The best robo-advisors in Canada for 2025

Robo-advisors are changing the way Canadians invest. Instead of paying big fees to a traditional advisor, people are now turning to platforms that use algorithms to build and manage their portfolios. The result is lower costs, less hassle, and a smarter way to grow their money. 

So whether you’re new to investing or just tired of watching fees eat into your returns, the best robo-advisor options in 2025 make it easy to get started.

The best Canadian robo-advisors

Picking the best robo-advisor in Canada is subjective – what’s best for you depends on your portfolio size, risk tolerance, fee sensitivity, and desire for human support. Here are three robo investment platforms in Canada that stand out in 2025.

Justwealth

Justwealth offers a large selection of portfolios, consistent returns, and access to real people to help navigate your options. Its management fees are competitive: 0.50% on balances under $500,000, dropping to 0.40% above that. 

Justwealth also offers a variety of portfolio options and customization you don’t always get in big-bank robo offerings. If you want more than a one-size-fits-all portfolio, Justwealth gives you tools and support without forcing you to be your own advisor.

Questwealth / Questrade’s Robo Portfolios

If low cost is your top priority, Questwealth (from Questrade) deserves strong consideration. It’s often billed as a “best for low fees” pick because its fee structure is tough to beat, charging just 0.25% on accounts with assets between $250–$100K, and 0.20% on accounts over $100K.

Because it operates through Questrade, you get the benefit of a well-known brokerage backing it. The trade-off is you may not get as much handholding or ultra-custom features compared to a boutique robo-advisor, but for many investors, it’s a great, efficient option.

Wealthsimple

You can’t talk about robo-advisors in Canada without mentioning Wealthsimple. It often gets labelled “best overall” in sector comparisons because it blends ease of use, broad adoption, and decent fee tiers. 

Its fees (0.40%–0.50% for most accounts) are higher than many, but those fees buy you an easy-to-navigate account and app that offers additional features, like socially responsible investing or halal portfolios.

Robo investing has grown into a mainstream option for many Canadians. Whether you’re just starting out, or looking to robo investing as a smarter way to manage your portfolio, robo-advisors combine low fees with hands-off convenience.

What is a robo-advisor?

A robo-advisor is an online investment platform that simplifies investing by doing what’s called robo investing. Instead of picking stocks yourself or paying a traditional advisor, the platform automatically invests your money in exchange-traded funds (ETFs) based on your risk level and financial goals. 

You start by filling out a questionnaire that helps shape your investing strategy. After that, you connect your bank account, decide how much you want to invest, and the robo-advisor does the rest, including monitoring and rebalancing your portfolio to keep you on track. 

How do robo-advisors work?

Robo-advisors keep portfolio management simple by using ETFs instead of individual stocks. They automatically rebalance your investments as markets move, making sure your portfolio stays aligned with your goals and risk level. It’s a math-driven approach that takes the guesswork out of investing and makes it accessible to almost anyone. 

That’s why robo investment platforms have become one of the fastest-growing tools for Canadians. The mix of lower fees, convenience, and personalized strategies is exactly what makes robo-advisors so appealing for Canadians.

Why choose a robo-advisor?

Robo-advisors offer a time-efficient and cost-effective investment solution by eliminating the need for extensive stock research and high-priced financial advisors, ultimately benefiting clients.  These accounts are automated, so you avoid the higher costs associated with human advisors who might charge substantial fees for their services.

Plus, by opting for ETFs, you eliminate much of the uncertainty associated with individual stock investments. This not only reduces the gambling aspect of the stock market but also alleviates the anxiety associated with equity markets.

When looking for a robo-advisor, be sure to compare the following features: 

Fees

When you’re comparing robo investment platforms, pay attention to two costs: the annual account management fee and the average Management Expense Ratio (MER) of the funds you’re invested in. Both add up, and together they determine what you’re really paying. Some of the best robo-advisor Canada options, like Questwealth, offer options with management fees as low as 0.2%. 

MERs are usually lower with robo investing than with traditional funds, but they can still range anywhere from 0.11%–0.5%. When looking at robo investing for beginners, understanding these numbers is key to picking the right platform and keeping more of your returns.

Account types

Do some research into the type of account you want to open with a robo-advisor. Some robo-advisors offer a few registered accounts as well as unregistered trading accounts. 

For example, Wealthsimple Managed Investing is offered across all investment accounts available on the platform, such as  registered retirement savings plans (RRSPs), first home savings accounts (FHSAs) and tax-free savings accounts (TFSAs), excluding its Crypto and Margin accounts. 

Investing options

Robo-advisors give Canadians plenty of choice in how their money is invested. Most robo investment platforms offer two main types of portfolios: standard and socially responsible investing (SRI). Some even go further with specialized options like halal portfolios. 

Within those categories, you can choose how much risk you want to take on, ranging from conservative to aggressive. The number of portfolio options varies depending on the platform. Some keep it simple with just a handful of options, while others offer a more detailed scale. 

