Best Cash and Money Market ETFs in Canada (2026): CASH, ZMMK, PSA, CBIL and Others Compared

A cash ETF is a fund that holds bank deposits or short-term debt and pays the interest out to its unitholders; CASH, for example, aims for monthly income. The main choices are which kind of fund (deposits or short-term debt) and which currency, Canadian or US dollars. This page explains both kinds, why their payouts rise and fall with interest rates, and their limits, then compares the funds from Global X, CI, Purpose, BMO and iShares using each issuer’s own published figures, each yield shown with its date. It doesn’t pick one.

What are cash ETFs, and how do the two kinds differ?

High-interest savings (HISA) ETFs keep their money mostly in deposit accounts at Canadian banks. Global X describes CASH’s aim as monthly income with capital and liquidity kept intact, earned mainly from high-interest deposit accounts at Canadian banks. CI describes CSAV in almost the same words. Purpose’s PSA mixes deposit accounts at Schedule I Canadian banks with short-term Bank of Canada Treasury Bills, so “mainly deposits” fits this kind better than “deposits alone”.

Money market and T-bill ETFs lend money for short periods instead, by buying debt that matures soon. BMO’s ZMMK holds money market instruments from Canadian governments and companies, such as treasury bills, bankers’ acceptances and commercial paper. iShares says CMR buys high-quality, investment-grade debt that generally matures in under 90 days. Global X’s CBIL aims for interest from Government of Canada Treasury Bills that generally have less than 3 months left to run.

Money market mutual funds hold the same sorts of securities, and the Ontario Securities Commission’s investor site notes that Canadian ones try to hold their unit value steady at $10. An ETF is different: it is bought and sold on an exchange at its market price. Our mutual funds page covers the fund version.

How is the yield set, and why does it move with the Bank of Canada rate?

Deposit accounts and T-bills pay short-term interest rates, and those are what the Bank of Canada steers: it carries out monetary policy by influencing short-term rates. The Bank says its policy rate feeds through to the interest paid on deposits, GICs and other savings, and that when it lowers the rate, other rates across the economy go down with it. A cash ETF’s income comes from those same deposits and short-term debt, so its yield tends to fall after a cut and rise after an increase. The fund’s expenses, its MER among them, reduce what it returns to you.

The Bank’s policy rate: 2.50%, from its decision of October 28, 2026. Our Bank of Canada interest rate page follows each decision, and how rate decisions reach savers explains the path from the policy rate to savings rates.

What did OSFI decide about HISA ETFs, and when?

The Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) looked at how deposit-taking institutions treat the money HISA ETFs place with them. On October 31, 2023, it decided that the treatment its liquidity guideline already gave these deposits remains appropriate, so the rule was upheld rather than changed. That guideline applies a 100% run-off factor to the deposits, which means an institution holding them must keep enough high-quality liquid assets, such as government bonds, to cover all the HISA ETF balances that can be withdrawn within 30 days. OSFI set January 31, 2024 as the date for institutions not already doing so to move their measurement and reporting to that treatment. OSFI’s text is about the institutions’ liquidity; for how a particular fund responded, its issuer’s own notices are the place to look.

The main cash and money market ETFs compared

The table lists the cash-like ETFs listed in Canada that readers search for, in two kinds as each fund’s own documents describe what it holds, with Canadian-dollar funds before US-dollar ones. Global X’s HSAV is left out: it doesn’t expect to make regular distributions and stopped taking new subscriptions in 2022. Short-term bond funds such as BMO’s ZST are on the bond ETF page.

Issuer-published figures. Holdings as of October 9, 2026. Yields are each issuer's own figure under its own label, as of October 9, 2026, October 6, 2026, September 30, 2026; they change often. MER as of BMO: September 30, 2026; CI: June 30, 2026; Global X: June 30, 2026; Purpose: June 30, 2026; iShares: June 30, 2026 (each issuer's latest reported MER). Each ticker links to the issuer's page, which has the current price, holdings, distributions and performance.

