Questrade Monetary Group has acquired the inexperienced gentle from Ottawa to launch a full-fledged Canadian financial institution, marking a serious step in its transformation from a reduction brokerage to an all-in-one monetary establishment.
The Workplace of the Superintendent of Monetary Establishments (OSFI) has granted letters patent authorizing Questbank to function as a Schedule I financial institution, putting it in the identical regulatory class because the nation’s largest lenders.
Questrade CEO Edward Kholodenko referred to as the milestone “a monumental step” within the firm’s mission to carry “much-needed competitors to the Canadian banking panorama.”
From fintech disruptor to regulated financial institution
Questrade first utilized for a banking licence in 2019, starting a six-year course of that now culminates in a chartered financial institution prepared to supply deposit and lending companies on to Canadians. The transfer positions Questrade amongst a small group of fintech corporations making the leap from platform to financial institution.
Based 26 years in the past, Questrade has grown its consumer property from $9 billion on the time of its financial institution software to roughly $85 billion right now. The corporate says Questbank will roll out its first services and products within the first half of 2026, with particulars nonetheless beneath wraps.
Why it issues for the mortgage market
Whereas Questrade hasn’t confirmed particular lending plans, the banking licence opens the door to a renewed push into mortgages, one thing it briefly provided by way of QuestMortgage, a digital platform operated by subsidiary Neighborhood Belief Firm.
Having its personal financial institution offers Questrade larger management over funding prices and the flexibility to originate loans instantly, a key benefit over fintech friends that should depend on partnerships with current banks. If Questbank chooses to re-enter dwelling lending, it might mix digital effectivity with balance-sheet lending, probably intensifying competitors within the prime mortgage area.
Questrade’s arrival as a chartered financial institution comes as different challengers, together with Koho Monetary and Banco Santander Canada, are additionally advancing by way of OSFI’s licensing course of.
And with federal plans for open banking and real-time funds nearing completion, the timing could possibly be excellent for newcomers aiming to modernize how Canadians financial institution — and borrow.
As Kholodenko instructed the Globe and Mail, Questrade needs to be “contained in the tent,” giving Canadians a regulated, trusted various to the Huge Six.
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Final modified: November 5, 2025
