Best credit cards in Canada

The shortlist below names, for each common need, the card this page’s method puts first, with points cards ranked by their yearly value at a redemption rate the program publishes and premium cards compared by what their annual fees include. The yearly values assume a household that puts $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, not an average. Welcome offers are left out of every figure here; how they work is explained in credit card sign-up bonuses.

The best credit card for each need

• Points: first, among the points cards ranked below that have a yearly value at the assumed spending: Scotiabank Gold American Express Card.
• Cash back: first, among the best cash back credit cards that have a yearly value: SimplyCash Preferred Card from American Express.
• Cash back with no annual fee: first, among the no-fee cash back cards that have a yearly value: Capital One Quicksilver World Elite Mastercard and Capital One Quicksilver World Mastercard, tied.
• Groceries: first, among the cards for groceries that have a yearly value: Scotiabank Gold American Express Card.
• Premium: the premium cards are compared by annual fee and by what each fee includes, with no single pick.
• Travel and airline points: the best travel credit cards and the Aeroplan cards compare cards for flights and hotels.
• Paying less interest: low-interest cards are compared on their own page.
• Students, newcomers and rebuilding credit: see starter cards.
• Business: business credit cards are listed by card type and annual fee.
• By network: the best Mastercards and the best Visa cards.
• At one store: store and retailer credit cards, including cards for Amazon.ca.

Each pick comes from the same data as its ranking, so it matches the first row of that ranking’s own table.

Best rewards credit cards: points cards ranked

These points cards earn flexible points from the card’s provider rather than one airline’s miles, and they are ordered by yearly value at the assumed spending, with each point valued at a fixed redemption rate its program publishes. A card whose points aren’t valued here at a fixed rate its program publishes, or whose everyday rates aren’t fully stated on its provider’s pages, follows with a dash instead of a value.

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.

A point has no single worth: one program can price the same points differently for different redemptions, as TD’s own terms do for travel booked through Expedia For TD and for other redemption options. Each value below assumes all points go to the one redemption named in the card’s entry. Program-by-program redemption options are in credit card rewards programs, and whether points or cash back returns more is worked out in cash back or points.

This card earns Membership Rewards points, for which Amex states a fixed statement-credit rate on eligible purchases. Its current card page lists higher rates on eats and drinks, streaming, and gas, transit and ride share. It shows a dash because the card page does not settle which rate grocery purchases earn, and no yearly value is shown until a check of its current terms settles it. Its review has more on the card.

This card earns Avion points: a higher rate on travel-related purchases and a base rate on all other eligible purchases. Its value uses the conversion RBC states on the card page: 100 Avion points = $1 CAD when redeemed for travel. The review covers the rest of its terms.

This card’s BMO Rewards points come at an accelerated rate on dining, groceries, gas and transit, each category up to its own yearly purchase limit, and at the base rate on purchases outside those categories. Its value uses the rate BMO’s terms give for points redeemed for travel-related purchases. More on the program is in credit card rewards programs.

This card earns Scene+ points, with its highest rate at the grocers Scotiabank lists, a middle rate on other groceries, dining, entertainment and daily transit, and the base rate once a yearly spending maximum is reached and on other purchases. Its value uses Scene+’s grocery redemption rate.

This card earns Membership Rewards points at a higher rate at stand-alone gas stations, drugstores and grocery stores in Canada and on travel, and the base rate on the rest. Its value uses Amex’s statement-credit rate for eligible purchases.

This card’s points earn most on travel bought through the CIBC Rewards Centre and a middle rate at gas stations, EV charging stations, grocery stores and drug stores. It shows a dash because the method values points at a fixed published redemption rate, and none is used for its program here.

This card earns TD Rewards points at its highest rate on travel booked through Expedia For TD, and higher rates on groceries, dining, public transit, recurring bills and streaming, each category dropping to the base rate for the rest of the year once its yearly cap is passed. Its value uses TD’s rate for travel bought directly through Expedia For TD.

