Wealthsimple vs Disnat (Desjardins): Which Is Better for Buying XEQT in Canada?

My cousin in Montreal messaged me last fall asking which brokerage he should use to start investing. He had just opened a Desjardins chequing account after moving to the city for work, and his first instinct was to open a Disnat account because it was right there in his banking app. “Why would I go anywhere else?” he asked. “Everything is already with Desjardins.”

It is a fair question, and one I get a lot from readers in Quebec. Desjardins is deeply woven into the financial lives of Quebecers – it is the credit union that millions of people grew up with, the institution their parents and grandparents trusted. Disnat, Desjardins’ discount brokerage, feels like the natural next step when you are ready to start investing. And honestly, it is a decent platform.

But when I walked my cousin through the comparison – commissions, features, automation, the day-to-day experience of actually buying XEQT every payday – he ended up opening a Wealthsimple account instead. Not because Disnat was bad, but because Wealthsimple was simply a better fit for what he wanted to do: buy one ETF consistently and let it grow.

This guide is a thorough, honest comparison of both platforms. I have tested Disnat firsthand and I use Wealthsimple daily. I will give Disnat full credit where it deserves it, but I will also be direct about which platform I think is better for XEQT investors specifically.

Disclosure: This page contains a Wealthsimple referral link. I use Wealthsimple personally and share my honest experience. I do not have a referral arrangement with Disnat or Desjardins.

1. Quick Verdict

If you just want the bottom line before we get into the details:

• For most XEQT investors, especially beginners: Wealthsimple wins. It is simpler, cheaper, and purpose-built for the “just buy XEQT” approach. Zero commissions, automatic recurring buys, fractional shares, and a beautiful mobile app make it the ideal platform for passive ETF investing.

• For Desjardins members who want everything under one roof, or for active traders who want more advanced tools: Disnat has its place. If you value the convenience of seeing your banking and investments in the same ecosystem, and you are comfortable with a more traditional brokerage experience, Disnat is a solid choice.

• For the specific strategy this site advocates – buying XEQT regularly and holding it for the long term – Wealthsimple is the better tool. The auto-invest feature alone makes it the winner for passive investors.

Now let me show you why.

2. What Is Disnat?

If you are outside Quebec, you might not have heard of Disnat. Let me give you a quick overview.

Disnat (short for Desjardins Internet Brokerage, though the name has evolved) is the discount brokerage arm of Desjardins Group, Canada’s largest federation of credit unions and the sixth-largest cooperative financial group in the world. Desjardins was founded in 1900 in Levis, Quebec, and today serves millions of members across the province and beyond.

Disnat offers two main tiers of service:

• Disnat Classic – The standard brokerage account with access to stocks, ETFs, mutual funds, bonds, and options. Commissions apply on most trades.

• Disnat Direct – A more advanced platform for active traders with enhanced tools, streaming real-time quotes, and more competitive pricing on certain trades.

Disnat is regulated by CIRO and is a member of the Canadian Investor Protection Fund (CIPF), so your investments are protected up to $1 million per account category – the same as Wealthsimple or any other Canadian brokerage.

The main appeal for Desjardins members is integration. You can see your chequing account, savings, mortgage, and investment portfolio all within one ecosystem. In Quebec, where Desjardins has branches in practically every neighbourhood, you can walk into a caisse populaire and talk to someone about your investments. That in-person access is a real advantage for people who value face-to-face support.

3. Head-to-Head Comparison

Here is a detailed side-by-side look at how Wealthsimple and Disnat compare across every major category that matters for XEQT investors:

Both platforms cover the basics – all the account types you need, proper regulation, and access to XEQT. But the features that matter most for passive ETF investors – fractional shares, auto-invest, and commission-free everything – are areas where Wealthsimple has clear advantages.

4. Where Wealthsimple Wins

These are the areas where Wealthsimple pulls ahead, especially for someone whose primary goal is buying XEQT regularly.

