Scotia iTRADE Reviews 

I am in my 50s, and never have I experienced an organization as poorly led and managed as this. If you ever need to do something as simple as update your address to reflect accurate tax residency information it is a month's long process fraught by miscommunications and unbelievably poor follow-up and basic customer service. It is an extremely inefficient and poorly run organization. I ran into multiple issues and believe their issues are so deep they are systemic and engrained in their business culture. Dealing with management is even worse than their front line staff. Honestly do not go near this place.

*Zero Stars* I have been trying to transfer an RESP to another bank for over 5 months now for my daughter. I have called several times to try to expedite the transfer. Every time I have to wait at least 45 minutes just to get through to speak to someone. Just now it rang after 50 minutes, no one picked up and I was placed back in the bottom of the queue. Most of the time the agent I speak to will tell me what I want to hear to get me off the line. In the background I don't believe anything is being done. Supposedly, there was an issue with the gender of my child according to the government as told by a Scotia Itrade agent. Now I was never informed of that, although they said they would correct it and initiate the transfer. Well, the other bank is still waiting for another month now. Scotiabank, in general, is the worst bank in Canada and I've had accounts with all 5 top banks. Every single time I want to close an account with Scotia it's such a hassle. I am in the process of closing all my remaining accounts with this bank and anyone reading this should do the same. Scotiabank you shouldn't exist anymore.

Scotia itrade
It was a nightmare to deal with Service Scotia Itrade.
Since I opened the account 5 weeks ago, after sending my driving license as requested, they told me my name is not correct… because in my driver license, Quebec government add on top of my name, my maiden name that I never used since I got married in 1976 and used my husband name. My legal name on every government paper like Passport, Revenu Quebec, Canada social security number, all kind of insurance , banking etc…So: why do they don’t understand that? It is so so clear! How could they not understand that!
Really a nightmare with service itrade, they even don’t know that in Quebec they put maiden name on top of my name just for information only
After more than a month of waiting, Scotia Itrade agreed to accept my legal name without a maiden name, but the Itrade account still isn't there, neither in the Itrade app nor in my online accounts. What a hassle!
Enough is enough, the only solution is to permanently close the account, even though I've never seen it since.

Service Scotia Itrade is terribly slow and the paperwork is very heavy
I would like to link my Canadian and Us account from my other banks to Itrade but it is a nightmare.
With Tangerine is easy, why it does not work with Scotia Itrade?
To link an outside account , Tangerine just need to fill online: the branch , bank code and account number and they will transfer two very small amount (ex: $ 0.05 and $0.09 )
When I received the 2 amounts in my account , I just confirm the 2 amounts on my link account online and it’s done, very simple and fast. Why not with Scotia Itrade?, I have to download a form , fill all the information and send to Servive Itrade by mail with a Void cheque. For a Canadian account it’s simple but with a US account, I don’t have a blank check, so Itrade don’t accept.
With Tangerine my US account was linked easily a longtime ago without void check
Why is it so so complicated ?

Scotia Itrade is the worst broker in North America.
1st. Waiting times for customer service is 45 minutes+++
2nd. If you get disconnected they will not phone you back even when they promise too.
3. Regarding, LIRA, LIF, RRSP account transfers, no one knows how their internal processes, so no answers to basic questions. Customer service reps are off shore, so they speak with strong accent making it very difficult to have the most basic conversation.
4. It took 4 months and 20 phones calls to get the most basic transfers done. Do not use this company, total garbage. High turnover, poorly trained, no knowledge, should be shut down by canadian regulators

Worst experience in 40 years of trading. Scotia iTrade wins the gold medal in corporate greed, extremely poor communication, and corporate bureaucracy designed to unjustly enrich itself. A few multi-billion dollar class action lawsuits might do well to remedy Scotia iTrade... but don't hold your breath for any reform. Very sorry that I didn't move my money and stocks a long time ago.

My father's wife died and he has been trying for five months now to get her iTrade fund monies released to him.
They refuse to do it. Now we have to get our lawyer involved.

Update December 9, 2025: it is now eight months since I started this process and we still have not received our funds. I would highly recommend you do not hand any of your hard-earned money to these people. They should be ashamed of themselves.

