Questrade Trading Journal - Auto Import

Questrade traders can import their full trade history into JournalPlus using Questrade’s Activity CSV export, available directly from the Reports section of the platform. The import handles Questrade’s specific format — including dual-currency accounts, commission-free ETF buys, and multi-leg options exports — and transforms raw transaction rows into structured journal entries ready for analysis. For traders who want to move beyond Questrade’s basic account history and actually measure their edge, this integration eliminates the manual reconciliation work entirely.

Key Features

Activity CSV Import

Questrade’s Activity CSV is the primary export format, accessible under Reports > Account Activity. Select any date range and export all activity types in a single file. JournalPlus reads Questrade’s native column structure — Transaction Date, Settlement Date, Action, Symbol, Currency, Quantity, Price, Gross Amount, Commission, Net Amount — without requiring any manual reformatting. A full account history going back several years imports in seconds.

Round-Trip Trade Matching

Questrade exports each transaction as a separate row: a stock purchase is one row, the eventual sale is another. For options, a covered call generates four rows — the stock buy, the option sell-to-open, the option buy-to-close, and the stock sell. JournalPlus automatically matches these individual legs into completed round-trip trades and calculates net P&L across all legs.

Consider a practical example: a Canadian swing trader holds a $40,000 TFSA on Questrade. They buy 200 shares of SHOP.TO at CAD $80, sell a covered call (SHOP 90C, 30 DTE) for $1.50/share ($150 premium), and close both legs two weeks later. The export contains four rows. JournalPlus imports all four, matches them into a single covered call trade, and calculates net P&L: $320 gain on the option minus an $80 loss on the stock = $240 net, minus total commissions of $4.95 (stock buy) + $9.95 + $2.00 (option sell) + $9.95 + $2.00 (option buy-to-close) + $4.95 (stock sell). Without round-trip matching, the trader would reconcile four unconnected rows manually.

Dual-Currency Account Support

Questrade accounts hold both CAD and USD positions simultaneously — a Canadian trader might own XIU.TO in CAD and SPY in USD within the same account. JournalPlus normalizes all positions to a single reporting currency using the exchange rate at the time of each transaction. This means your overall P&L, win rate, and drawdown figures reflect a single consistent baseline rather than mixing currencies in ways that distort performance.

Options Contract Parsing

Questrade uses OCC contract notation in its exports (e.g., SHOP 230120C00090000). JournalPlus decodes this format automatically: the symbol (SHOP), expiry date (January 20, 2023), contract type (Call), and strike price ($90.00). Traders running covered calls on Canadian equities like SHOP.TO or selling puts on broad ETFs like XSP see their options logged with full contract details — no manual entry required.

Account-Type Tagging

TFSA, RRSP, and margin accounts generate the same CSV format from Questrade, but performance in each carries different implications. JournalPlus lets you tag each import batch by account type. After tagging, you can filter all analytics — win rate, average hold time, sector exposure, drawdown — by account type. A trader running a momentum strategy in their TFSA and a dividend/covered-call strategy in their RRSP can evaluate each independently.

How to Connect Questrade

Step 1: Log in to Questrade and open Reports

Sign in at questrade.com. From the main navigation, select “Reports” then “Account Activity.”

Step 2: Set your date range and activity types

Choose the date range to export. For an initial import, use your full account history. Under Activity Types, select “All” to include equities, options, ETFs, and any fee rows.

Step 3: Export the Activity CSV

Click “Download” to generate the file. The exported CSV includes columns for Transaction Date, Settlement Date, Action, Symbol, Description, Currency, Quantity, Price, Gross Amount, Commission, and Net Amount.

Step 4: Upload to JournalPlus

In JournalPlus, navigate to Import Trades and select “Questrade” from the broker list. Upload the CSV. A preview screen will show the trades detected before you confirm — useful for verifying the date range and trade count look correct.

Step 5: Review and tag by account type

After import, assign account-type tags (TFSA, RRSP, or margin) to your trades. All analytics update immediately. For ongoing use, export a rolling 30- or 90-day window from Questrade each month and re-upload — JournalPlus skips duplicate trades automatically.

What Gets Imported

Data Field	Description
Transaction Date	Exact execution date for each leg
Settlement Date	Settlement date per Questrade’s records
Action	Buy, Sell, Buy to Open, Sell to Open, Buy to Close, Sell to Close
Symbol	Equity ticker or OCC options notation
Currency	CAD or USD per transaction
Quantity	Shares or contracts
Price	Execution price per share or contract
Gross Amount	Pre-fee transaction value
Commission	Broker commission per leg
Net Amount	Post-commission transaction value

ECN fees appear as separate rows in the Questrade export and are deducted by JournalPlus in the net P&L calculation. Fields that require manual entry include trade rationale, setup tags, emotional state ratings, and risk-reward targets — none of which a broker CSV can supply.

Analytics & Insights

Once Questrade data is imported, JournalPlus builds a complete performance profile from your actual trade history. Win rate, average winner vs. average loser, and average R-multiple are calculated automatically from matched round-trip trades. For options traders, per-strategy P&L (covered calls vs. long options vs. spreads) is broken out so you can see which approaches are generating returns and which are dragging performance.

Questrade’s commission structure has a meaningful impact on net returns, particularly for options traders. At $9.95 + $1/contract (capped at $19.95 for high-volume accounts), a trader running 10 covered calls per month pays roughly $200–$400 in commissions alone. JournalPlus surfaces your total commission drag as a standalone metric, so you can assess whether position sizing and trade frequency are aligned with your actual cost structure.

Filtering by account type unlocks a layer of analysis that Questrade’s native platform does not offer. A trader who runs growth positions in a TFSA and income-generating covered calls in an RRSP can compare win rates, average hold times, and drawdown depth across both accounts — and make allocation decisions based on actual historical data rather than intuition. The csv-upload integration supports any broker that exports activity logs, but the Questrade-specific parser handles the format quirks that generic uploads would misread.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I import Questrade trades into a trading journal?

Export your activity from Questrade under Reports > Account Activity, selecting your full date range and all activity types. Upload the CSV file to JournalPlus using the Questrade import option. JournalPlus automatically matches buy and sell legs into completed trades and calculates net P&L including all fees.

Does JournalPlus work with Questrade TFSA and RRSP accounts?

Yes. Questrade TFSA, RRSP, and margin account exports all use the same Activity CSV format. After importing, you can tag each batch by account type and run separate performance reports for each — useful for distinguishing registered from non-registered trading results.

Can JournalPlus handle Questrade options trades?

Yes. Questrade exports options using OCC contract notation, and JournalPlus parses each contract automatically to extract the underlying symbol, expiry, strike, and call/put type. Multi-leg trades like covered calls are matched into a single journal entry with net P&L across all legs. See the options traders use case for more detail on how options journaling works.

How does JournalPlus handle Questrade’s CAD and USD positions?

Questrade accounts can hold both CAD and USD positions simultaneously. JournalPlus normalizes all trades to a single base currency for P&L reporting, applying the exchange rate at the time of each transaction so overall performance numbers are accurate and comparable across the full account history.

Does JournalPlus account for Questrade’s ECN fees and commission structure?

Yes. Questrade charges ECN fees as separate line items, and ETF purchases are commission-free while sells incur a $4.95–$9.95 fee. JournalPlus deducts both commissions and ECN fees from gross P&L to calculate accurate net returns. If you also trade with Wealthsimple, that broker’s commission structure is handled separately under its own import parser.