Buy & trade Canadian shares
From Abrasilver to Zentek... our guide to investing in the Canadian market
Please remember, investment value can go up or down and you could get back less than you invest. The value of international investments may be affected by currency fluctuations which might reduce their value in sterling.
Why invest in Canadian shares?
Canada’s status as a commodities hub has been reinforced in recent decades by the Alberta tar sands, one of the world’s largest reserves of oil. This vast area of oil fields and mines produces bitumen, an unconventional and controversial petroleum deposit which is then refined into usable products. Toronto’s big oil companies include Suncor Energy, Canadian Natural Resources and Imperial Oil.
But Toronto is about more than natural resources. You’ll find the usual wide selection of companies that you would expect on any other stock market, including a substantial banking sector, tech stocks like Shopify and the usual utilities and consumer staples.
A number of the large companies listed on the TSX also have a secondary listing on one of the American exchanges, like the New York Stock Exchange.
About the Canadian Stock Exchange
There are a number of stock exchanges in Canada, but the largest is the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX). It was officially opened in 1861 and is today home to some of the world’s biggest natural resource companies, drilling for oil or digging for minerals like gold, platinum, nickel, copper and iron ore. In fact, the exchange claims to list more mining companies than any other market in the world, among them Newmont Corporation, Barrick Gold and Newcrest Mining.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index is the benchmark Canadian index represent around 250 companies listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange. Some of the biggest names include Shopify, Royal Bank of Canada, Toronto-Dominion Bank, Bank of Nova Scotia, Enbridge, Brookfield Asset Management, and Canadian National Railway.
The Canadian stock market is open Monday through Friday from 9:30 am to 4:00 pm Eastern Standard Time (2:30 pm to 9:00 pm GMT).
How to buy Canadian shares with ii
To buy Canadian shares with ii, you will need to first open an account.
From your account, simply select ‘trade now’ and ‘international’ to search for the shares you want to invest in. You will be prompted at this point to sign Exchange Agreements – this lets you access live international share pricing.
Most popular Canadian shares
Below is a preview of the most purchased shares by ii customers over recent months.
Most purchased shares in H2 2023
Source: interactive investor. Note: the top 10 is based on the number of “buys” between 1 July and 31 December 2023.
Fees and charges
- Our subscription plans start from £4.99 a month, which includes our Stocks and Shares ISA and Trading Account
- If you are on our £11.99 a month Investor plan, we give you a £3.99 free trade credit every month – which can be used the cost of buying and selling towards international shares.
- Additional non-US international trades cost £9.99.
- Frequent traders can get reduced rates on non-US international shares with our Super Investor service plan.
- There is a foreign exchange fee of 1.5% when you trade in pounds. This is reduced for transactions over £25,000. You can avoid paying this fee every time you trade by holding foreign currency in your account. Learn more
News and insights
Please remember: The value of your investments, and the income derived from them, may go down as well as up. You may not get back all the money that you invest. The value of international investments may be affected by currency fluctuations which might reduce their value in sterling. We may receive two elements of commission in relation to international dealing - Trading Commission and our FX Charge. Please see our rates and charges for full details of the relevant costs. Foreign markets will involve different risks from the UK markets. In some cases the risks will be greater.