Commission-free everything. Wealthsimple charges $0 on all Canadian stock and ETF trades. No conditions, no minimum balance, no select list. Disnat does offer commission-free trading on a list of Canadian ETFs, and XEQT is typically on that list, but the scope is narrower. If you ever branch out into individual stocks or ETFs not on the free list, Disnat’s commissions kick in at $6.95 per trade on Classic.

Fractional shares. This is a game-changer for XEQT investors. On Wealthsimple, you can invest any dollar amount – $50, $137, $500, whatever you have available. If XEQT is trading at $28.50 and you want to invest $200, Wealthsimple buys you exactly 7.0175 shares. Every dollar goes to work immediately. On Disnat, you can only buy whole shares. That same $200 gets you 7 shares at $199.50, with $0.50 sitting as uninvested cash. Over hundreds of transactions, that cash drag adds up.

Auto-invest and recurring buys. This is the single most important feature for passive XEQT investors, and it is the one that sealed the deal for my cousin. On Wealthsimple, you set up a recurring buy: pick XEQT, choose your dollar amount, set a schedule (weekly, biweekly, monthly), and the platform handles everything. Money moves from your bank account, arrives in your brokerage account, and gets invested in XEQT automatically. You do not have to log in, you do not have to place a trade, you do not have to think about it. Disnat does not offer this feature. Every purchase requires you to log in and manually place the trade. That extra friction is the enemy of consistency.

Beautiful, intuitive mobile app. Wealthsimple was designed mobile-first. Buying XEQT takes about three taps. The portfolio view is clean, performance tracking is easy to understand, and the whole experience feels modern and thoughtful. The Disnat mobile app works, but it feels like an afterthought compared to the web platform. Navigation is clunky, and simple tasks require more steps than they should. If you are someone who manages your finances primarily from your phone – and that describes most people under 40 – the experience gap is noticeable.

Wealthsimple Tax integration. Wealthsimple offers free tax filing software that integrates with your investment accounts. Come tax season, your slips are pre-populated. Desjardins has its own ecosystem, but the tax-filing integration is not as smooth.

$25 sign-up bonus. Wealthsimple offers a $25 referral bonus when you sign up through a referral link – essentially a free partial share of XEQT right out of the gate. Disnat runs promotions from time to time, but they are less consistent and sometimes require minimum deposits.

DRIP capability. Both platforms support DRIP (Dividend Reinvestment Plans), but on Wealthsimple fractional shares make DRIP more efficient – every cent of your dividend gets reinvested. On Disnat, DRIP works with whole shares only, so small dividend payments may sit as cash until they accumulate enough to buy a full share.

5. Where Disnat Wins

I want to be fair here. Disnat is not a bad platform, and for certain investors it has genuine advantages over Wealthsimple.

Desjardins integration. If your chequing account, savings, mortgage, and insurance are all with Desjardins, there is real convenience in having your investments in the same ecosystem. You can see your full financial picture in one place and move money between accounts instantly. Wealthsimple links to any Canadian bank, but it is still a separate app and a separate login. For people who want everything consolidated, Desjardins’ integrated experience is compelling.

In-branch support in Quebec. Desjardins has a physical presence that Wealthsimple cannot match. If something goes wrong with your account, or you just want to talk to someone face-to-face, you can walk into your local caisse populaire. Wealthsimple offers chat and phone support, which is fine for most situations, but some investors find real comfort in having a person they can sit across from. Desjardins has over 200 service centres in Quebec alone.

Better tools for active traders. If you are using XEQT as a core holding but also want to trade individual stocks, options, or more exotic instruments, Disnat Direct offers a more robust trading platform than Wealthsimple. Streaming real-time quotes, advanced charting, technical analysis tools, and deeper market data are all available for active traders. Wealthsimple’s research tools are basic by comparison.

Wider range of investment products. Through Disnat and the broader Desjardins network, you have access to mutual funds, bonds, GICs, and structured products that are not available on Wealthsimple. If your investment strategy goes beyond ETFs, Disnat provides more options within a single account.

