Why Your Scotia iTRADE T5008 May Not Reflect Your True ACB
Scotia iTRADE sends a T5008, and a Relevé 18 in Quebec, for sales in a non-registered account. It also says the cost basis and gain or loss figures it shows you are “for informational purposes only and is not for official tax purposes.” The cost you report has to come from your own records.
What the Scotia iTRADE T5008 does and does not tell you
If you sold securities in a non-registered account during the year, Scotia iTRADE sends you a T5008, and Quebec residents receive the Relevé 18. Box 21 reports the proceeds of each sale. Box 20 is the cost or book value, which the CRA’s instructions to slip preparers define as the total amount paid for the security, “adjusted for reinvested distributions, returns of capital and corporate reorganizations.” The same instructions say the amount “may or may not reflect the investor’s ACB.”
Scotia Wealth Management, another Scotiabank division, describes the T5008 and Relevé 18 as reporting “proceeds and book value of security dispositions in the currency of settlement” in its tax slips checklist. A sale settled in US dollars can therefore appear in US dollars, while your return needs Canadian dollars at the exchange rate for each transaction.
Scotia iTRADE’s Realized Gain/Loss report carries its own warning. The information is “for informational purposes only and is not for official tax purposes,” and “Such information may not reflect all adjustments necessary for tax reporting purposes.” Scotia adds that “You should verify cost basis and corresponding gain/loss information provided by Scotia iTRADE against your own records” and that “You are solely responsible for the accuracy of cost basis and gain/loss information reported to the CRA.”
A cost kept by one broker for its own accounts cannot apply rules that reach beyond them.
- Other accounts and other brokers. Your ACB is one average cost for each security across every non-registered account you hold, at every broker. Scotia iTRADE sees only its own accounts.
- Contributions in kind. Scotia iTRADE notes that an entry of type CON posted to a non-registered account is a contribution, and that “it is considered a deemed disposition for tax reporting purposes.” Shares moved into a TFSA or RRSP count as sold at their market value that day, and a loss on them is denied.
- Superficial losses. If you or an affiliated person acquires identical property within 30 days before or after a loss sale, and still holds it 30 days after the sale, all or part of the loss can be denied and added to the cost of the replacement shares. See the superficial loss rule.
- US-dollar trades. The CRA has you convert the cost at the exchange rate on the day you bought and the proceeds at the rate on the day you sold. See USD trades and your ACB.
- Return of capital and reinvested distributions. Return of capital, reported in box 42 of the T3 and box M of the Relevé 16, generally lowers the cost of the units you hold. A reinvested taxable distribution works the other way. It is taxed in the year it is paid, like a cash distribution, and it raises the cost by the amount reinvested. See ETF phantom distributions.
- Splits and other corporate actions. Scotia iTRADE’s FAQ says adjusting a position after a split or consolidation “generally takes about 2 weeks.” Check splits against your trade confirmations and statements before filing.
The slip also does not say whether a sale is a capital gain or business income. That is your call, and for an active trader it can go either way. See is a T5008 capital gains or investment income.
When the Scotia iTRADE slips arrive
Scotia iTRADE’s FAQ gives this schedule for the 2025 tax year slips on non-registered accounts. Registered plans have their own slips and receipts, which this page does not cover.
| Slip, 2025 tax year | What it reports | Available |
|---|---|---|
| T5008 and Relevé 18 | Sales and other dispositions of securities | March 2, 2026 |
| T5 and Relevé 3 | Dividends and interest | March 2, 2026 |
| Foreign Income Verification Report | Foreign property, to help with Form T1135 | March 2, 2026 |
| T3 and Relevé 16 | Distributions from trust units such as ETFs and REITs | March 31, 2026 |
| T5013 and Relevé 15 | Income from limited partnership units | March 31, 2026 |
| NR4 | Investment income paid to non-residents, and tax withheld | March 31, 2026 |
Scotia says the March 31 slips are issued by Scotia Capital Inc. “and/or the relevant mutual fund companies,” and it suggests “waiting until you have both your T5 and T3 slips before filing your tax return.” If you are paperless, the slips are online. Its guide to documents says that when you select Tax, then Wealth and iTRADE, you reach the iTRADE Tax documents page, where you can filter by tax year. Scotia notes that “fees may apply for mailed tax slips.”
