Electronic trading platforms captured nearly a third (32%) of overall Canadian equity trading volume in 2023, up from 26% in 2022, and Canadian asset managers expect that share to surge to 38% in the next three years.
The growing demand for electronic execution is being driven in part by institutions’ search for natural block liquidity in small- and mid-cap stocks.
“The Canadian equity market is undergoing a transformation marked by an embrace of electronic trading with an onus on sourcing liquidity in difficult-to-trade small and mid-cap names,” said Jesse Forster, Senior Analyst at Coalition Greenwich Market Structure & Technology and author of Northern Lights: Illuminating Trends in Canadian Equities.
Shrinking Commission Spend, Shorter Broker Lists
Rising volumes are making electronic platforms an increasingly important offering for brokers at a time of increasing competition for…