Part of Canada’s largest credit union group. Desjardins is a cooperative – owned by its members, not shareholders. It reinvests in Quebec communities and has a social mission that resonates with many members. Wealthsimple is a for-profit fintech company, which is a different model entirely. For people who care about the philosophy behind where they keep their money, this matters.

Provincial brand trust in Quebec. There is something intangible but real about the trust that Quebecers place in Desjardins. It is the institution that generations of families have relied on. Investing is partly psychological, and if keeping your money at Desjardins helps you sleep better at night and stay the course during market downturns, that has genuine value.

6. For XEQT Investors Specifically

This is the section that matters most for readers of this site. Let me zoom in on the specific experience of buying XEQT regularly at each platform.

The Wealthsimple XEQT experience:

1. Sign up and open a TFSA (or RRSP, FHSA, whatever account you need). Takes about 10 minutes.
2. Set up auto-invest: choose XEQT, enter your dollar amount (say $200), set the schedule to biweekly.
3. Link your bank account for automatic funding.
4. Walk away.

That is it. Every two weeks, Wealthsimple pulls $200 from your bank account, buys exactly $200 worth of XEQT (fractional shares, so every penny is invested), and adds it to your portfolio. You get a notification on your phone. You do not have to think about the stock market, check the price, decide if “now is a good time,” or do anything at all. The system runs on autopilot.

Over the course of a year, you would have made 26 purchases totalling $5,200 invested in XEQT. Total commissions paid: $0. Total time spent trading after initial setup: zero minutes.

The Disnat XEQT experience:

1. Sign up for a Disnat account (or add it to your existing Desjardins membership).
2. Transfer funds from your Desjardins chequing account to your Disnat brokerage account.
3. Log into Disnat, navigate to the trading platform, search for XEQT.
4. Calculate how many whole shares your $200 can buy at today’s price.
5. Place the order.
6. Repeat every single payday.

With Disnat, XEQT is likely on the commission-free ETF list, so you would not pay commissions on the trade itself. But there is no auto-invest, so every purchase requires a manual login. And there are no fractional shares, so if XEQT is at $28.50 and you have $200, you buy 7 shares for $199.50 and the remaining $0.50 sits as cash.

Over a year of biweekly investing, those manual steps add up to 26 separate sessions. Some people do not mind this. But manual processes create opportunities for inconsistency. A busy week, a vacation, a bad market day that makes you hesitate – any of these can break the chain.

Here is a quick comparison of what a year of biweekly $200 XEQT purchases looks like:

The commission difference may be small or zero, depending on Disnat’s current free ETF list. But the automation difference is enormous. Wealthsimple’s auto-invest removes you from the equation entirely. Disnat requires your active participation 26 times a year. For a strategy that works best when you do not touch it, Wealthsimple is built to do exactly that.

7. What About Fees Beyond Commissions?

Commissions are the most visible cost, but they are not the only one. Here is how the broader fee picture compares.

Wealthsimple fees:

• $0 commissions on all Canadian stocks and ETFs
• $0 account maintenance fees on the free tier
• No inactivity fees
• 1.5% currency conversion fee on USD trades (0% with Plus at $13/month)

Disnat fees:

• $0 commissions on select Canadian ETFs (including most popular ones like XEQT – verify the current list before you act)
• $6.95 per trade for stocks and non-qualifying ETFs on Classic
• Lower commissions on Disnat Direct for active traders
• Currency conversion at market rate plus a spread (not always transparent)
• Some account fees may apply depending on balance and account type – verify current terms with Desjardins

For a pure XEQT investor, the fee difference may be minimal if XEQT remains on Disnat’s free ETF list. But the moment you step outside that list – buying a US-listed ETF, an individual stock, or an ETF that gets removed – Disnat’s commissions kick in while Wealthsimple remains at $0.

For a full breakdown of what Wealthsimple charges, see my Wealthsimple fees explained guide.

8. What About Transferring from Disnat to Wealthsimple?

If you are currently investing at Disnat and considering a switch to Wealthsimple, the process is straightforward.

