Is AvaTrade available in Canada?

We have received several inquiries about whether AvaTrade (the FX and CFDs Online Broker) is available to clients residing in the country. The answer is Yes, AvaTrade is available for clients living in Canada. If you haven't heard of this platform yet, don't worry, we will now describe all the details you need to know.

All accounts are opened by and held with Friedberg Direct, a company headquartered in Toronto which manages over $2 billion in assets. Friedberg Direct was founded in 1971 and since then has been one of the largest independent brokers in Canada. Friedberg Direct is the Online discount brokerage division offering direct access to CFD Trading. The relationship between Friedberg Direct and AvaTrade was formed to allow Canadian residents access AvaTrade's investment products and their trading technology while maintaining their accounts with a regulated Canadian firm.

What is AvaTrade (In short)?

AvaTrade is a leading Forex and CFD Online Broker. Since its inception in Ireland in 2006, AvaTrade has seen exponential growth: As of 2021, it has more than 220,000 client accounts operating more than 2 million transactions per month. AvaTrade offers more than 1,250 CFDs on Forex, Indices, Commodities, Cryptocurrencies, Stocks, and Bonds.

Financial Assets Available with AvaTrade

• Forex: +50 currency instruments – Major, minor, and exotic pairs.

• Stocks: +600 CFDs on Stocks from major Stock Exchanges.

• ETFs: 60+ CFDs on ETFs from iShares, Global X, ProShares, Direxion, SPDR, Aberdeen, among other asset managers.

• Commodities: 29 CFDs on commodities.

• Indices: 22 major stock exchange indices.

• Cryptocurrencies: CFDs on 13 cryptocurrencies.

• FX Options: 44 Options on FX Pairs, CAD ones included.

• Social Trading: As mentioned before, AvaTrade offers the possibility of acquiring portfolios developed by other traders using several platforms.

• Bonds: CFDs on Euro-Bund and Japanese Government bonds.

AvaTrade & Friedberg Direct's Regulation: Can we trust this platform with our money?

One way to understand whether a Broker is trustworthy is through the State Regulation and the Security measures to which the company that owns the platform is subject. For example, if a broker is supervised by a government entity considered Top Tier, this is an indicator of whether it is safe to deposit funds and operate with the platform.

AvaTrade is one of the most heavily regulated brokers globally, being subject to the opinions of the financial authorities of Ireland, Australia, Japan, South Africa, the UAE, and the British Virgin Islands.

As mentioned previously, when opening an account from Canada, you will be opening your account with Friedberg Direct, a subsidiary of Friedberg Mercantile, a member of the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC) and the Canadian Investor Protection Fund (CIPF). Customer accounts are protected by the Canadian Investor Protection Fund within specified limits.

Trading Platforms available with AvaTrade

Metatrader 4

MT4 is a Forex Trading Platform that has been around since 2002 and is the industry benchmark in FX online trading. MT4 is easily customisable, user-friendly for novices, but also comprehensive for Pros. MetaTrader 4 features the highest security and technology standards. In addition, it supports the native MQL4 (MetaQuotes Language 4) programming language, enabling the development of various customised trading tools to be used directly on it. MQL4 is based on the programming language C++, and its flexibility can help create the following:

• Expert Advisors (EAs): EAs are programs that make it possible to apply automated strategies in the forex markets.

• Custom Indicators: Besides the built-in technical indicators, traders can develop custom mathematical tools and indicators to perform any analytical operation based on their previously set conditions.

• Scripts - A script is an app that is programmed to perform any function on the Trading platform. For example, you might apply a script to close pending orders or delete all the indicators placed on a chart once an asset reaches a predetermined price.

Long story short, MT4 allows Traders a variety of functionalities to customise their trading experience.

Metatrader 5

MT5 is a state-of-the-art, multi-functional platform that boasts advanced auto-trading systems, technical tools, and copytrading (A feature that allows investors to "follow", copy, and invest in other traders' strategies). MetaTrader 5 accommodates advanced trading needs across a more comprehensive asset class selection (CFDs on stocks, crypto, among others) than its predecessor, MT4.

AvaOptions

As its name indicates, AvaOptions is a platform specialised in Options Trading (Spot, Call, Put, and Combined) on 40 FX pairs. Being specialised, it allows many variants of Trading that other platforms don't.

AvaTradeGo

Voted Best Forex Trading App 2020, AvaTradeGo offers a smooth trading experience with a sophisticated dashboard, complete with a set of intuitive management tools, clear charts, zoom for details, and many more helpful features. A display of this platform's view, in the picture below.