SPUS vs HLAL vs WSHR: The Halal ETF Showdown for Canadians
Three Shariah-compliant ETFs, three different answers to the same question. SPUS tracks a screened slice of the S&P 500 in USD. HLAL tracks a FTSE Shariah index of US stocks in USD. WSHR tracks a Dow Jones Islamic Market index of global developed-market stocks — in Canadian dollars. We read the fund documents for all three so you can see exactly what you're buying.
Updated September 2026 · 12-minute read · Reviewed by the Canadian Halal Investor team
Our verdict
There is no single winner here — the right pick depends on your account, your currency, and how much screening philosophy matters to you:
- WSHR wins on simplicity and CAD. Buy it in Canadian dollars with no currency conversion, inside any Canadian brokerage account.
- SPUS wins on liquidity and track record. The biggest of the three by assets (~US$3.2B), the lowest fee (0.45%), and the longest real-world trading history of the group.
- HLAL wins for FTSE-methodology fans. If you want your screening done to the FTSE Shariah standard — reviewed by Shariah subject-matter experts at Yasaar Limited — this is your fund.
Best for: Canadians who want one-ticket simplicity → WSHR. Fee-sensitive DIY investors comfortable with USD → SPUS. Investors who prefer the FTSE Shariah screening standard → HLAL.
Skip if: you want a managed, auto-rebalanced halal portfolio instead of picking ETFs yourself — see our Questrade vs Wealthsimple comparison.
The three at a glance
All three are equity ETFs that track Shariah-screened indexes — no bonds, no interest-bearing paper, no leverage. The differences are currency, cost, geography, and whose screening rulebook they follow.
| SPUS | HLAL | WSHR | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | SP Funds S&P 500 Sharia Industry Exclusions ETF | Wahed FTSE USA Shariah ETF | Wealthsimple Shariah World Equity Index ETF |
| Listing / currency | NYSE Arca · USD | Nasdaq · USD | ✓ Cboe Canada (NEO) · CAD — no FX needed |
| Expense ratio | ✓ 0.45% (cut from 0.49%) | 0.50% | 0.50% mgmt fee (MER 0.56%) |
| Index tracked | S&P 500 Sharia Industry Exclusions Index | FTSE USA Shariah Index | Dow Jones Islamic Market Developed Markets Quality and Low Volatility Index |
| Screening methodology | S&P Shariah industry exclusions + financial ratios | FTSE Shariah screens, reviewed by Yasaar Limited | Dow Jones Islamic Market screens; Shariah advisory by Ratings Intelligence Partners |
| Geography | US large-cap | US large- and mid-cap | ✓ Global developed markets |
| Holdings | 216 holdings (Sep 2026) | 201 holdings (Sep 2026) | 158 holdings (Sep 2026) |
| Fund size (AUM) | ~US$3.2B | ~US$977M | ~C$470–520M |
| Launched | December 2019 | July 2019 | May 2021 |
| Best for | ✓ Lowest fee, deepest liquidity | ✓ FTSE Shariah methodology | ✓ CAD simplicity, global diversification |
How the screening actually differs
Every Shariah equity screen has two halves: an industry-exclusion half and a financial-ratio half. All three of these ETFs apply both — but the rulebooks differ in the details, and those details change which companies make the cut.
- Industry exclusions (the "what they do" test). Companies deriving more than a small threshold of revenue (typically 5%) from prohibited lines — alcohol, tobacco, pork, gambling, weapons, adult entertainment, conventional banking and insurance — are removed. SPUS goes a step further: its index starts from the S&P 500 Shariah Index and then additionally excludes the Aerospace & Defense, Financial Exchanges & Data, and Data Processing & Outsourced Services sub-industries entirely.
- Financial ratios (the "how they're financed" test). The classic AAOIFI-style thresholds: total debt to market capitalization at or below 33%, cash plus interest-bearing securities within set limits, and non-compliant income capped at around 5% of total revenue. Companies that pass the business test can still fail here — a compliant software company carrying too much debt gets cut.
- Who runs the screen. SPUS follows S&P's Shariah index methodology. HLAL follows the FTSE Shariah index series, whose constituents are screened against Shariah principles by subject-matter experts at Yasaar Limited. WSHR follows the Dow Jones Islamic Market methodology, with Ratings Intelligence Partners retained as Shariah advisor to certify the ETF at launch and audit it bi-annually. Same goal, three different scholarly/industry rulebooks — which is why the three funds don't hold identical portfolios.
The practical upshot: don't assume "halal ETF" means "same stocks." The methodology is the product. If the distinction between rulebooks matters to you, read each index's methodology document (screenshots below show where to find them) and compare the top-10 holdings — the overlap is large but not total.
What the MERs mean in dollars
Expense ratios look small until you multiply them by decades. On a $50,000 holding, the annual fee drag is roughly: SPUS ~$225/yr, HLAL ~$250/yr, WSHR ~$280/yr (at 0.56% MER). The gap between SPUS and the others is about $25–55 a year on that balance — real, but small next to the currency decision below.
- SPUS 0.45%: the cheapest of the three. Note this is a cut — the fund launched at 0.49%, and multiple fund-data sources now show 0.45%. If you see 0.49% quoted on an older page, it's stale.
- HLAL 0.50%: five basis points more than SPUS for the FTSE Shariah methodology. On $50,000 that's $25/year — the price of the rulebook you prefer, if you prefer it.
- WSHR 0.50% management fee: the all-in MER is 0.56% (per the fund's annual report). Higher than SPUS, but remember what it replaces: for a Canadian buying in CAD, it also replaces the currency-conversion cost you'd pay on every USD purchase of the other two.
