Best credit cards in Canada
Compare Canadian credit cards, ranked by what each one is worth to you in a year, after fees. Pick your spending and the numbers update.
Card details updated November 10, 2026 How we rank
What’s in each?
- Light:
- Groceries $400, restaurants $100, gas $100, recurring bills $100, everything else (base rate) $250, foreign currency $50
- Typical:
- Groceries $800, restaurants $250, gas $250, recurring bills $250, travel $150, everything else (base rate) $650, foreign currency $150
- Big:
- Groceries $1,200, restaurants $500, gas $400, recurring bills $400, travel $500, everything else (base rate) $1,600, foreign currency $400
- Yours:
- Your own amounts, saved on this device only
Not sure which kind of card you need? Help me choose
176 credit cards, ranked for you
Ranked by value in year one at $5,000 a month, after fees. How we rank
-
Ranked 1. American Express Cobalt™
American Express Expert Score 8.9 out of 10. Excellent
Worth in year one $2,802Then each year $2,5478.5% back on restaurants, groceries and food delivery, 1.7% back on everything else
- Welcome offer
- $255 you’d get The full offer. Up to 15,000 Membership Rewards points.
- Annual fee
- $191.88 a year
Income rule not listed
Loading the details…
The details didn’t load. See the full review
-
Ranked 2. TD® Aeroplan® Visa Business Card
TD · Visa
Worth in year one $2,770Then each year $1,4214% back on flights, 2% back on everything else
- Welcome offer
- $1,200 you’d get The full offer. Up to 60,000 Aeroplan points.
- Annual fee
- $0 first year Then $149 a year
Income rule not listed
Loading the details…
The details didn’t load. See the full review
-
Ranked 3. RBC Avion Visa Infinite Business
RBC · Visa
Worth in year one $2,700Then each year $1,2502.1% back on everything
- Welcome offer
- $1,275 you’d get The full offer. Up to 75,000 Avion points.
- Annual fee
- $0 first year Then $175 a year
Needs $60,000 personal or $100,000 household income
Loading the details…
The details didn’t load. See the full review
-
Ranked 4. Scotiabank Gold American Express® Card
Scotiabank · American Express Expert Score 8.8 out of 10. Excellent
Worth in year one $2,676Then each year $1,9066% back on groceries, 1% back on everything else
- Welcome offer
- $650 you’d get The full offer. Up to 65,000 Scene+ points.
- Annual fee
- $0 first year Then $120 a year
Needs $12,000 personal income
Loading the details…
The details didn’t load. See the full review
Read the full review: Scotiabank Gold American Express® Card
-
Best welcome offers right now
What you’d actually get at $5,000 a month.
-
Business Platinum Card® from American Express
$1,360 you’d get
Up to 120,000 Membership Rewards points.
All of year one’s offer at your spending
-
BMO® Eclipse Visa Infinite Privilege* Card
$1,340 you’d get
Up to 200,000 BMO Rewards points.
The full offer at your spending
-
American Express® Aeroplan® Business Reserve Card
$1,300 you’d get
Up to 90,000 Aeroplan points.
All of year one’s offer at your spending
-
RBC Avion Visa Infinite Business
$1,275 you’d get
Up to 75,000 Avion points.
The full offer at your spending
-
American Express® Aeroplan® Reserve Card
$1,200 you’d get
Up to 85,000 Aeroplan points.
All of year one’s offer at your spending
-
TD® Aeroplan® Visa Business Card
$1,200 you’d get
Up to 60,000 Aeroplan points.
The full offer at your spending
-
-
Ranked 5. American Express® Gold Rewards Card
American Express Expert Score 7.8 out of 10. Good
Worth in year one $2,658Then each year $1,3883.4% back on travel, flights and hotels, 1.7% back on everything else
- Welcome offer
- $1,020 you’d get The full offer. Up to 60,000 Membership Rewards points.
- Annual fee
- $0 first year Then $250 a year
Income rule not listed
Loading the details…
The details didn’t load. See the full review
-
Ranked 6. TD® Aeroplan® Visa Infinite Card
TD · Visa Expert Score 7.7 out of 10. Good
Worth in year one $2,642Then each year $1,5033% back on groceries, gas and flights, 2% back on everything else
- Welcome offer
- $1,000 you’d get The full offer. Up to 50,000 Aeroplan points.
