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What Does Journaling Shares Mean?

MTLast reviewed June 2026 by Mike Taylor, Canadian financial writer. Fact-checked

Journaling is when your broker moves a security from one currency listing to another without selling it. The shares stay yours and the count stays the same. Only the currency they are denominated in changes. It is the step that makes Norbert's Gambit work, because it lets you turn a Canadian-dollar holding into a U.S.-dollar one at no exchange-rate cost.

This page explains what journaling is, why it does not cost you a currency spread, how long it takes, and how it is treated for tax. For the full conversion method, see the step-by-step guide.

The plain-English version

Some securities are listed in two currencies. The Global X U.S. Dollar Currency ETF, for example, trades as DLR in Canadian dollars and DLR.U in U.S. dollars. These are not two different funds. They are the same underlying units, identified by the same CUSIP, which is the unique code that names a specific security.

Because both listings point to the same security, your broker can simply relabel your holding from the Canadian-dollar line to the U.S.-dollar line. You still own the same number of units. The broker just records them on the other side of your account. That relabelling is journaling.

Why there is no exchange-rate cost

When a bank or broker converts currency for you, they run your money through a foreign-exchange desk and add a margin to the rate. That margin is the cost.

Journaling never touches a foreign-exchange desk. Nothing is bought or sold and no currency is exchanged in the usual sense. You are moving an asset you already own from one currency label to another. The market sets the value of that asset in each currency, so when you later sell the U.S.-dollar version, you receive close to the true market rate. The only costs are your normal trading commissions and the small bid-ask spread on the security itself.

Automatic or by request, depending on the broker

How you trigger a journal depends entirely on your brokerage:

Some brokers charge a small per-request fee. Questrade, for instance, charges about $9.95 plus tax unless you have Questrade Plus. Others do it for free. The brokers page has the current details by brokerage.

How long journaling takes

Journaling itself usually takes about one to two business days once the underlying trade has settled. Since Canadian stock trades settle in one business day (T+1), the whole gambit, from buying to having usable cash, generally runs three to five business days. It is not instant, and that waiting period is the one place where the currency rate can move on you. See the reverse-direction guide for when that risk is larger.

Is journaling a taxable event?

No. The journal on its own does not trigger any tax. You have not disposed of anything by moving a security between two currency labels.

What can be taxable, in a non-registered account, is the buy and the sell that bracket the journal. Those are dispositions, and the small gain or loss between them has to be reported. In a registered account such as a TFSA or RRSP there is nothing to report at all. The tax page walks through how this works.

Frequently asked questions

What does it mean to journal shares? It means your broker moves a security from one currency listing to another without selling it. You keep the same number of units, now denominated in the other currency.

Does journaling cost money? Some brokers charge a small per-request fee, often around $9.95 plus tax, while others do it for free. There is no exchange-rate spread on the journal itself.

Is journaling a taxable event? No. Only the buy and sell around it are dispositions. The journal alone triggers no tax.

How long does journaling take? Usually one to two business days after the trade settles, which makes the full gambit about three to five business days.

Sources

This article is general information, not financial or tax advice. Confirm current fees and processes with your broker.