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Selling covered calls and puts on Questrade

Questrade approves options in levels, and covered calls sit at the bottom. Whether cash-secured puts are allowed in your registered account is the thing to confirm first. Here's the flow, the account rules and the fee math.

Options guide · 6-minute read · Updated 2026-10-26

The short answer

Yes. Questrade, a Canadian broker, lets approved accounts sell covered calls, and cash-secured puts in accounts where its rules permit them. You choose an option level when you apply; the lower levels have covered what the wheel strategy needs, with spreads and uncovered trades higher up.

Registered accounts (TFSA, RRSP) are the catch. Covered calls are allowed in them at Questrade, as at most Canadian brokers. Whether short puts are allowed in a registered account has differed over time and by account type, so read the current options page for registered accounts before planning the put half there. This page isn't an endorsement.

The option levels

Questrade's Options approval levels have followed the usual ladder: a base level for covered calls and buying options, a level that adds cash-secured puts, then spreads, then uncovered trades requiring margin. You pick a level when applying and can request a change later. The names and exact contents can be updated; the current application form is the source of truth.

For a margin account, the put half of the wheel needs the level that includes short puts. For a registered account, that same level may or may not unlock puts, depending on the current policy.

Placing a covered call

1. Hold 100 shares of the stock or ETF in the account.
2. Open the options chain from the stock's page in the trading platform, choose an expiry.
3. Select a call strike above the price, set the action to sell, quantity 1.
4. Set a limit price near the mid price, choose day or good-till-cancelled, and submit.

If the stock is above the strike at expiry, the shares are sold at the strike. The covered call guide shows every outcome.

Placing a cash-secured put

Same path, selling a put below the price. In a cash-based account the full strike value is held. In a margin account a smaller requirement is held, and you can end up borrowing if assigned. The cash-secured put guide covers the mechanics.

A worked example, with Questrade-style fees (an illustration, not a trade idea)

Questrade has charged a per-trade base amount plus a per-contract amount on options, in Canadian dollars, with US trades also carrying currency conversion. The amounts change, so look up the current fee page. For this example, use a round $10 per trade as a stand-in, not a quote.

You hold $6,000 in a margin account. A made-up stock, XYZ, trades at $50. You sell one 30-day put at the $45 strike for $1.00: $100 collected, about $90 after the fee.

Now the same fee on a cheaper option. Sell a put on a $10 stock for $0.15: $15 collected, about $5 after the fee. The fee took two-thirds of the premium. That's why a base fee pushes sellers toward options that trade for a dollar or more, and why "cheap stock, cheap option" is a worse deal here than at a broker with no base fee. Options fees for sellers works through the whole list.

Registered accounts: what to confirm

• TFSA covered calls: allowed, with the shares in the TFSA.
• TFSA or RRSP cash-secured puts: confirm on the current registered-accounts options page. Don't rely on a forum answer; policies have changed.
• US dollars: Questrade registered accounts can hold USD, which avoids converting on every US premium. Ask how your account is set up.
• No margin in registered accounts, so puts, where allowed, are fully cash-backed.

Our pages on the wheel in a TFSA and in an RRSP cover the account-level rules.

Questrade or another Canadian broker?

Fees and permissions are the two things that separate the Canadian choices for a seller. A base fee per trade matters most to people selling small premiums. Registered-account put permissions matter most to people who want the whole wheel inside a TFSA. Compare the current pages of Questrade, Wealthsimple and Interactive Brokers Canada on those two points, then decide.

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