$400 Canadian Commissions!

Yes, I would agree, the big problem in Canada is the foreign content limit for our RRSP's. The only way to make our markets competitive would be to get rid of these limits.

I received a call from Questrade today. He was very nice and offered a deal to trade shares on the TSX for 1.5 cents a share. This is the best deal I've seen from any broker in Canada but still a far cry from anything in the US. It would still cost me $300 to buy and sell 10,000 shares of a $2 stock. After talking to him I realized that the problem with the high commissions isn't with the brokers but it's because of the TSX which is charging the high per share fees to the brokers. The TSX has little motivation to change their pricing as long as they have most Canadians forced to invest their RRSP's with them.
 
strangely with all these user concerns voiced, TSX still says they are a good place to trade:

http://www.tse.com/en/mediaNews/newsreleases/news3663.html

"The study also found that in general when dealing with cross-listed securities, trading spreads and costs are significantly higher for foreign market listings compared with listings on the home market. Fewer than 200 issues are listed on both the TSX and on U.S. markets and the majority of this interlisted trading (64% of the total dollar value traded) continues to occur in Canada."

64% because of RSPs?

"Concurrently in 2001 and 2002, TSX Markets significantly reduced trading fees. TSX Markets launched a number of new trading features, aimed at remaining competitive and enhancing the services offered to market participants."

of course this was not reflected in brokerage fees ...
 
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