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[psgama]

I figured I would post this thread as a discussion for what is available as far as Canadian TFSAs go. I currently invest with CIBC and they are very late to this tea party, so late in fact that I am considering looking at other available companies for my TFSA.

Anyone whom currently holds a tax free investment account, If you wouldn't mind posting the costs for trading and maintenance and such for the different accounts available, I'd appreciate it.

I received an email back from CIBC and here's what they had to say

Thank you for your email regarding the Tax-Free Savings Account (TFSA).

The CIBC Investor Services Inc. TFSA is currently under development and will be available in Fall 2009. In the interim, clients who wish to hold a variety of investments such as stocks and bonds in a TFSA may do so by opening an account with CIBC Wood Gundy, our full-service brokerage. TFSAs are also available through CIBC bank branches, and CIBC Securities Inc..

We would also like to invite you to visit our TFSA website at CIBC - For What Matters for more information regarding all the TFSAs currently offered at CIBC. Please click the "Tax-Free Savings Account" link, located under the "Investing" headline on the left-hand side of the screen. New material will be added to this area of the site as it becomes available. Clients are also welcome to contact their local CIBC bank branch at any time for more information on this product.

If you require further information regarding other investment solutions with CIBC Investor Services Inc., please respond to this e-mail or contact us directly at 1-800-567-3343. Investment Representatives are available to assist you Monday to Friday from 8:00 am to 8:00 pm ET.

I searched the CIBC Wood Gundy site and I could not find the TFSA listed anywhere, so it may be time for me to start looking around to minimize my capital gains tax this year.....

[daveking]

A while back I was doing research on Online Brokerage in Canada and made this list. I'll share it here.

It seems like CIBC is the only Big Bank brokerage without a TFSA trading account. They really need to get their act together.

I am using ScotiaItrade (formerly Etrade Canada.) It costs me $9.99 per trade, but you need to have either $50,000 or do more than 30 trades per quarter. I haven't use the other brokerage so can't really compare with the other brokerages. They are all thieves by dipping to our profits with hidden fees and commissions. Things to watch out for is Inactivity fees and Account maintenance fees.

Questtrade is the cheapest, but I read many horrible reviews for them.

Canadian Brokerage List

[psgama]

For anyone else interested, I talked to CIBC again today about the TFSA's and they had a little more to say.

Thank you for your email and the time you have taken to write to us regarding the Tax Free Savings Accounts (TFSA). We have confirmed that the CIBC Investor Services Inc. TFSA will be available no later than October 2009. The TFSA has been identified as a product that clients have continued to request, and your message has been forwarded to our Management Department for their reference.



We apologize if you were unable to locate a link on the Wood Gundy website regarding the Wood Gundy TFSA. We have forwarded your message to our Website Development Team for their reference. In the meantime, if you may obtain information regarding the CIBC Wood Gundy TFSA product by contacting a Wood Gundy Investment Advisor (via the “Find an Advisor” link on the Wood Gundy web site) or by calling Wood Gundy Client Relations at 1-800-563-3193. Wood Gundy Client Relations representatives are available Monday to Friday, from 8 am to 6 pm ET.



We trust the above information will assist you. Should you have any further questions, please call our Contact Centre at 1-800-567-3343. Our Investment Representatives are available to assist you Monday to Friday, from 8 am to 8 pm ET.



Sincerely,



Andy Hui

CIBC Investor Services Inc.
ISI e-Response Team

Note From CIBC e-mail Postmaster:

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Disclaimer:

This message, including any attachments, is intended only for the use of the individual (s) to which it is addressed and may contain information that is confidential. Any other distribution, copying or disclosure is strictly prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient or have received this message in error, please notify us immediately by reply e-mail and permanently delete all versions of this message including any attachments, without reading it or making a copy. CIBC Investor Services Inc. reserves the right to monitor all e-mail communications through its networks for quality control purposes. No trading instructions will be accepted by e-mail. Thank you.

Sent: Thursday, May 28, 2009 11:21 PM
To: PCBISI Mailbox
Subject: Re: CIBC Investor Services Inc.



Hello once again.

I sent an email regarding the date in which CIBC Investors Edge would offer a TFSA Investment account a few months ago, and was told Fall of this year as a general time frame. I'm curious as to whether or not a more specific month or escalation of this time frame has occured, as CIBC is falling rather behind in the offering of this service and is losing a potential customer base because of it.

In these volatile economic times, there are huge opportunities for capital gains, even with the small amount of capital available for Canadian's to transfer to a Tax Free Investment Account. ING, TD, RBC, Questrade and BMO all have Tax Free Investment accounts currently available and it is quite apparent that CIBC's timeline of Fall of 2009 is arriving quite late to the proverbial tea party.

Moreso, I could not find any information of a TFSA Investment account listed anywhere on the CIBC Wood Gundy website.

Any more information you can offer me pertaining to this matter would be appreciated.

Thank you for your time.

[AdamJ]

As daveking said Questtrade is the cheapest and probably easiest for people who don't have the better free structures through their current brokers.

My fees are decent because of my active trader status so, it was worthwhile to stick with RBC. Here's a link to their TFSA page Tax-Free Savings Account - Now Available - RBC Direct Investing

[amarok]

I am using TradeFreedom which is owned by the Scotia Bank. The account needs $1000.00 funding to start and no annual fees.

Trade costs run from $4.95 to $9.95, depending on number of trades.

You can trade at their site on the internet or use their TradeFreedom Edge program with 1-3\4 streaming or get level 2 for $20. per month.

Trades are very fast.

[AdamJ]

With TradeFreedom do you always have to pay for Level II or do you have to pay for it no matter what?

With RBC Level II is included once you have 30 trades under your belt.

[amarok]

You would have level 1-3\4 as a standard feature. Level 2 would be $20. per month. If you order this feature it is there all the time. You do not have to take the level 2 if you only want the 1 3\4 which comes with the Edge program without charge.

You can get all the info at TradeFreedom | Canadian Online Discount Broker Direct Access Trading Canada

[amarok]

TradeFreedom also gives you an upgrade to the Edge program if you are an active trader then you would have level 2 without charge.

[AdamJ]

Thanks amarok. It's pretty much the same as what I'm getting.

[sblok]

I'm with Scotiaitrade. So far its been allright, a few problems, but nothing major. If you are over 150 trades per quater, they charge 6.99$ for a trade, free LEVEL2, TFSA and fast trades...
Hate dealing with their customer service reps though....