Questrade lays off undisclosed number of employees

Questrade Financial Group Inc. says it has laid off an undisclosed number of employees to better fit its business strategy. 

The online brokerage firm says the cuts are not reflective of the state of the underlying business, which it says is healthy.

Questrade bills itself as Canada’s low-cost leader in online investing with more than $30 billion in assets under administration, up from around $9 billion five years ago.

The company, founded by CEO Edward Kholodenko in 1999, said in a release last year that it had more than 2,000 employees globally.

Questrade has faced increasing competition as some banks have started lowering their investing fees including through no-commission trading and low-cost robo-advisors.

The company’s online competitor Wealthsimple Technologies Inc. has also seen significant growth in recent years, growing its assets under administration from around $6 billion in 2019 to more than $50 billion this year.

Ian Bickis, The Canadian Press

Ian Bickis is a reporter with The Canadian Press, a national news agency headquartered in Toronto and founded in 1917.