Fee verdict: SPUS wins on fee alone. But fee alone is the wrong contest — read the currency section before deciding the "cheapest" option for your account.
The purification question
What we found checking each fund:
- WSHR: Wealthsimple publishes dividend-purification information on a quarterly basis for its halal products — the most turnkey purification reporting of the three for a Canadian investor.
- SPUS and HLAL: as US-listed funds, purification percentages aren't handed to you on a Canadian-style fund facts sheet. Investors typically derive the impure portion from the fund's holdings data or use a screening tool's purification figures per holding. Our halal investing in Canada guide walks through the annual purification workflow step by step.
Bottom line: purification is an annual chore with all three. WSHR makes the paperwork easiest; SPUS/HLAL require a bit more legwork. Factor that into "simplicity," not just fees.
CAD vs USD: the currency decision
This is where the comparison gets decided for most Canadians:
- WSHR trades in CAD on Cboe Canada (NEO). You buy it like any Canadian ETF — no USD account, no conversion spread, no gambit. For TFSA/RRSP investors who want to keep everything in loonies, this is the entire pitch.
- SPUS and HLAL trade in USD on US exchanges. Buying them from a CAD account means a currency conversion on the way in (and out). At a typical ~1.5% brokerage FX spread, a single round trip can cost more than a full year of the MER difference. The workaround is Norbert's gambit — our step-by-step guide shows exactly how to do it at Questrade.
- Withholding tax mechanics: US-listed ETFs pay US dividends subject to 15% US withholding tax inside a TFSA (no recovery). Inside an RRSP, the Canada-US tax treaty generally brings that withholding to zero. WSHR's distributions are Canadian — no US withholding layer. This is standard cross-border tax mechanics, not tax advice; the dollar impact is small at these funds' yields but it's real.
Rule of thumb: if you'll hold in a TFSA and never touch USD, WSHR's CAD simplicity usually beats SPUS's fee edge. If you already run a USD side (or an RRSP where the treaty helps), SPUS's 0.45% and deep liquidity are hard to argue with.
Pros & cons: all three
SPUS — Pros
- Lowest fee of the three at 0.45%
- Deepest liquidity (~US$3.2B in assets, tight spreads)
- S&P 500 base = familiar US large-cap exposure
SPUS — Cons
- USD-listed — currency conversion costs for CAD accounts
- US-only; no international diversification
- Purification figures require legwork
HLAL — Pros
- FTSE Shariah methodology with Yasaar expert review
- Large- and mid-cap US exposure (broader than S&P 500)
- Longest track record of the three (launched July 2019)
HLAL — Cons
- 0.50% fee — 5 bps more than SPUS
- USD-listed — same currency friction as SPUS
- Smaller asset base (~US$977M) than SPUS
WSHR — Pros
- Buys in CAD — zero currency friction
- Global developed-market diversification, not just the US
- Quarterly purification info published; Shariah advisory by Ratings Intelligence Partners
WSHR — Cons
- Highest all-in cost (0.56% MER)
- Quality/low-volatility factor tilt changes the return profile vs plain market-cap
- Smaller fund (~C$470–520M) with a shorter history (2021)
Need a screener to check individual stocks alongside these ETFs? See our Zoya review.
FAQ
Which halal ETF is best inside a TFSA?
For most Canadians, WSHR: it trades in CAD (no conversion drag) and its distributions face no US withholding tax layer. SPUS and HLAL work fine in a TFSA too, but their US dividends lose 15% to US withholding tax with no recovery inside a TFSA, and you'll pay currency conversion unless you use Norbert's gambit. In an RRSP the math shifts — the Canada-US treaty generally eliminates the withholding, which narrows WSHR's advantage.
Do I need USD to buy SPUS or HLAL?
They're priced and settled in USD, so yes — you need US dollars or you'll pay your broker's currency conversion spread (typically ~1.5% each way at Canadian brokerages). The standard workaround is Norbert's gambit, which converts at near-spot rates; our guide walks through it step by step.
Are these ETFs really halal?
Each one tracks an index built to Shariah screening rules: prohibited industries are excluded and financial-ratio screens (debt, interest income, non-compliant revenue caps) are applied, with ongoing review — S&P's methodology for SPUS, FTSE Shariah screens reviewed by Yasaar Limited for HLAL, and Dow Jones Islamic Market screens with Ratings Intelligence Partners as Shariah advisor for WSHR. "Halal" here describes the methodology applied, not a personal ruling: purification of the small residual non-compliant income is still part of the workflow. Facts and methodology only — no fatwas.
How does purification work with these ETFs?
Screened indexes tolerate a small amount of non-compliant income per company (around 5% of revenue at most), so a slice of each fund's distributions is technically impure. The standard practice: once a year, calculate the impure portion of the dividends you received and donate it. WSHR investors get quarterly purification information published by Wealthsimple, which makes the math easy; SPUS and HLAL investors derive it from holdings data or screening-tool figures. Full workflow in our Canada guide.
Why do the MERs differ so much?
Scale and structure. SPUS (0.45%) spreads its costs over ~US$3.2B in assets tracking a widely-licensed S&P index. HLAL (0.50%) is smaller (~US$977M) with FTSE index licensing. WSHR (0.50% management fee, 0.56% MER) is the smallest of the three, runs a factor-tilted (quality/low-volatility) strategy rather than plain market-cap weighting, and carries dedicated Shariah advisory and bi-annual audits — all of which cost money. You're not just comparing fees; you're comparing different products.
Can I hold more than one of these?
Yes — there's no rule against it. A common Canadian setup is WSHR as the CAD-denominated core with a SPUS or HLAL position for extra US exposure. Just remember each US-listed purchase carries the currency decision with it, and keep your purification math per fund.