The weekend edition of Report on Business ranked twelve Canadian online brokerages on ten different criteria. BMO InvestorLine took the top honours closely followed by E*Trade Canada and TD Waterhouse.

RBC ActionDirect, which I use exclusively for our retirement accounts and trading Canadian equities, received poor marks and ended up in the bottom of the pack. It is easy to see why: the webpage is clunky (in my opinion), accounts are updated only once every day (really, how hard is it to have this feature?) and I’ve never been able to locate their equity research.

For US equities, Ameritrade Canada is the clear winner. I care most about equity research, ease of use and low commissions (in that order) and Ameritrade is a clear winner in those categories. It would be interesting to see what happens when TD Waterhouse acquires Ameritrade Canada.