No more waiting for the bell: Wealthsimple opens the door to 24/5 trading

Until recently, trading stocks in Canada with a Canadian brokerage meant sticking to a pretty narrow window: 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. ET, Monday through Friday. Miss that window, and you were out of luck until the next day.

Wealthsimple is changing that. The platform has expanded its trading hours from 4:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. ET, and more notably, it’s rolled out 24/5 trading for a handful of U.S.-listed stocks and ETFs. That means trades can now happen any time from Sunday evening to Friday night. No market open bell required.

This makes Wealthsimple the first Canadian platform to offer near-round-the-clock access to U.S. markets during the week, and they’re doing it without adding extra fees. It’s a shift that reflects how investing is evolving: faster, more flexible and no longer tied to traditional market hours.

What does this mean for Canadian traders?

Traditional market hours don’t work for everyone. A lot of Canadians are busy during the day—at work, with family, or handling other responsibilities—which makes it hard to manage investments in real time. Wealthsimple’s move to offer 24/5 trading on select U.S. stocks and ETFs gives investors more flexibility to trade when it actually fits their schedule, whether that’s early in the morning or late at night.

There’s also a practical side to this. Markets don’t exist in a vacuum. News breaks around the clock, and global events can move prices long before the North American markets open. Until now, retail investors had to wait for the bell to ring before reacting. Now, they don’t.

With forex and crypto already trading nearly nonstop, extended stock market access is a logical next step. It’s not about chasing every headline, but having the option to act when timing matters.

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Buyer beware

While 24-hour trading offers more market access, investors should be mindful of potential challenges.

Trading outside regular market hours often means dealing with reduced liquidity, which can result in larger bid-ask spreads and heightened price volatility. When these conditions coincide with major news announcements, they may trigger temporary, unsustainable price movements in securities. However, as extended trading hours become more commonplace in global markets, these challenges are expected to gradually diminish in significance.

Access to U.S. markets no longer ends at the closing bell

Wealthsimple’s rollout of 24/5 trading marks a notable shift in how Canadian investors can engage with U.S. markets. For those who want the option to trade outside traditional hours, whether to react to breaking news or simply to fit investing into a busy schedule, it adds a layer of flexibility that wasn’t widely available before.

While not every investor will take advantage of extended hours, the move reflects a broader trend toward platforms offering more control and accessibility. It’s a sign that retail investing in Canada is continuing to evolve, and that the tools investors use are evolving with it.