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Questrade Just Went "Agentic" — What It Means For Your Trading Account

Published July 30, 2026 If you have money sitting in a Questrade account, the platform you log into is about to change more than it has in years. On July 30, Questrade unveiled its biggest product push since it eliminated stock trading commissions in 2019 — and this time, the headline feature isn't a lower fee. It's letting an AI assistant place trades for you. Questrade now manages roughly $100 billion in client assets, up from about $9 billion in 2019, and it's using that scale to go after Canada's increasingly crowded self-directed investing market. Here's what actually launched, and what it means before you touch any of it. What's actually new AI assistants can now trade on your behalf. Questrade is the first Canadian financial institution to officially connect client accounts directly to AI assistants like Claude and ChatGPT through something it calls Questrade MCP. In practice, that means you can ask an AI to pull up your account information, research a s...
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CRA may tax company gifts to employees, depending on what it is and how much it’s worth

 


Here is a short article about the tax rules surrounding gifts by employers in Canada:

The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) distinguishes between gifts, awards, and long-service awards. The value of gifts and awards are generally taxable to employees as employment income, but certain non-cash gifts and awards may not be taxable under the updated administrative policies.

A gift is something given to an employee for a special occasion such as a religious holiday, birthday, wedding, or the birth of a child. Gifts given around this time of year will generally fall under this category. 

An award is given for an employment-related accomplishment such as outstanding service, or an employee’s suggestion. It recognizes an employee’s “overall contribution to the workplace, not recognition of job performance.” 

A valid, potentially non-taxable award has clearly defined criteria, a nomination and evaluation process, and a limited number of recipients, according to the CRA. Contrast this with a reward, which is provided to employees for performance-related reasons, such as meeting or exceeding sales targets, or completing a project. These rewards are considered to be taxable benefits to the employee, akin to a bonus or extra compensation. 

Under the CRA’s administrative policy, employees can receive an unlimited number of tax-free non-cash gifts or awards each year, provided the combined total fair market value of those gifts and awards is less than $500 (including tax). Excluded from this $500 limit are small items or items of a trivial value such as coffee or tea, T-shirts, mugs, plaques, and trophies. If, however, the total of non-cash gifts and awards is more than $500 in a calendar year, the amount over $500 will be considered a taxable employment benefit.


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