FolioNorth

Rebalance

Portfolio rebalancing calculator for Canadian ETF investors

Enter what you hold, what you want to hold, and any new cash. The default view works in dollars across four asset classes and tells you how much to add to or trim from each. Switch to the advanced view to enter individual tickers and prices and get a trade list in whole shares, buy-only or buy-and-sell. Prefer to understand the rules first? Read our step-by-step guide to rebalancing an ETF portfolio in Canada.

Canada
VCN, XIC, ZCN
0.0%
US
VFV, XUU, ITOT
0.0%
International (developed)
XEF, VIU
0.0%
Emerging Markets
XEC, VEE
0.0%

If you're adding cash, we'll spread it across the under-target classes first.

Next steps

Asset LocationRebalancing is the natural moment to fix which account each holding lives in.Capital Gains TaxIf rebalancing means selling an appreciated holding in a non-registered account, estimate the tax on the gain first.Transfer BonusesRebalancing at a broker with high commissions? A transfer bonus can pay for the move.

How the calculator works

Drift is the gap between what a holding is worth today as a share of the portfolio and the target you set for it. A holding you wanted at 40% that has grown to 46% carries 6 percentage points of positive drift, and the trade list closes that gap.

Targets have to total 100% before the calculator will run, which catches the most common input mistake before it becomes a misleading trade list. New cash is added to the portfolio total first, so the targets apply to the balance you will have after contributing rather than the one you have now.

The default view keeps this at the level most people actually think in. You enter a dollar value and a target weight for four asset classes, Canadian, US, developed international and emerging markets, and it tells you how much to add to or trim from each. It does not ask for tickers or share prices, so it gives you amounts rather than orders.

The advanced view works holding by holding. Enter each ticker with its price and target and you get a trade list instead of amounts. Buy-and-sell mode moves every holding to its target; buy-only mode suppresses the sells and spends the new cash on whatever is underweight, scaled across the underweight holdings when the cash will not stretch to close every gap. Both modes round each trade down to whole shares, so the result is a list you can enter at your brokerage without adjusting it.

Deciding when to trade

Rebalancing keeps the portfolio at the risk level you chose. An 80/20 portfolio that drifts to 88/12 after a long equity run is a different portfolio from the one you signed up for, and the point of a trigger rule is to notice that before a downturn does it for you.

A fixed annual date is the simplest rule and the easiest to keep. A 5 percentage point band trades only when something genuinely moves, which usually means less often. The 5/25 rule adds a relative trigger so a 5% position that doubles to 10% still gets caught, which a flat 5-point band would miss. Any of the three works. Switching between them whenever the market moves does not.

If you are still contributing regularly, check drift when you contribute rather than on a separate schedule. That is the moment new cash can do the work, and it removes the temptation to trade on a market move instead of a rule.

Placing the trades tax-efficiently

Where you rebalance matters as much as when. Selling inside an RRSP or TFSA triggers no immediate tax, so do the selling there when the same holdings exist across accounts and let the non-registered side drift a little longer.

In a non-registered account, a sale realizes a capital gain and half of it is included in income for 2026. Our capital gains tax calculator estimates that bill before you place the trade. Selling at a loss brings the superficial loss rule into play if you buy the same or identical property back within the 30 days either side of the sale.

Rebalancing is also a natural moment to fix which account each holding lives in. The asset location optimizer scores your holdings across RRSP, TFSA and non-registered, and you are already placing trades.

Estimates only. The calculator works from the prices and values you enter, in a single currency. It does not fetch live quotes, model the bid-ask spread, account for commissions or ECN fees, or calculate the tax on any sale it suggests. It treats the holdings you enter as one pool rather than reasoning across separate accounts. Confirm prices and your own tax situation before trading. This is for planning and information only, not financial or tax advice.

Frequently asked questions

How far off target is too far?+
There is no single right threshold. The three rules most Canadian DIY investors use are a fixed calendar date once a year, an absolute band of 5 percentage points, and Larry Swedroe's 5/25 rule, which triggers on 5 percentage points for large positions and a 25% relative move for small ones. Vanguard's research on rebalancing finds that the choice of frequency and threshold makes little difference to long-run risk-adjusted results, so picking one rule and actually following it matters more than which one you pick.
Should I rebalance by selling, or just with new contributions?+
Direct new money to whatever is underweight first. It moves you toward target without realizing a gain and without a trade on the sell side, which is why the calculator offers a buy-only mode. For most people still contributing, new cash alone keeps drift inside a 5-point band for years. Selling becomes necessary when the portfolio has grown large relative to what you add each year, or when one holding has run far enough that contributions cannot catch up.
Which account should I do the selling in?+
An RRSP or TFSA, when the holdings you need to trade exist in both places. Selling inside a registered account creates no immediate tax, so you can rebalance freely there. In a non-registered account, selling an appreciated holding realizes a capital gain, half of which is included in income at the 2026 inclusion rate. If the whole portfolio is non-registered, favour the buy-only mode and consider whether the drift is genuinely outside your band before trading.
Does rebalancing improve my returns?+
Generally not, and expecting it to is the most common misunderstanding. Rebalancing is risk control: it keeps the portfolio near the risk level you chose rather than letting whatever has run hardest quietly take over. Selling the asset that has outperformed will often cost return over a long stretch, because the assets with higher expected returns are the ones you keep trimming. You accept that in exchange for a portfolio that still matches your risk tolerance after a decade.
What is the difference between the default and advanced views?+
The default view works in dollars across four asset classes: Canadian, US, developed international and emerging market equity. You give it a value and a target weight for each and it tells you how much to add or trim, which is enough if you hold one fund per sleeve. The advanced view takes individual tickers with their prices, and returns a trade list in whole shares with a choice of buy-only or buy-and-sell. Use the default to see the shape of the problem and the advanced view when you want the orders.
Why does the advanced view only produce whole shares?+
Because that is what most Canadian brokerages will actually let you trade. Trade amounts are rounded down to the nearest whole share, so the trade list is one you can enter as-is. The rounding leaves a small residual amount of cash uninvested, which the results show. Brokerages that support fractional shares are the exception rather than the rule, and rounding down never overshoots your available cash. The default view sidesteps this by working in dollars rather than orders.
What about the superficial loss rule?+
It applies when you sell at a loss and you or an affiliated person acquires, or has a right to acquire, the same or identical property from 30 days before through 30 days after the sale, and still holds it 30 days after. Affiliated includes a spouse or common-law partner, and your own RRSP or TFSA. Where the loss goes depends on who bought it back: repurchase in a taxable account and the denied loss is added to that property's ACB, so you recover it eventually; repurchase inside an RRSP or TFSA and the loss is gone for good, with no ACB to add it to. That second case is the expensive one, and it is easy to trigger by rebalancing across accounts on the same day.
Do trading commissions still make rebalancing expensive?+
Much less than they used to. Wealthsimple, Questrade and Qtrade all charge $0 commission on Canadian and US stock and ETF trades, so a multi-holding rebalance no longer costs $50 in commissions. Questrade can still apply ECN or market fees on some order types and routing, and the bid-ask spread is a real cost on thinly traded funds regardless of the commission. Check your broker's current schedule before assuming a trade is free.
Can I just hold an all-in-one ETF instead?+
Yes, and for many people that is the better answer. A fund like XEQT, VGRO or VBAL rebalances its own holdings internally for roughly 0.20% to 0.24% a year, which buys you out of this task entirely. The trade-off is that you pay that fee on the whole balance forever and give up control of asset location across your accounts. Our ETF fee breakdowns put a dollar figure on what that convenience costs at your portfolio size.