What are ECN & STP Forex Brokers?
An Electronic Communications Network (ECN) or Straight Through Processing (STP) broker will relay all of the trades it gets directly to its “liquidity providers”, who are other market participants such as banks. In CA they are known as “no dealing desk” brokers. When trading on an ECN or STP Forex broker in Canada, a trader is not trading against that operator. That means that there isn’t a conflict of interest between the trader and operator.
ECN and STP Forex brokers typically have low spreads, but will charge a commission for each trade. They also will often require Canadians to make a high deposit to get started. This means that ECN and STP accounts are for the most part just available for experienced and professional traders in Canada.