(A follow-up to Bernice Cheung’s “Watching Wealthsimple Grow Up” series, June 2025)
For more than twenty years, the Canadian Financial Services Switching Study has tracked why, how and where Canadians move their money. There have been gradual shifts along the way, but nothing like what we saw this past year. In February 2025, this hit an all-time high, with 24% of Canadians switching a financial account or product from one bank to another. We aren’t just curious about alternatives; we’re acting on them. The slow evolution observed over decades has reached a clear tipping point.
The Fintech that grew up (and glowed up)
Bernice called it in June 2025: Wealthsimple has grown up.
Once a fintech disruptor, Wealthsimple is now a full-scale financial platform, and Environics data back that up. In early 2025, Wealthsimple led the market with record-setting switching driven growth, across multiple product lines. The typical switcher is getting younger, and more Canadians are diversifying their holdings across institutions. Online switching has become the primary channel, rising from 49% to 55% since last wave. In a tight economy, value matters more than ever: 49% of switchers say high prices are shaping their financial decisions. Moreover, Canadians are looking for transparency, ease of doing business, no fees, and a digital-first experience that actually feels human. Many found it with Wealthsimple. All of this, and then came June’s End of Banking event, followed by the October For Nerds Only product showcase, both reinforcing Wealthsimple’s ambition to own the financial operating system for Canadians.
In October Wealthsimple announced:
- $100 billion in assets under administration, hitting its 2028 goal three years early
- 3 million clients
- True $0 commission options trading (no per-contract fees)
- New advanced tools and desktop trading, blending AI-driven banking insights with better diversification
- Direct indexing portfolios, enabling personalization and tax-loss harvesting
- Gold trading, including the ability to buy real, physical gold coins
It’s a bold move from fintech to full-service. Wealthsimple is no longer asking Canadians to dabble, it’s asking them to commit.
Heidi Wilson
VP – Retail Banking & Financial Services
How Canadians are changing banks
Switching banks used to be a pain. It meant paperwork, waiting periods, and maybe a paper cheque or two. Now, you can set up a new account and switch the auto-deposit of your paycheque over your lunch break. That friction, once the banks’ most effective barrier to switching, is largely a thing of the past.
Our study shows online switching hit a record high in 2025, as consumers chase better experiences, not just better rates. Canadians are telling us we don’t just want a bank; we want a financial partner that fits how we live, spend, and save. Wealthsimple, with its suite of tools, is meeting that need head-on. But the bigger story isn’t about one brand it’s about an entire marketplace getting smarter, faster, and more mobile.
Big Banks: The branch isn’t dead, but it’s on notice
For the Big Five Banks, this shouldn’t come as a doomsday story, it’s a wake-up call. The branch isn’t obsolete, but it can’t carry the relationship alone anymore. Canadians expect digital and in-person experiences to work together seamlessly. Trust, stability, and advice remain huge advantages, but they need new packaging. Put simply: stop thinking of digital as the future and start treating it as the default. The institutions that thrive will be those that make “staying” feel as effortless as “switching.” Because here’s the truth: when consumers can move in minutes, loyalty has to be earned in seconds.
Digital banks: The bar keeps rising
Online banks like Tangerine, Simplii, and PC Financial led the charge on simplicity and cost. But Wealthsimple just raised the stakes. Zero-commission options trading? Personalized direct indexing? Physical gold? Those aren’t niche perks, they’re signals of what experienced retail investors will soon expect everywhere. For digital-only banks, this means deepening engagement, not just chasing deposits. The challenge is to turn rate-shoppers into loyal users, and to prove that “digital” can still mean dependable, human-backed, and secure.
What we’ll be watching next
When the 2026 Switching Study goes to field this February, we’ll be tracking whether this momentum sticks:
Are more Canadians naming Wealthsimple as their day-to-day bank?
To what extent will its credit card and chequing products take off?
Is trust, long the last barrier, finally catching up to innovation?
Will consumers consolidate multiple financial products into a single digital ecosystem, or further diversify?
The real inflection point
The story of 2025 isn’t just about one company’s meteoric rise. It’s about Canadians deciding, collectively, that inertia is out and intention is in. For years, we heard: “I might switch if something better comes along.” Now it has, and we’re doing it. Wealthsimple has grown up, but so have Canadians. And while the banks still have their branches, it’s clear that the future of loyalty won’t be built in them.