Either way, the best robo-advisor platforms require new customers (you) to complete a questionnaire that clarifies your risk tolerance and financial knowledge, then uses the responses to match you with the right portfolio. This makes robo investing for beginners especially straightforward.

Platform usability

Every investor has different priorities, but most look for a few specific things from a robo-advisor platform, including ease-of-use. 

Users want:

• A simple way to see how your portfolio is doing
• Automated reinvestment of dividends so you can grow your account balance further
• An easy way to update your portfolio and risk tolerance if your situation or investing goals change

It’s also important to consider whether you can invest in global or foreign ETFs and how much that would cost. 

Performance

Compare the average returns of different robo-advisor portfolios over 1, 3 and 5-year periods to see how they perform over the long term. 

If a robo-advisor has higher-than-average fees and MERs, but performs the same or worse than other robo-advisors with lower fees, then you may want to consider going with another option. The average 5-year returns on most robo-advisors range from around 5% up to 8%.

Robo investing is a great fit for anyone who wants a simple, hands-off way to grow their money. If you’d rather skip stock picking and still get reliable, long-term returns, robo-advisor platforms make it easy. You answer a few questions about your goals and risk tolerance, and the platform matches you with a ready-made portfolio that fits your comfort level.

Because robo investment platforms are built on passive investing, they keep costs low compared to traditional advisors. These platforms are especially well-suited for medium to long-term goals, like investing over five to ten years, since they’re designed to help you ride the market rather than try to outguess it.

When are robo-advisors not the best choice?

If you’re chasing quick, short-term gains, robo investing may not be right for you, as the strategies behind it are built on long-term growth and steady returns.

It’s also not the right fit if you want constant one-on-one advice. While many options offer access to human experts, robo-advisors are designed for passive investing, meaning they’ll build and rebalance your portfolio, but they won’t walk you through every financial decision. Lower fees come with less hand-holding, so if you need frequent guidance, a traditional advisor may suit you better.

Finally, if you’re an ultra-high-net-worth investor with complex tax needs, these options might not offer the level of customization you’d get from a private wealth manager. That said, some robo-advisors, like Wealthsimple, do offer premium tiers with added services for larger accounts.

If you’re looking into robo investing, you’ll come across the term MER quite a bit. It stands for management expense ratio, and it’s the annual fee built into mutual funds and ETFs. The MER covers everything from fund manager salaries to operating costs and research.

The fee is shown as a percentage and is taken straight out of the fund’s returns before you see them. For example, if you invest $10,000 in an ETF with a 2% MER, about $200 goes to fees each year, no matter how the fund performs. 

Just remember, MERs are separate from the management fee you pay to the robo-advisor itself. The MER is charged by the fund, while the robo-advisor’s management fee – usually a percentage of your invested balance – covers services like portfolio rebalancing, dividend reinvestment, and client support. Together, these two costs give you the full picture of what robo investing for beginners (and experienced investors alike) really costs.

Mutual funds have long been a favourite for Canadians – more than $1.7 trillion is invested across thousands of funds, according to the Investment Funds Institute of Canada. When you buy into a mutual fund, your money is pooled with other investors’ money, and a manager decides what to buy and sell. 

Strategies, performance, and fees vary widely, and most funds don’t consistently beat the market. In fact, the Wall Street Journal reported that 71%-93% of U.S. stock mutual funds either shut down or underperformed index funds over a 10 year stretch.

This might sound familiar because robo investing also takes the work off your plate. But here’s the difference: robo investment platforms typically don’t use mutual funds. Instead, they invest your money in ETFs that track entire segments of the market. For example, a fund like the Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF covers nearly the entire U.S. stock market. Holding everything – winners and losers alike – has historically delivered stronger returns than stock picking.

The best robo-advisor Canada platforms in 2025 go a step further by managing those ETFs on your behalf. Unlike a human advisor who might check your portfolio once a year, robo-advisors continually monitor your investments, automatically buying and selling to keep things balanced according to your risk tolerance.

Giving your money to a robot might sound strange at first, but robo investing has clear advantages over hiring a traditional advisor.

The first difference is cost. Many financial advisors make money by selling mutual funds or other actively managed products that pay them commissions. Those fees stack up and can take a serious chunk out of your returns. 

Fee-only financial planners avoid commissions, but they still charge higher rates than most robo investment platforms. Robo-advisors keep overhead low and use ETFs to do the hard work, which allows them to operate profitably while charging you far less. 

Performance is another big factor. Human advisors like to frame their value as being able to strategically pick investments that will outperform the market, but in reality, most don’t. Over the long term, very few advisors consistently beat the index. 

Robo-advisors skip the guesswork and instead invest your money across diversified ETFs that track entire markets. Their goal isn’t to outsmart the market, but to match it, and that strategy has historically delivered better results than most human advisors.