Rows are grouped by kind. The yield column is each issuer’s own figure, under the name and date the issuer gives it. Global X and BMO publish an annualized distribution yield: the latest regular distribution (or, for BMO, the expected one), annualized for its frequency and divided by the fund’s current net asset value. CI and Purpose publish both a gross and a net yield, and the table shows the net one. CI says its figure is an annualized seven-day yield, net of the fund’s fees and expenses. Because the measures differ, the column isn’t a like-for-like ranking; each ticker links to the issuer’s own page or fact sheet. There’s no return column.

How do the funds differ?

What they hold. The HISA funds keep money in deposit accounts at Canadian banks. The money market funds own short-term debt: short-term government and company debt in ZMMK, short-term investment-grade debt in CMR, money market securities in MNY, and Treasury Bills in CBIL and UBIL.U.

Fees. MERs run from 0.11% for CASH and CBIL to 0.22% for MNU.U. The MER is the fund’s management fee plus its operating expenses, and it reduces what the fund returns to you. Our MER calculator shows what a fee costs in dollars.

US-dollar funds. PSU.U, UBIL.U and MNU.U trade in US dollars; the other seven trade in Canadian dollars. Purpose says PSU.U holds deposits in cash accounts at Schedule 1 Canadian banks, Global X’s UBIL.U holds US Treasury Bills, and Purpose’s MNU.U holds US-dollar money market securities. Our page on converting to US dollars covers what that costs.

Distributions. The ten funds in the table each pay monthly.

ZMMK vs CASH

• What it holds: ZMMK, money market instruments from Canadian governments and companies; CASH, high-interest deposit accounts at Canadian banks.
• MER: 0.13% for ZMMK, 0.11% for CASH.
• Yield: both issuers publish the same measure, an annualized distribution yield: 2.41% for ZMMK as of September 30, 2026 and 2.09% for CASH as of October 9, 2026. The two dates can differ, so the gap between the figures isn’t exact.
• Distributions: ZMMK monthly, CASH monthly.
• Issuer: BMO for ZMMK, Global X for CASH.

The difference is the kind of fund: see the two kinds, and OSFI’s decision for how the institutions holding HISA ETF deposits must cover them.

Cash ETF, savings account or GIC? A savings account and a GIC are deposits, and CDIC lists both as eligible for its coverage, while ETFs are on its list of products that aren’t. Most GICs pay a fixed rate for a set term, while a cash ETF trades on an exchange at its market price and its payout moves with rates. Our guides to HISAs, savings account rates, GICs and GIC rates cover each one, and GIC vs bond ETF vs HISA compares the choice.

What don’t cash ETFs do?

• They aren’t deposit-insured. CDIC lists ETFs among the products it doesn’t cover, and Global X’s ETF Facts says CASH isn’t covered by CDIC even though it invests mainly in bank deposit accounts. See CDIC vs CIPF.
• CIPF covers missing property, not losses. If a CIPF member firm becomes insolvent, CIPF pays for property missing from your account; a drop in an investment’s value isn’t covered. Our brokers page has more.
• The payout isn’t fixed. It follows short-term rates, as explained above.
• They can lose money. Global X rates CASH’s volatility as low, yet its ETF Facts says the value can go down as well as up, and that an ETF with a low risk rating can still lose money.
• Trading has costs. Units are bought and sold on an exchange at the market price, a brokerage may charge a commission on each trade, and a smaller bid-ask spread generally means a more liquid ETF.
• Tax. In a non-registered account, the distributions count as taxable income; what you owe also depends on whether the ETF sits in a registered plan such as an RRSP or TFSA. BlackRock says interest income is typically taxed at your marginal rate. See how ETF distributions are taxed.

Where to go next

• Bond ETFs in Canada, the next step along the risk line
• Best savings account rates and best GIC rates
• How ETFs are taxed in Canada
• Online brokers in Canada
• ETFs and index funds, the hub’s front page, including how to buy an ETF