Best GIC Rates in Canada 2026: 1-, 2- and 5-Year Rates Compared

A guaranteed investment certificate is exactly what the name says: a deposit that guarantees your principal and pays a fixed interest rate for a set term. You give the bank your money for a defined period (30 days, 1 year, 5 years) and at the end you get it back with interest. This page lists posted rates by term and institution; the GIC hub has every other GIC guide.

In exchange for that certainty, you give up access to your money for the term. That trade-off is what separates a GIC from a high-interest savings account, and it is why GICs typically pay more. Longer terms and less flexibility to exit early usually pay more, but not at every institution: Peoples Trust’s posted 2-year rate (3.00%) was below its 1-year rate (3.40%) when checked.

The Bank of Canada’s 2022 and 2023 rate increases pushed the big banks’ typical posted 1-year GIC rate to 5.10% in 2023, and rates have come down since as the central bank cut its policy rate. They remain above the rates of 2020 and 2021 (see the history table below). The tables below give posted rates at named institutions with the date each was checked.

Where you buy matters. Online banks and credit unions often pay more than the Big 5 on comparable terms, but the gap varies by term and by day; the comparison below shows it in dollars.

Best 1-Year GIC Rates

Posted non-registered rates, checked on each institution’s own website on September 25, 2026 (Oaken’s grid in effect since October 2, 2026; Tangerine’s rates dated September 12, 2026). Rates change often and without notice; confirm the current rate with the institution before depositing. TD and BMO load their rate tables in a way that could not be checked, so no rate is shown for them.

EQ Bank’s 1-year GIC rate was 3.70% on October 5, 2026, with a $100 minimum; its terms from 9 months to 5 years posted higher rates than its shortest (3- and 6-month) and longest (6- to 10-year) terms when checked. Oaken Financial (a trademark of Home Bank, a wholly owned subsidiary of Home Trust Company) posted a 1-year rate of 3.80% in the grid in effect since October 2, 2026 (source: oaken.com/en-ca/gic-rates/). Both are federally regulated CDIC members; confirm current rates directly, since posted rates change frequently.

Big 5 posted rates are not always the final word: banks sometimes offer promotional or “special” rates above their posted rates, particularly on larger deposits or when a client asks. RBC’s rates page, for example, advertised special-offer rates above its posted rates on the day these were checked.

Best 2-Year GIC Rates

A 2-year GIC commits the money for longer than a 1-year term without the full lock-in of a 5-year one. The rates below were checked on the same dates as the 1-year table; confirm them before depositing.

The choice between 1 and 2 years is a bet on rates. If rates fall by 0.50 percentage points over the next year, a 1-year GIC renews at the lower rate, while a 2-year GIC keeps its original rate for the second year. If rates rise instead, the 1-year GIC renews higher.

Best 5-Year GIC Rates

The rates below were checked on the same dates as the 1-year table; confirm them before depositing. The longest term most Canadian institutions commonly sell is 5 years, though some post longer terms. Whether it pays more than shorter terms depends on the yield curve: when the curve is flat or inverted, shorter terms can pay as much or more.

A 5-year GIC pays off against rolling 1-year GICs if rates fall over the period, since the 5-year rate (EQ Bank posted 4.30% on October 5, 2026, for example) is locked in while each 1-year renewal happens at whatever rate is then available. If rates rise enough over the period, rolling shorter terms can come out ahead.

Online Banks vs Big 5: The Rate Gap in Dollars

Online institutions operate without a branch network. The Big 5 rely on the convenience of keeping everything at one institution.

In the tables above, RBC’s posted rates were below the online institutions’ at every term shown. At 5 years, EQ Bank’s posted 4.30% was 1.55 percentage points above RBC’s posted 2.75%, which is about $775 a year in interest on a $50,000 deposit before compounding. The gap changes from day to day, and special offers at the big banks can narrow it.

The case for staying with a Big 5 bank is convenience: a GIC at the same institution as your chequing account means easier transfers and one banking relationship. That weighs less on a 5-year GIC, where the dollar gap grows over the term, and more on a short GIC with a small dollar gap. Comparing the posted rates on the day you buy avoids assuming online banks lead at every term. The GIC calculator converts any two rates into dollars.

Minimum Deposits by Institution

The minimum needed to open a GIC runs from none at Tangerine to $1,000 at Oaken Financial and Peoples Trust among the institutions in the tables above. Registered and non-registered GICs often share the same minimum, but some institutions set a different one for registered plans or for promotional products (RBC, for example). Minimums can change with the product, so confirm them when you buy.

Two amounts shape how a deposit is split. Below a few thousand dollars, the low-minimum institutions are the ones open to you. Above $100,000, deposit insurance becomes the limit to plan around: CDIC covers up to that amount per depositor per category at each member institution, so larger sums are often spread across categories (non-registered, TFSA, RRSP and so on) or across institutions. Are GICs safe in Canada? explains the categories and provincial credit union coverage.

Other GIC Types and Registered GICs

The rates above are for standard non-redeemable GICs. Cashable GICs pay less in exchange for early access, and market-linked GICs replace the fixed rate with an index-linked return that can be as low as the product’s guaranteed minimum, which is zero on some products. Any of these can sit inside a TFSA, RRSP, RRIF, FHSA or RESP; the rate is usually the same, but the tax is not (see how GIC interest is taxed). The GIC guide compares all the types.

Historical GIC Rates in Canada

GIC rates follow Bank of Canada monetary policy closely. The table below uses Statistics Canada’s series of typical posted GIC rates at the major chartered banks (table 10-10-0145-01), showing the lowest and highest weekly value in each period. Online banks often posted more than these big-bank figures.

On September 23, 2026, the big banks’ typical posted rates were 2.60% for 1 year and 3.00% for 5 years: well below the early-1980s peak and above the lows of 2020 and 2021. The 2022 to 2023 run-up shows how quickly rates can move: savers who locked in 5-year terms near the top kept those rates for the full term, while anyone who waited for rates to climb further missed it. Past cycles say nothing reliable about where rates go next.

Rates Compared with HISAs and Bonds

A GIC fixes its rate for the term, while a high-interest savings account can change its rate at any time and a bond’s price moves with interest rates. The GIC vs HISA comparison and GIC vs bonds cover when each fits. Where the GIC is held matters as much as its rate: interest is fully taxable in a non-registered account and sheltered in a TFSA or RRSP, which the GIC tax guide works through.

How to Buy a GIC in Canada

Most institutions sell GICs online in a few minutes once you have an account. The checks that matter are the posted rate against the tables above, whether the issuer is a CDIC member or a provincially insured credit union, whether the GIC is cashable or non-redeemable, which account it goes in, and what happens at maturity: many GICs renew automatically at the posted rate unless you give other instructions. The GIC guide covers where to buy, including brokered GICs, and the GIC calculator shows what a given rate earns. Some savers split a larger sum into a GIC ladder rather than choosing one term.

Related Pages

• GIC hub: every GIC guide
• GIC vs HISA
• How to ladder GICs
• Are GICs safe in Canada?
• Best HISA rates in Canada
• GIC calculator
• Best business savings accounts
• Savings hub: HISAs, GICs and savings accounts