I'm not sure what your friend used, but Interactive Brokers is a large public company. Many/most small to medium hedge funds use it, because they have great execution, low commissions, and a powerful trading engine. They aren't a beginner type operation though, the software is very powerful but it's harder to use than a bank brokerage, just because it has so many more choices.
They have unbelievably good margin rates, and way lower commissions than anyone else available in Canada. They also have direct access to international markets (UK, EU, Asia, Australia) that no other broker in Canada offers.
They have transparent availability of borrow for shorting, and disclose the cost of borrow in advance. They also have an automated process for handling corporate actions (tenders, exchange offers, mergers, etc) which is way better than anything else. That combination makes them an easy choice for anyone doing merger arb type stuff. A few times on the phone spending 20 minutes explaining what I needed to the questrade employee (no, tender to the odd lot option...) when I could do it with 3 clicks at IB got me to switch everything.
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