Tuesday, November 4, 2025 | VANCOUVER, BC
by Mary P Brooke | Island Social Trends
Questrade Financial Group — known to Canadians as an online trading platform — says it has been approved to launch a new bank in Canada.
This aligns with the federal government’s interest in seeing more competition in the banking sector, as announced by Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne within Budget 2025 today.
Questrade Financial Group says it has received approval by the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) to open to open Questbank.
OSFI is the federal regulator for financial institutions.
Would join the big five:
Questrade CEO and president Edward Kholodenko says the company first applied for the bank licence in 2019.
If approved as a Schedule 1 bank, that would see Canada have seven major domestic banks, up from six (Bank of Montreal, CIBC, National Bank of Canada, Royal Bank of Canada, Scotiabank, and TD Bank).
“This is a monumental step in furthering our mission to help Canadians become much more financially successful and secure. Following the successful path forged over Questrade’s 26-year history, we are thrilled to expand our offering to introduce much needed competition to the Canadian banking landscape,” Questrade CEO and president Edward Kholodenko in a statement.
What Questrade does:
Currently as an online trading platform, the Questrade mission includes “helping Canadians become much more financially successful and secure”.
“At Questrade, we care about Canadians’ financial success. We offer better, simple, more affordable ways to take control of your money,” is a statement from the Questrade website.
“Whatever your financial goal may be, we have an account that can help you get there,” said the financial service that specializes in self-directed investing.
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NEWS SECTIONS: BANKING & FINANCE | BUDGET 2025