This card’s points earn its top rate on groceries and restaurants until a monthly purchase total is reached, then a lower rate. National Bank publishes redemption examples and notes that the exchange value may vary by reward type, so the table gives it no yearly value.

This card earns Scene+ points at its highest rate at the grocers Scotiabank lists, then a lower rate on other groceries, dining and entertainment, with the accelerated rates applying to a yearly amount of purchases counted from January to December and the regular rate after it. Its value uses Scene+’s grocery redemption rate.

This card’s points earn a higher rate on restaurant, grocery, digital media, membership and utility purchases, until a yearly amount is spent in each category. It shows a dash because the method values points at a fixed published redemption rate, and none is used for its program here.

Premium credit cards: what the annual fee buys

The table lists all cards in this site’s data with an annual fee of $399 or more, apart from business cards (those are on the business ranking), in ascending order of annual fee.

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.

What do premium cards include?

Each row’s last column gives the card’s airport lounge access as its provider describes it. The American Express Platinum Card lists a $200 Annual Travel Credit and a $200 Annual Dining Credit, and Marriott Bonvoy Gold Elite and Hilton Honors Gold hotel status. Amex gives its card type as “Charge Card with No Pre-Set Spending Limit”. Its lounge line in the table includes a limit on some complimentary visits that Amex has announced, with the date it starts. How card insurance works is in the credit card insurance guide.

Is a premium card worth its fee?

Beyond rewards, part of a fee can come back through what the provider’s terms say the fee includes: the Platinum’s dining credit, for one, is for a curated list of Canada’s top restaurants.

What is the most prestigious credit card in Canada?

By annual fee, the one measure the table above can state, the top fee in it today belongs to the American Express Platinum Card. Two fees in the table change on January 12, 2027, as their rows note, and what each fee includes is in its row.

Starter cards

Cards for people with a short credit history or none are compared on their own pages: a first credit card, student credit cards, cards for newcomers to Canada, and secured credit cards and cards for bad credit for rebuilding a credit history.

How we rank cards

The rankings in this section follow one method. A table lists a selection of the cards in this site’s card data for its category; a figure prints where the data holds a checked value, and a dash marks the rest.

Cash back and points tables are ordered by yearly value at the assumed spending above: each category’s spending times the card’s published rate, with each cap and the rate after it applied, minus the yearly fee. Where a card pays its top rate only at named merchants, through its own booking site or with a linked service or membership, the value uses its rate for other purchases; a monthly fee is counted as paid even where the provider waives it. Where a fee differs for Quebec residents, the value uses the fee outside Quebec. A cap the issuer sets per statement period is applied as a monthly cap. Where a card lets the cardholder pick its bonus categories, groceries and gas are taken as picked: the biggest category amount in the assumed spending, and the first-listed of the two that tie for second. Equal values share a place and are marked as tied.

A points card gets a value at a fixed rate its program publishes for one kind of redemption, where there is one, and the value assumes all points go there; the basis is in each card’s entry. A card whose provider’s pages leave a rate for some of the assumed spending unstated gets a dash. Premium and business cards have no value figure and are listed in ascending order of annual fee.

Tables that use these spending inputs give a card the same value wherever it appears. 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. More is in how credit card interest works. Welcome offers, first-year fee waivers, and the worth of insurance, credits and lounge visits are not counted. Fees are the ones the provider lists before any waiver or rebate tied to a bank account, banking package, profession or another card. The tables are built from the card data, so when a stored rate or fee changes, the order changes with it.

Related rankings

• Best cash back credit cards: the full cash back ranking, with no-fee cards, gas and dining.
• Best credit cards for groceries: ranked on grocery spending, with the providers’ definitions of a grocery purchase where this site has them.
• Store and retailer credit cards: the worked test of a store’s own card against a general one.
• Best Mastercards and best Visa cards: the same method within one network.
• Business credit cards: cards issued to a business, by type.
• Cash back or points: the arithmetic behind choosing between them.
• How to choose a credit card: the method in steps.
• Compare credit cards: all cards in this site’s data in one table.
• Credit card rewards programs: what each program’s points can be redeemed for.