- Annual fee
- $0 first year Then $139 a year
Needs $60,000 personal or $100,000 household income
Loading the details…
The details didn’t load. See the full review
-
Ranked 7. American Express® Aeroplan® Business Reserve Card
American Express Expert Score 6.6 out of 10. Fair
Worth in year one $2,571Then each year $1,2716% back on flights, 2.5% back on everything else
- Welcome offer
- $1,300 you’d get All of year one’s offer. Up to 90,000 Aeroplan points.
- Annual fee
- $599 a year
Income rule not listed
Loading the details…
The details didn’t load. See the full review
Read the full review: American Express® Aeroplan® Business Reserve Card
-
Ranked 8. American Express® Aeroplan® Reserve Card
American Express Expert Score 7.6 out of 10. Good
Worth in year one $2,561Then each year $1,3616% back on flights, 2.5% back on everything else
- Welcome offer
- $1,200 you’d get All of year one’s offer. Up to 85,000 Aeroplan points.
- Annual fee
- $599 a year
Income rule not listed
Loading the details…
The details didn’t load. See the full review
Read the full review: American Express® Aeroplan® Reserve Card
-
Ranked 9. BMO® Eclipse Visa Infinite Privilege* Card
BMO · Visa Expert Score 7.6 out of 10. Good
Worth in year one $2,529Then each year $1,1893.4% back on groceries, gas and travel, 0.7% back on everything else
- Welcome offer
- $1,340 you’d get The full offer. Up to 200,000 BMO Rewards points.
- Annual fee
- $599 a year
Needs $150,000 personal or $200,000 household income
Loading the details…
The details didn’t load. See the full review
Read the full review: BMO® Eclipse Visa Infinite Privilege* Card
-
Ranked 10. TD® Aeroplan® Visa Infinite Privilege Card
TD · Visa Expert Score 8.2 out of 10. Very good
Worth in year one $2,487Then each year $1,4874% back on flights, 2.5% back on everything else
- Welcome offer
- $1,000 you’d get All of year one’s offer. Up to 100,000 Aeroplan points.
- Annual fee
- $599 a year
Needs $150,000 personal or $200,000 household income
Loading the details…
The details didn’t load. See the full review
Read the full review: TD® Aeroplan® Visa Infinite Privilege Card
-
Ranked 11. RBC British Airways Visa Infinite
RBC · Visa Expert Score 7.5 out of 10. Good
Worth in year one $2,345Then each year $1,3456% back on flights, 2% back on everything else
- Welcome offer
- $1,000 you’d get The full offer. Up to 50,000 Avios.
- Annual fee
- $165 a year
Needs $60,000 personal or $100,000 household income
Loading the details…
The details didn’t load. See the full review
-
Ranked 12. TD First Class Travel® Visa Infinite Card
TD · Visa Expert Score 7.6 out of 10. Good
Worth in year one $2,286Then each year $1,3474% back on travel, 1% back on everything else
- Welcome offer
- $800 you’d get The full offer. Up to 160,000 TD Rewards points.
- Annual fee
- $0 first year Then $139 a year
Needs $60,000 personal or $100,000 household income
Loading the details…
The details didn’t load. See the full review
Read the full review: TD First Class Travel® Visa Infinite Card
-
Ranked 13. Business Platinum Card® from American Express
American Express Expert Score 7.7 out of 10. Good
Worth in year one $2,266Then each year $9062.1% back on everything
- Welcome offer
- $1,360 you’d get All of year one’s offer. Up to 120,000 Membership Rewards points.
- Annual fee
- $799 a year
Income rule not listed
Loading the details…
The details didn’t load. See the full review
Read the full review: Business Platinum Card® from American Express
-
Ranked 14. RBC Avion Visa Infinite
RBC · Visa Expert Score 7.9 out of 10. Good
Worth in year one $2,231Then each year $1,1762.1% back on travel, 1.7% back on everything else
- Welcome offer
- $935 you’d get All of year one’s offer. Up to 70,000 Avion points.
