CAD needed to buy US shares: the Canadian dollars behind a US price
A US price is in US dollars. Your account is in Canadian dollars. Enter the rate you were shown to see what the buy costs.
How it works: US dollars needed = shares × US price. Canadian dollars needed = US dollars × the exchange rate. Your total = that + the fee, which is its own line and not part of the rate. All-in rate = total in CAD ÷ US dollars. The rate and the fee are your own numbers. Type what your account showed. The page also shows what a one-cent-higher rate would cost.
The share price is not the whole price
A US stock priced in US dollars costs more Canadian dollars than the sticker. In the default, 10 shares at US$200 are US$2,000. At 1.37, that is C$2,740. Add the C$9.95 fee, and the total is C$2,749.95.
The rate also moves between the time you look and the time you buy. One cent on the rate is C$20 on US$2,000. See foreign cash changed value and currency pair.
The usual mix-up
A fee shown on its own line is not the cost of changing the money. Some accounts also build a margin into the rate itself. Compare the all-in rate above with the rate you were shown. See a foreign dividend paid fewer dollars for the same gap on the way back.
Follow along