Scotiabank also offers an Annual Trading Summary. Its help centre says to go to the Transactions tab, filter reports by Trading Summary, select the time period and download the CSV.
Why the transaction history is the better source file
The CSV from an account’s Transactions tab lists each transaction with its description, symbol, transaction and settlement dates, quantity, price and settlement amount. Scotiabank’s help centre says transaction information is available back to January 1, 2018. The slips summarize one year after it ends, and the history keeps the purchases behind each sale.
ActiveACB’s support for Scotia iTRADE is preliminary. When you upload the file, the column mapper recognizes Scotia’s columns and fills them in for you to check. The calculation then applies these rules.
- ACB pooling. One average cost per security across every non-registered account and broker you upload.
- Commissions. Scotia’s settlement amount already includes the commission, so it is taken as the full cost of a purchase and the full proceeds of a sale. Fees stay included in that total and are not shown separately unless you map a commission column in the settlement currency.
- FX treatment. A US-dollar trade converts at the Bank of Canada rate for its settlement date, or its trade date when the row has no usable settlement date.
- Superficial loss. The 61-day window is checked against the taxable trades you supply. Missing history can change the result.
- Norbert’s gambit journals. The two Transfer rows of a DLR journal are listed in your warnings as transfers that were not applied. The cost of the shares never comes from the book value printed in the description. If your trades use both DLR and DLR.U, confirm that they are the same fund and use one consistent ticker before uploading.
- Holdings bought before 2018. A sale of more units than your history holds is named in your warnings, so you can add the earlier purchases with the starter template.
Activity words the mapper does not know, such as currency exchange rows, are never guessed at, and each skipped row is named in your warnings. Export only non-registered accounts, because the file has no account type column. Each Scotia iTRADE file you upload is kept privately for 7 days and then deleted, as the privacy policy describes, so support can be extended from real exports. You can turn this off on your profile page.
How to export the right file from Scotia iTRADE
Open Account details for a non-registered account, click Transactions, choose a period in Filter by that reaches back to your first purchase, leave Reports on Transaction history and click CSV. Repeat for each non-registered account. The Scotia iTRADE export guide shows each step with screenshots.
Commissions matter to your cost base. Scotia iTRADE’s pricing page lists $9.99 a trade, or $4.99 for accounts with at least 150 commission-generating trades in a calendar quarter, $1.25 per options contract on top of the commission, and a $65 fee on options assignments and exercises. Fees on US trades are charged in US dollars, and a foreign exchange fee applies to trades in a currency other than the account’s.
Frequently asked questions
Does Scotia iTRADE track my ACB?
Scotia iTRADE keeps a cost basis for your holdings and shows it in its Realized Gain/Loss report. It says that information is provided “for informational purposes only and is not for official tax purposes,” that it “may not reflect all adjustments necessary for tax reporting purposes,” and that you are solely responsible for the cost basis you report to the CRA. Work out your ACB from your own records, such as the transaction history.
Can I file from the Realized Gain/Loss report?
Scotia iTRADE says to verify the report’s cost basis and gain or loss against your own records. The report covers only securities you bought and then sold, with data from January 1, 2014, and a cost kept by one broker cannot pool identical shares held elsewhere or apply the superficial loss rule across your accounts.
When are Scotia iTRADE tax slips available?
For the 2025 tax year, Scotia iTRADE scheduled the T5008, Relevé 18, T5, Relevé 3 and Foreign Income Verification Report for March 2, 2026, and the T3, Relevé 16, T5013, Relevé 15 and NR4 for March 31, 2026. It suggests waiting until you have both your T5 and T3 slips before you file.
How far back can I export my Scotia iTRADE transactions?
Scotiabank’s help centre says transaction information is available back to January 1, 2018. The Transactions tab shows the past 45 days unless you choose another period. For holdings bought earlier, add those purchases from your statements or trade confirmations with the starter template.
I live in Quebec. Do I get a Relevé 18?
Yes. Scotia iTRADE lists the Relevé 18 with the T5008 in its March 2 slip mailing, and the Relevé 3, Relevé 16 and Relevé 15 alongside the T5, T3 and T5013.
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