Best student credit cards in Canada

The table below ranks the student credit cards in this site’s card data by what each would return in a year, after its annual fee, at an assumed student spending of $250 a month on groceries, $40 on gas, $100 on dining, $60 on recurring bills, $100 on transit, $30 at drugstores, $0 on travel and $220 on everything else , a pattern chosen for this page rather than an average for students. At that spending the first is the Scotiabank American Express Card for Students. Welcome offers are not included. How sign-up offers work has its own page.

Student credit cards in Canada, ranked

These student cards are in order of yearly value at the spending above, with the credit limit a bank states for the card, where it states one, in its own column.

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 a value, listed by bank.

Student cash back cards

Among the student cash back cards with a yearly value, the first at the assumed spending is the CIBC Dividend Visa Card for Students. The higher rates on these cards stop at different points. BMO’s student card pays its grocery rate up to a spending limit in each statement period, the two Scotia Momentum student cards pay their higher rate up to a spending limit each year, and CIBC states the yearly limits for its student card in a footnote to that card’s list on its cash back benefits page; each limit is printed in the card’s “What it earns” cell. The table shows no yearly value for BMO’s card: BMO states its grocery rate up to a spending limit in each statement period, and this site’s card data holds no rate for the card’s grocery spending past that limit.

The two Momentum cards are separate products. The Scotia Momentum Visa Card for Students has an annual fee of $49/year, while the Scotia Momentum No-Fee Visa Card for Students is the no-fee version and pays a lower rate in the same categories, up to a lower yearly spending limit.

Student cards that earn points

Two Scotiabank student cards earn Scene+ points, and the table values those points at the grocery redemption Scotiabank lists for its student Scene+ card: Scene+ grocery redemption: 10,000 points = $100 off at eligible grocery stores. Both cards pay a higher rate at Sobeys, Safeway, IGA, Foodland and the other grocers Scotiabank lists. Because the spending above does not say where groceries are bought, the value counts all grocery spending at each card’s rate for grocery stores not on that list.

CIBC’s three student points cards, the CIBC Aventura Visa Card for Students, the CIBC Aeroplan Visa Card for Students and the CIBC Adapta Mastercard for Students, earn points on purchases. The table shows no yearly value for these three cards; how points are counted is under how this ranking works. For the Adapta card, CIBC says 1,500 Adapta Points are worth $10 when applied to the card balance or a recent purchase, and 1,200 Adapta Points are worth $10 when used toward an eligible CIBC financial product. The table still shows no yearly value for it, because its higher rate goes to each month’s top three spend categories, which the table’s method does not model. What a point is worth in each program is on credit card rewards programs.

Student card interest rates

The lowest purchase rate in this table is that of the Scotiabank Value Visa Card for Students, a card with an annual fee of $29/year. Purchases and cash advances have separate rates, so each has its own column, with a Quebec rate added where the bank states one.

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

FCAC says the grace period does not apply to cash advances. In short, 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. The full rule is on how credit card interest works, and cash advances have their own page.

Who can get a student credit card

FCAC’s advice is to ask the card issuer whether you are eligible: Contact your credit card issuer to find out if you’re eligible for a student credit card. Five banks’ student card pages say:

BMO’s and TD’s rows name the age of majority; the ages of majority the first-card page lists cover most provinces and territories.

On its Dividend Visa Card for Students, CIBC states this minimum income: None (no minimum income requirement). BMO’s row above lists the kinds of income it counts for its student card, a student loan and a family allowance among them. Scotiabank’s pages for its Scene+ and Momentum student cards add a note on income: Scotiabank lists a steady income of more than $12000 a year (income requirement subject to change) among the reasons this card might not be right, because other credit cards may be available to them. Minimum incomes on other cards are on getting approved.

The rows for BMO, CIBC, RBC and Scotiabank say how an international student applies, and TD’s says an applicant must be a permanent resident of Canada. Bank programs for newcomers are compared on credit cards for newcomers.

Credit limits for students

FCAC notes that cards made for students tend to come with smaller credit limits than regular cards. The ranking’s limit column shows the figure each bank states for the card where it states one: a maximum on CIBC’s student cards, for Canadian and for international students, with the conditions CIBC attaches to it, and a minimum on Scotiabank’s.

Building credit while you study

On why a credit history matters, FCAC says that lenders use your credit history when deciding whether to lend to you, how much interest to charge and what credit limit to offer, and that a poor or limited credit history may make it harder to get a credit card. How a card’s use shows up in a credit file, and how much of the limit is in use, are on building credit. Accounts made for students are compared on student bank accounts, and budgeting through school is on student finances. Changing to a different card later is covered on moving to another card.

How this ranking works

The tables hold the cards this site’s card data classes as student cards, with values from terms it has dated. The order is each card’s yearly earnings at the spending above, using its published rates and spending limits and the rate past each limit, less the annual fee; a statement period counts as one month. Grocery, gas and other category spending is taken as made at merchants that qualify for the card’s category rate. Scene+ cards are valued as the points section above says; a points card for which this site’s card data holds no fixed published point value, a card whose higher rate goes to each month’s top spending categories (CIBC’s Adapta card), a card with no rewards, or a card whose rate past a spending limit is not in this site’s card data (BMO’s student card, as the cash back section says) shows a dash. Where a bank states a Quebec rate, the cell shows it, and the order uses the rate outside Quebec. The method assumes the balance is paid in full each month, as in the interest section. The table has no RBC or TD student card. The value method the ranking table shares with the site’s other card rankings is on best credit cards.

More for students

• Your first credit card: routes to a first card and a ranking of starter cards.
• Credit cards for newcomers: five big banks’ newcomer programs.
• Secured credit cards: cards that take a deposit.
• Getting approved: what card issuers check.
• No-fee and low-interest cards: no-fee cards and low-interest cards.
• Student bank accounts: accounts for students.