The key differences
Interactive Brokers and Wealthsimple are the only two dealers allowed to offer event contracts in Canada, and they sell the same kind of product under the same rules: economic, financial and climate contracts with at least 30 days to maturity, priced in US dollars, paying US$1 if you’re right. Both are CIRO-regulated investment dealers and CIPF members. The differences are in cost, choice, age and convenience.
Fees, in Canadian dollars
Because every contract is priced in US dollars, the conversion matters as much as the trading fee. Here’s what 100 contracts at 40¢ cost all-in, held to settlement, at the Bank of Canada’s rate of 1.4057 on October 21, 2026, if you convert Canadian dollars in and convert the payout back:
The break-even is the probability you need to be right just to cover your costs. Without any fees it would be 40%.
For a single small order, Wealthsimple comes out slightly ahead, because Interactive Brokers’ US$2 minimum per conversion is a large share of a $60 trade. As soon as you convert a few hundred dollars at a time, or trade bigger, ForecastEx at IBKR is cheaper: 1,000 contracts at 40¢ converted just for that order cost C$579.15 at IBKR against C$599.25 at Wealthsimple. On Kalshi markets the two charge the same US$0.02 per contract, so only the conversion differs. Try your own numbers in our fee calculator.
Markets and liquidity
Interactive Brokers lists more markets: 482 on its Canadian site on October 22, 2026, of which 334 traded only on ForecastEx, 137 only on Kalshi and 11 on both. Wealthsimple offers Kalshi’s contracts only, thousands of them, in the same three categories.
Liquidity runs the other way. Every Wealthsimple order goes to Kalshi’s order book, the deepest behind either dealer: IBKR’s own data showed open interest of 205,284 in Kalshi’s Bank of Canada rate market against 399 in ForecastEx’s. If you trade ForecastEx’s Canadian markets at IBKR, expect wider gaps between the buy and sell price; Kalshi markets at IBKR are as deep as at Wealthsimple.
Age, accounts and funding
Wealthsimple accepts the age of majority in your province, 18 in Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Quebec and Saskatchewan and 19 elsewhere, so it’s the only legal option for 18- to 20-year-olds. Interactive Brokers requires 21.
Funding is faster at Wealthsimple: Interac e-Transfers are tradable instantly, and existing clients can move money in from other Wealthsimple accounts. At IBKR, a first EFT deposit is tradable after 5 business days; a wire is faster but usually costs a bank fee. Both accounts hold Canadian and US dollars, neither can be a TFSA or RRSP, and IBKR also asks you to request a trading permission before your first trade.
Which should you choose?
- Choose Interactive Brokers if you’re 21 or older, trade regularly or in larger amounts, want the most markets and the lowest per-contract fee, or already invest there. Read our Interactive Brokers review.
- Choose Wealthsimple Predict if you’re 18 to 20, new to prediction markets, trade small amounts now and then, or want instant Interac funding in a simple app. Read our Wealthsimple Predict review.
Whichever you pick, these are event contracts, not investments with an expected return: after fees and conversion you need to be right more often than the price implies just to break even. Our ranking of the best prediction markets in Canada explains how we scored both.
