Best cash back credit cards in Canada

The tables on this page rank cash back credit cards by what each would return in a year, after its annual fee, for a household that spends $600 a month on groceries, $200 on gas, $200 on dining, $150 on recurring bills, $100 on transit, $50 at drugstores, $100 on travel and $600 on everything else , an assumed pattern rather than an average. At that spending, among the cards with a yearly value, the highest is SimplyCash Preferred Card from American Express, and among those with no annual fee the first place goes to Capital One Quicksilver World Elite Mastercard and Capital One Quicksilver World Mastercard, tied. Welcome offers are not included; see how welcome offers work.

Best cash back credit cards in Canada, ranked

Cards with and without an annual fee share one table here, ordered by yearly value at the spending above. A linked name leads to the card’s entry further down or to its page at its provider.

A dash means this table shows no figure for that card. Yearly values use the spending assumed above and each card's published rates and caps. Welcome offers, first-year fee waivers and fee rebates tied to a bank account, banking package, profession or another card are not included.

Cards with a dash in the value column follow the cards that have one.

Best no annual fee cash back cards

These are the cash back cards above that charge no annual fee, so each value is simply what the card earns at the assumed spending.

A dash means this table shows no figure for that card. Yearly values use the spending assumed above and each card's published rates and caps. Welcome offers, first-year fee waivers and fee rebates tied to a bank account, banking package, profession or another card are not included.

Capital One pays its higher rate at eligible grocery stores, which leave out superstores such as Walmart and Costco, and at gas and EV charging stations, with its base rate everywhere else. Its minimum income is set for each person or household, as the entry shows.

This is a separate Capital One card with the same earn rates as the World Elite version above and a lower minimum income.

The higher rate counts only at stand-alone gas stations and grocery stores in Canada; American Express says purchases at superstores, wholesale clubs, alcohol retailers and general merchandise retailers don’t qualify. American Express states the cap as equal to a set amount of cash back a year, in a footnote that lists gas stations and grocery stores under one maximum. The cash back is credited once a year and shows on the September statement.

Rogers Bank pays its higher rate on purchases other than U.S. dollar ones only to customers with a qualifying Rogers, Fido, Shaw or Comwave service, and a lower rate without one. The yearly value here uses the rate without the service. More on this card is in the Rogers Red World Elite review.

The Money-Back card pays its higher rate on purchases in two categories the cardholder picks, and in a third when the cash back is deposited in a Tangerine Savings Account. Tangerine’s list of categories to choose from includes grocery, restaurants, gas, drug store, recurring bill payments, and public transportation and parking, among others. Everything outside the chosen categories earns the base rate in the entry. The yearly value in the tables takes groceries and gas as the two chosen categories. The Tangerine Money-Back World Mastercard, in the table, is a separate card with its own choice of categories and its own minimum income.

Best cash back cards with an annual fee

Each value here is what the card earns in a year at the assumed spending, minus its fee.

A dash means this table shows no figure for that card. Yearly values use the spending assumed above and each card's published rates and caps. Welcome offers, first-year fee waivers and fee rebates tied to a bank account, banking package, profession or another card are not included.

Wealthsimple charges its card’s fee monthly, or yearly for Quebec clients, and waives it for cardholders with a set amount in individual assets with Wealthsimple or a set monthly direct deposit to a Wealthsimple chequing account; the yearly value in the table counts the fee.

American Express charges this card’s fee monthly outside Quebec, so the yearly value subtracts a full year of monthly fees. The higher rate counts only at stand-alone gas stations and grocery stores in Canada, and American Express states the cap as a cash back amount a year.

Neo’s card page names its higher-rate categories as groceries, recurring payments and gas.

CIBC pays its top rate on groceries, gas and electric vehicle charging, and a middle rate on commuter transportation, dining, recurring payments and travel booked through CIBC by Expedia. The top and middle rates, apart from the Expedia rate, apply to the first $50,000 of all card purchases in a year or the first $20,000 in those categories, whichever comes first; after that, every purchase earns the base rate. CIBC’s card page also says there is no limit on the total cash back you can earn, so purchases past those limits keep earning at the base rate. The primary cardholder can redeem cash back at any time during the year, above the minimum in the entry. The Dividend Platinum Visa and the no-fee Dividend Visa have their own table rows.

Scotiabank applies its yearly spending limit to each of its two higher rates separately. More on this card is in the Momentum Visa Infinite review.

Best cash back card for each spending category

This table gives each card’s stated rate in common spending categories, with the cap that limits it, where its terms set one.

A dash means this table shows no figure for that card. Welcome offers, first-year fee waivers and fee rebates tied to a bank account, banking package, profession or another card are not included.

Among the cards in this table that state a rate for the category, the top stated rate, before caps:

• Groceries: BMO CashBack World Elite Mastercard and Neo World Elite Mastercard
• Gas: CIBC Dividend Visa Infinite Card and SimplyCash Preferred Card from American Express
• Dining: Simplii Financial Cash Back Visa Card
• Recurring bills: Scotia Momentum Visa Infinite+ Card and Neo World Elite Mastercard
• Transit: BMO CashBack World Elite Mastercard
• Drugstores: Tangerine Money-Back Credit Card, Tangerine Money-Back World Mastercard and Scotia Momentum Visa Card

For groceries alone, the grocery ranking orders cards by yearly value with caps applied, adds points cards and gives what some issuers’ terms say about which stores count; at the same spending, among the cards with a yearly value, its first is Scotiabank Gold American Express Card.

