Diversify your registered investments

Take advantage of investment opportunities in U.S. markets with Scotia iTRADE® U.S. dollar registered accounts1, which allow you to hold U.S. cash and securities in your registered account(s). 

Benefits 

  • No currency conversion costs1 when buying or selling U.S. denominated securities in the U.S. dollar side of your registered account
  • Hedge against currency fluctuations by holding U.S. dollars
  • Trade and hold securities and receive dividends in the U.S. side of your account

Accounts with a U.S. dollar side

  • Registered Retirement Savings Accounts (RRSP)
  • Tax-Free Savings Accounts (TFSA)
  • Registered Retirement Income Accounts (RRIF)
  • Locked-in Retirement Accounts (LIRA) 
  • Locked-in Retirement Savings Plan (LRSP)

Note: Registered Education Savings Plans (RESPs) are not available in U.S. dollars, however, Scotia iTRADE offers a U.S.-Friendly RESP that provides many of the same benefits of U.S. dollar registered accounts when saving for your child’s education.

U.S.-Friendly Registered Education Savings Plan (RESPs) 

For a flat fee of $30 per calendar quarter per account, enrollment in a U.S.-Friendly RESP allows you to save for your child’s education, while taking advantage of trading U.S. denominated securities, without paying a retail foreign exchange spread2 in your Canadian denominated registered account. 

Learn more about U.S.-Friendly RESP

Benefits

  • No foreign exchange costs when buying or selling U.S. denominated securities in your registered account
  • Can be applied to any RESP account at any time
  • Easy to enroll in a few simple steps

How to enroll

  • Log on to Scotia OnLine
  • Go to Manage My Accounts > Additional Services
  • Click on "Service Request" and select "Enroll Registered Account(s) in the U.S.-Friendly RESP Account Service"

Frequently asked questions

1

Scotia iTRADE offers Registered plans (e.g. RRSP, RRIFs) that are denominated in both Canadian and U.S dollars (except Registered Education Savings Plan which is denominated in only Canadian dollars). Where foreign denominated assets are bought, sold or held in such a registered account with both Canadian and U.S. dollar side enabled:

  a.      Any tax withholding or reporting under applicable tax legislation will be in Canadian dollars, at the applicable exchange rate. It is your responsibility to monitor any limits under applicable tax legislation when dealing in foreign denominated assets in a registered account;

  b.      We may sell or settle assets within a registered account between different currencies to administer the account, including payment of fees, or to prevent debit balances; and

  c.      We are not liable in respect of any fees or losses that may arise in connection with sales or conversions of foreign denominated registered assets; and

  d.      For contributions and withdrawals where a currency conversion occurs, the foreign currency component may include a retail "mark-up" or spread over and above the single, benchmark, mid-market rate used by Scotia Capital Inc.

 

Please ensure you have reviewed section 1.7 of the Scotia iTRADE® Relationship Disclosure Document and Terms and Conditions. In addition, you can get more details on foreign exchange transactions by logging onto Scotia OnLine, clicking ‘Help’, and searching for "Converting Funds Between Currencies through Scotia iTRADE" in the help section.

2

For trades in U.S. securities in Scotia iTRADE's U.S.-Friendly Canadian dollar registered accounts on a single trading day, the foreign currency component will be transacted at the single, benchmark, mid-market rate used by Scotia Capital Inc. to price its holdings of US/Canadian dollar currencies at the end of that trading day (SCI Rate). Scotia iTRADE will not apply its retail "mark-up" or spread over and above the SCI Rate to the foreign currency component of the trade. Only trades in U.S. securities in the U.S.-Friendly registered accounts will be given this preferential foreign exchange rate. A quarterly fee of $30 (plus applicable taxes) per registered account per calendar quarter applies. For important information on foreign exchange transactions, log on to Scotia OnLine, click ‘Help’ and search for "Converting Funds Between Currencies through Scotia iTRADE" in the Help section.

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