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Options fees in Canada: what an option seller actually pays

A Canadian option seller pays up to four kinds of fees. The per-contract commission gets the attention. The assignment fee and the currency conversion often cost far more.

Options guide · 9-minute read · Updated 2026-10-28

The short answer

When you sell options from a Canadian account, the costs come in four kinds:

1. A commission when you open or close a trade, often per contract, sometimes with a base fee.
2. An assignment or exercise fee when an option you sold is assigned.
3. Currency conversion when you trade US options from Canadian dollars.
4. Small pass-through fees from exchanges and regulators.

For a seller, the first one is usually the smallest. Some brokers now charge little or nothing per contract. The other three fees can still apply. This page is part of my map of selling options in Canada.

Every fee, and when it hits you

Two notes on that table. A fee of "$0 per contract" may still have a per-order minimum. And a broker that charges no assignment fee may charge more elsewhere. Read the whole fee page, not the headline.

A worked example where fees eat the trade (hypothetical)

All fee amounts below are made up for the example. They aren't any broker's real prices. Every line is in US dollars, to keep the math simple. (An illustration, not a trade idea.)

Your TFSA holds Canadian dollars. You sell one put on a made-up US stock, XYZ, with a US$40 strike, for US$0.50. You collect $50. To back it, the account needs US$4,000 in cash, so the broker converts your Canadian dollars.

XYZ falls, and the put is assigned. Later you sell the shares at your cost and convert the money back.

The premium was $50. The fees were $146. You were behind before XYZ moved a cent. If XYZ also fell, that loss comes on top.

Now the "good" ending. Same trade, but the put expires and you never get the shares. You still paid $1 to open and $60 to convert. When you convert back, that's another $60. The fees come to $121 against a $50 premium. You were right about the stock and still lost $71.

This is the part of the wheel strategy that US guides skip. A US trader pays none of the conversion. A Canadian trader can pay it twice per cycle.

How to cut the fees that matter

• Hold US dollars in the account, if your broker allows it. Convert once, then reuse the cash for many puts. The conversion stops being a per-trade cost.
• Convert the cheap way. Norbert's gambit uses a fund that trades in both currencies to swap at close to the real rate. It costs a commission and some days of waiting. See Norbert's gambit for option sellers.
• Trade Canadian-dollar options when they fit. Options on Canadian stocks, XIU or CDRs need no conversion at all. See CDR options explained.
• Compare closing to being assigned. If you're about to be assigned and don't want the shares, buying the option back may cost less than the assignment fee plus two conversions.
• Skip tiny premiums. A $10 premium can't carry a base fee and a conversion. Set a floor for what's worth selling, after fees.

Fees in a TFSA or RRSP

The fees are the same in a registered account. What changes is that you can't claim them. In a regular account, commissions generally lower your gain or raise your loss for tax. In a TFSA, a fee is simply money gone.

Covered calls are widely allowed in a TFSA or RRSP. Cash-secured puts depend on the broker, and options permissions differ by broker. Some registered accounts can hold US dollars, and some convert every trade. Ask before you sell your first US put there. See brokers that allow cash-secured puts in a TFSA.

Where to check the real numbers

Fee schedules for Canadian brokers change often. This page is as of October 2026. The only number to trust is the one on your broker's own pricing page, on the day you trade. Questrade, Interactive Brokers, Wealthsimple and the bank-owned brokers each publish one.

When you read it, write down five numbers:

1. Commission per contract, Canadian options.
2. Commission per contract, US options, and any per-order base fee.
3. Assignment fee, and exercise fee.
4. The currency conversion spread.
5. Whether your account type can hold US dollars.

Then redo the table above with your numbers. If one full cycle costs more than a typical premium, change the setup before you trade. The general version of this, for any broker, is in options trading fees for sellers.

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