2025, the Competition Bureau said, and only 5% to 10% of fraud is ever reported. In the first half of 2026, investment fraud alone accounted for about C$139.6 million of the C$351 million reported to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre. Signs to stop at:
Anyone who has already paid a scammer should phone their bank at once, then file a report with the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre and the local police.
On our checks, NDAX leads with 9.0 out of 10. For other needs, Crypto.com lists the most coins, Kraken shares the best security mark and Bitbuy shares the top regulation mark.
Send a free Interac e-Transfer and buy on a public BTC/CAD order book rather than through an app's quoted price. In our 11 Oct 2026 price check, a C$1,000 order cost least at NDAX, C$4.12 above the market price.
Yes. Platforms must register with the provincial and territorial securities regulators and with FINTRAC. The regulators expect them to become investment dealers under CIRO, In Ontario, the Atlantic provinces and the territories, retail buyers face a C$30,000 yearly limit on coins other than Bitcoin, Ether, Litecoin and Bitcoin Cash.
Yes, when you sell, swap, spend or give it away. For most investors half of the gain is taxable, while frequent trading can count as business income, taxed in full. Rewards from staking on a platform count as income on the day they are credited.
Not the coins themselves, which the CRA says are not qualified investments. Bitcoin and Ether ETFs listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange can go in a TFSA, RRSP or FHSA, like other listed securities.
Neither appears on the CSA's list of platforms authorised to serve Canadians, so neither qualifies. FINTRAC fined Binance C$6,002,000 in May 2024. KuCoin is on the regulators' banned list.