I JUST SENT THIS TO THE CRA: I wish to seriously suggest that bob hamilton be removed from his position, and placed in housekeeping where he might be able to understand his responsibilities. THE MAN EITHER DOESN'T UNDERSTAND ENGLISH OR JUST DOESN'T GIVE A ...... ABOUT THE PEOPLE OF THIS COUNTRY. HE AND HIS MASSIVE DEPARTMENT AREN'T ABLE TO DETERMINE THAT WHEN I SAY I AM BEING IGNORED BY SCOTIA I TRADE, WHO REFUSE TO PRODUCE, AND ARE LAWFULLY REQUIRED TO DO SO, A TAX SLIP TO THE CRA. I have done everything in my power to accomplish this. bob and his minions insist I am responsible to have scotia itrade follow the tax laws. I disagree. I have made every conceivable effort to do so. bob, I am still alive , yes, you may cause me a heart attack and I may not see seventy-five. The cra, under your guidance, is a danger to the health and well being of Canadians bob. HOW ARE YOU ABLE TO SLEEP AT NIGHT BOB?

They need to improve period,too many issues to count ,does the CEO knows.really

It is a mean spirited bank with an ancient trading interface Itrade. After been with them for 6 years, they managed to make a few big errors as they executed my trade orders. I am transferring to other platform and escalated it to social media and other regulatory bodies.. If you are an active options trader, stay away from them due to their ancient trading platform and poor customer service.

One of the worst service Scotia I trade provide the app is working veryyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy slow , when you put the order it is not executed, so many times I place the market order it doesn't work I lost alot of money with Scotia I Trade , today I tried to sold my two stocks the same time the app was not working for 30 mints which case me loses ,another i put the limited order , i want to cancel the order , the app was not working. i tried to contact customer service it took 50 mints. in final they said we are not respirable for your lost, she told me that if you are not satisfied you can close you account with scoita , I kindly request all please dont use Scotia I trade services . they give your stocks to Options , zerooooo service

You’d think with all these horrible reviews that Scotia I trade would concentrate on helping their customers. Obviously, they still have no clue ( March 2025).
Shame on Scotiabank!!! Stay away, useless, 75 days later and still not even an account approval!!!

Worst customer service ever. They don't answer phone calls or emails,. They don't communicate with the branch rep.

terrible service, waiting for over an hour to talk to a customer service rep. garbage platform, expensive trades, moving on to questrade.

the iTrade platform started malfunctioning 3 months ago. It took two weeks for the front line people to be made aware of the problems! 3 months later, they still haven't fixed their website. The system keeps timing out, resetting randomly, option positions that I have put on have lost their links to the market so they can't be traded unless you call, wait 10 to 30 minutes for someone/anyone to take your call, then have to reverify your identity because they voice recognition/passwords cannot "be accepted", then wait while the agent contacts their back office to manually place the option trade, etc. etc. This example is the tip of the iceberg. Avoid at all cost.

Totally useless

They operate only to get more from you , had to get up and get away quick.

It's would be difficult to explain the full extent of iTrade's service failings but suffice it to say, it's best to avoid at all costs. iTrade is not a responsive, fast moving brokerage. None of the service channels work (I've tried them all, repeatedly) and the response times aren't just slow, they fail time and again. Even if you're able to chat with someone who provides appearance of care, the likelihood that the support staff (to complete the request) does not exist on the back end. You will need to phone, email, badger, cajole them over and over and over again to get anything done. Try that with an aging parent's accounts (RRIF's, TFSA's, unregistered accounts, doesn't matter) and test your patience. Guessing you'll quickly exhaust it. FYI, if you happen to discover the ScotiaBank president's office complaint email address during your frustrations, don't bother. They are as useless and distant from the fight on the ground as a king in his castle.

I have just spent an hour on the phone, trying to reset my trading access code. I missed executing a crucial trade because the market is now closed. Their tech support is abysmal. The operator told me it may take up to a week to reset my code.
Their service is terrible, and I think they rely on the fact that it's expensive and time-consuming to move registered investment accounts to another broker.
They have been revamping their outdated and user-hostile website and apps for at least a year. They launched the new one a couple of weeks ago, and then pulled it back. Oops! It think Britney Spears may be their CTO.

Would be 0 stars if they had that ranking.

For the last 2 weeks I have been unable to trade Canadian option on line. They have a problem that can't be fixed quickly.

This necesitated calling their Customer serivce that has no voice recognition ID set up and from the time they pick up till the time you are able to place an order you can be on hold for 10 to 15 minutes. As you know, sometimes making a trade is time sensitive.

Imagine having option trading off line for 2 weeks and counting.