It's quite reasonable for discount brokers to expect and to receive some payment/recompense for the sale of third party products. However, easy access to inexpensive products is what Canadians require to prepare for a secure retirement. Most discount brokers provide easy access to ETFs, common stocks and fixed income products. The only large bank discount broker that fails to provide on line purchases of GICS, likely to be a more attractive option in the near future, is TD Direct Investing. I assume that TD Direct Investing does not want clients to buy lower margin and illiquid investments. Far better for clients to be buying and selling IPOs on a regular basis.