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Cross-border (deeper)

Canadian Depositary Receipt CDR

A Canadian-listed receipt that holds a fraction of a U.S. stock, priced in Canadian dollars with a built-in currency hedge.

Part of the Cross-Border Investing (CA + US) course · Lesson 4 of 17
Formula
CDR value (CAD) ≈ Underlying share price (USD) × CDR ratio × hedge adjustment

What it is

A Canadian Depositary Receipt (CDR) is a security issued by CIBC that represents a fractional interest in a foreign stock (mostly large U.S. names like Apple or Amazon) and trades on a Canadian exchange in Canadian dollars. Each CDR holds a set number of underlying shares, expressed as a CDR ratio. The CDR also carries a notional currency hedge, so the investor's return mainly reflects the stock's move, not the USD/CAD move.

Why it matters

CDRs let a Canadian investor own a slice of an expensive U.S. stock in CAD, in smaller dollar amounts, without opening a U.S.-dollar account or paying to convert currency. The built-in hedge removes most of the exchange-rate swing, which can help or hurt depending on which way the loonie moves. They are a convenience wrapper, not a different company than the underlying stock.

How it's calculated

A CDR's value tracks the underlying share price times the CDR ratio, converted to CAD, adjusted by a daily-changing hedge factor. The CDR ratio is reset each day so the currency exposure stays roughly neutralized.

How Quintarthai uses it

When you research a U.S. company on Quintarthai, the fundamentals you see (revenue, margins, QuinnScore) describe the underlying business that a CDR tracks — open the company page to study the stock itself, since a CDR is just a CAD-hedged wrapper around it.

Cross-border note. CDRs are a Canadian product trading on Canadian exchanges; the underlying shares are foreign (mostly U.S.). The notional hedge costs on average up to roughly 0.60% per year for U.S. CDRs and up to 0.80% for global names, embedded in the FX forward spread rather than charged as a separate management fee.

FAQ

Is a CDR the same as owning the actual U.S. share?
Economically it tracks the same stock, but you own a CIBC-issued receipt representing a fraction of a share, in CAD, with a currency hedge — not the underlying share directly. CIBC acts as depositary and facilitates voting and some shareholder rights on the underlying shares.
Does the currency hedge mean there is no FX risk?
It removes most day-to-day USD/CAD swing, but the hedge is approximate and not free — an embedded FX spread (on average up to about 0.60%–0.80% per year) is the cost of that protection.
Related terms
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