How to transfer:

1. Open a Wealthsimple account with the same account type(s) you have at Disnat (TFSA, RRSP, etc.). Use a referral link to get your $25 bonus.
2. Initiate an in-kind transfer from within the Wealthsimple app. You will need your Disnat account number. An in-kind transfer moves your XEQT shares directly without selling them, which is important for preserving your contribution room in registered accounts.
3. Wait for the transfer to complete. This typically takes 5 to 15 business days. During this time, you cannot trade the assets being transferred.
4. Verify your holdings. Once the transfer is complete, check that your XEQT shares arrived and the cost basis looks correct.
5. Set up auto-invest. This is the whole reason you switched. Configure your recurring XEQT purchases and enjoy the automation.

Transfer fees: Disnat may charge a transfer-out fee – verify the current amount with Desjardins before initiating. Wealthsimple has periodically offered to reimburse transfer fees for qualifying accounts with larger balances, so check for active promotions. For more detail on the transfer process, see my Wealthsimple TFSA transfer checklist.

Important: Do not sell your XEQT at Disnat and rebuy at Wealthsimple. In a TFSA, selling and withdrawing would reduce your contribution room until the following year. In a non-registered account, selling could trigger capital gains taxes. An in-kind transfer avoids both of these problems.

9. My Recommendation

I have tried to be balanced throughout this comparison, and I genuinely respect what Desjardins and Disnat offer. For certain investors – particularly those who want everything consolidated within the Desjardins ecosystem, who value in-branch support in Quebec, or who do more active trading alongside their core ETF holdings – Disnat is a legitimate choice.

But for the strategy that this site is built around – buying XEQT consistently, automatically, and holding it for the long term – Wealthsimple is the better platform. Here is why:

• Auto-invest eliminates friction. The single best thing you can do as a passive investor is remove yourself from the process. Wealthsimple lets you set up recurring purchases and walk away. Disnat requires you to show up and place a trade every time.

• Fractional shares put every dollar to work. On Wealthsimple, 100% of your contribution is invested immediately. On Disnat, you are buying whole shares and leaving change on the table.

• The mobile app makes investing enjoyable. You are more likely to stick with a system that is pleasant to use. Wealthsimple’s app is best-in-class. Disnat’s app works, but it will not inspire you to keep going.

• $0 commissions with no asterisks. While Disnat offers commission-free ETF trading on a select list, Wealthsimple’s free trading applies to everything. If your investing needs evolve over time – adding individual stocks, exploring other ETFs, or branching into different account types – Wealthsimple stays free.

If you are in Quebec and the Desjardins name gives you confidence, there is nothing wrong with keeping your banking there while opening a separate Wealthsimple account for investing. That is actually what my cousin ended up doing – his chequing account and line of credit stayed at Desjardins, but his TFSA and RRSP are at Wealthsimple. Best of both worlds.

For a deeper look at Wealthsimple on its own, see my full Wealthsimple review. For a broader comparison of brokerages, including Disnat, check out the best broker for XEQT in Canada.

10. Final Thoughts

The “best” brokerage depends on what you are optimizing for. If you are optimizing for integration with Desjardins, brand familiarity, and in-person support in Quebec, Disnat makes sense. If you are optimizing for the easiest, lowest-friction way to buy XEQT regularly and build long-term wealth, Wealthsimple is the clear winner.

I told my cousin the same thing I will tell you: the most important decision is not which brokerage you pick. It is that you start investing at all. The difference between Wealthsimple and Disnat pales in comparison to the difference between investing and not investing. Both platforms will get you XEQT. Both are safe, regulated, and perfectly functional.

But if you want my honest recommendation for the platform that makes buying XEQT as simple and automatic as possible, it is Wealthsimple. Set up auto-invest, contribute consistently, and let time do the heavy lifting. That is the whole strategy.

If you want a step-by-step walkthrough of placing your first trade, see how to buy XEQT step by step. And if you want to understand more about the ETF itself, start with what is XEQT.

Whatever you choose, the best time to start was yesterday. The second-best time is today.