Best credit cards for gas, and gas-station programs

This table orders cash back cards by what their gas rate earns in a year on $200 a month, caps applied; the value column is still the card’s yearly value after the fee. Cards with no yearly value come last.

A dash means this table shows no figure for that card. Yearly values use the spending assumed above and each card's published rates and caps. Welcome offers, first-year fee waivers and fee rebates tied to a bank account, banking package, profession or another card are not included.

TD’s terms use the Visa network’s merchant categories for gas service stations, automated fuel dispensers and electric vehicle charging.

Gas-station rewards programs

Gas-station chains run loyalty programs of their own, separate from a card’s cash back. Here is what some of them say their members earn:

Shell is a Scene+ partner, and points are earned at participating Shell locations. The Scene+ page also says what linking a particular card adds:

• Scene+ at Shell: Link your Scene+ membership and an eligible Scotiabank or Tangerine card to your Shell Go+ account to get up to 10¢ per litre in value.

How the points work is in the Scene+ guide. BMO’s Blue Rewards credit card counts gas as one of its everyday earning categories. For Canadian Tire’s gas stations, see the Triangle World Elite review.

Costco gas and EV charging

On the CIBC Costco Mastercard, CIBC’s terms give 3% cash back at Costco gas stations, on the first $5,000 in net annual gas-category purchases, then 1%, and 2% cash back at other gas merchants, on the first $5,000 in net annual gas-category purchases (shared with Costco gas), then 1%. Electric vehicle charging shares that limit: 2% cash back on electric vehicle charging, on the first $5,000 in net annual gas-category purchases (shared with gas), then 1%. On the CIBC Dividend Visa Infinite and TD’s cash back cards, electric vehicle charging counts with gas. Which cards Costco’s gas stations take is on best Mastercards.

Best credit cards for dining and restaurants

This table orders cash back cards by what their dining rate earns in a year on $200 a month, caps applied, beside each card’s yearly value. Cards with no yearly value come last.

A dash means this table shows no figure for that card. Yearly values use the spending assumed above and each card's published rates and caps. Welcome offers, first-year fee waivers and fee rebates tied to a bank account, banking package, profession or another card are not included.

CIBC’s Dividend Visa Infinite terms name eating places and restaurants, drinking places and fast food restaurants as the card network classifies them. RBC’s Cash Back Preferred terms name the Mastercard categories for restaurants, drinking places and fast food, and put food delivery in the same group.

Some points cards pay extra points on dining. This list gives the dining rate and fee of some of them, with no yearly value:

Welcome offers, first-year fee waivers and fee rebates tied to a bank account, banking package, profession or another card are not included.

Points cards are ranked with the other rewards cards on best credit cards, and the Amex Cobalt has its own review. Where American Express cards are taken is covered in where Amex is accepted.

Caps, minimum redemptions and how cash back is paid

Caps on these cards take different forms. BMO limits spending at its higher rates per statement period, as on the BMO CashBack Mastercard. TD limits it per year, in each category, as on the TD Cash Back Visa Infinite. American Express states each yearly cap on its SimplyCash cards as a cash back amount, in a footnote that lists gas stations and grocery stores under one maximum. The CIBC Dividend Visa Infinite sets two yearly limits at once, one on the bonus categories and one on all purchases.

Payout terms for most of these cards:

Welcome offers, first-year fee waivers and fee rebates tied to a bank account, banking package, profession or another card are not included.

The values assume the balance is paid in full each month. Card issuers give an interest-free grace period to pay for the previous month's purchases, beginning on the last day of the billing period, and federally regulated financial institutions must provide at least 21 days. It doesn't apply to cash advances, cash-like transactions and balance transfers, and interest applies if the balance isn't paid in full by the due date. How interest is charged is on how credit card interest works.

Cash back cards for Costco shoppers

Costco’s own list of the cards its warehouses, gas stations and Costco.ca take is on best Mastercards. These are some of the cash back Mastercards from the tables above, with the CIBC Costco Mastercard added, ordered by yearly value at the assumed spending. Cards with a dash in the value column follow the cards that have one.

Yearly values use the spending assumed above and each card's published rates and caps. Welcome offers, first-year fee waivers and fee rebates tied to a bank account, banking package, profession or another card are not included.

The CIBC Costco Mastercard pays its cash back as a gift certificate that is redeemable only at Costco warehouses in Canada. The CIBC Costco Mastercard review has more on the card.

How this ranking works

These tables list the cash back cards chosen for this page from this site’s card data; other cards with a cash back rate, including student, prepaid and secured cards, are not ranked here. Its yearly value is the issuer’s published rates and caps worked out on the assumed spending, less the annual fee or a year of a monthly fee. Where a fee differs for Quebec residents, the value uses the fee outside Quebec. Each statement period is taken as one month. A rate that depends on a condition, such as a Rogers service, is valued at the rate without it, and Tangerine’s two chosen categories are taken to be groceries and gas. Welcome offers are left out. The full method is on best credit cards.

Related rankings

• How to choose a credit card: the steps and the card types.
• Best credit cards for groceries, for grocery spending alone and which stores count.
• Cash back or points, for how cash back is worked out, with a calculator.
• Best credit cards, for points and premium cards beside cash back.
• Store and retailer credit cards, for cards tied to one retailer.
• Best Mastercards, for Mastercards across card types.
• No annual fee credit cards, for no-fee cards beyond cash back.
• Compare credit cards, for cards side by side by type.