- Annual fee
- $0 first year Then $120 a year
Needs $60,000 personal or $100,000 household income
Loading the details…
The details didn’t load. See the full review
-
Ranked 15. TD Business Travel Visa Card
TD · Visa Expert Score 7.3 out of 10. Good
Worth in year one $2,212Then each year $1,1634.5% back on travel, 1% back on everything else
- Welcome offer
- $900 you’d get All of year one’s offer. Up to 200,000 TD Rewards points.
- Annual fee
- $0 first year Then $149 a year
Income rule not listed
Loading the details…
The details didn’t load. See the full review
-
Ranked 16. American Express® Business Gold Rewards Card
American Express Expert Score 8.1 out of 10. Very good
Worth in year one $2,101Then each year $9111.7% back on everything
- Welcome offer
- $1,190 you’d get The full offer. Up to 70,000 Membership Rewards points.
- Annual fee
- $199 a year
Income rule not listed
Loading the details…
The details didn’t load. See the full review
Read the full review: American Express® Business Gold Rewards Card
-
Ranked 17. CIBC Aeroplan® Visa Infinite Privilege Card
CIBC · Visa
Worth in year one $2,087Then each year $1,4874% back on flights, 2.5% back on everything else
- Welcome offer
- $600 you’d get The full offer. Up to 30,000 Aeroplan points.
- Annual fee
- $599 a year
Needs $150,000 personal or $200,000 household income
Loading the details…
The details didn’t load. See the full review
Read the full review: CIBC Aeroplan® Visa Infinite Privilege Card
-
Ranked 18. Scotiabank Platinum American Express® card
Scotiabank · American Express Expert Score 8.0 out of 10. Very good
Worth in year one $2,051Then each year $1,3515% back on hotels, 2% back on everything else
- Welcome offer
- $700 you’d get All of year one’s offer. Up to 80,000 Scene+ points.
- Annual fee
- $399 a year
Needs $12,000 personal income
Loading the details…
The details didn’t load. See the full review
Read the full review: Scotiabank Platinum American Express® card
-
Ranked 19. RBC Ion+ Visa
RBC · Visa
Worth in year one $2,007Then each year $1,7695.1% back on groceries, gas and restaurants, 1.7% back on everything else
- Welcome offer
- $238 you’d get The full offer. Up to 14,000 Avion points.
- Annual fee
- $48 a year
Income rule not listed
Loading the details…
The details didn’t load. See the full review
-
Ranked 20. American Express® Platinum Card®
American Express Expert Score 8.6 out of 10. Excellent
Worth in year one $1,985Then each year $7953.4% back on restaurants, food delivery and travel, 1.7% back on everything else
- Welcome offer
- $1,190 you’d get All of year one’s offer. Up to 100,000 Membership Rewards points.
- Annual fee
- $799 a year
Needs $40,000 personal income
Loading the details…
The details didn’t load. See the full review
Showing 20 of 176 cards
Filters
Your spending a month
Your balance
How we rank cards
The list is math only: one set of rules, worked out for the choices you made.
What Year one and Every year mean
Year one is what a card is worth in its first year at your spending: the rewards it earns, plus any welcome offer your spending would reach, minus the first year’s annual fee.
Every year after leaves out the welcome offer and takes off the full annual fee, so a big offer can’t hide a weak earn rate.
We rank by the one you pick. When two cards come out the same, the one with the higher score goes first. Values are estimates, rounded to the dollar.
What’s in each spending choice
Each choice is an example month of spending, split across the kinds of spending cards reward differently. Pick the one closest to yours.
- Light, $1,000 a month: Groceries $400, restaurants $100, gas $100, recurring bills $100, everything else (base rate) $250, foreign currency $50
- Typical, $2,500 a month: Groceries $800, restaurants $250, gas $250, recurring bills $250, travel $150, everything else (base rate) $650, foreign currency $150
- Big, $5,000 a month: Groceries $1,200, restaurants $500, gas $400, recurring bills $400, travel $500, everything else (base rate) $1,600, foreign currency $400
How we value points
Each points program gets one value per point, taken from the program’s own valuation. Cards in the same program use the same value, so two cards that earn the same points are judged the same way.
- Aeroplan: 2 cents a point
- American Express Membership Rewards: 1.7 cents a point
- BMO Rewards: 0.67 cents a point
- British Airways Club: 2 cents a point
- Cathay Asia Miles: 1.5 cents a point
- CIBC Aventura: 1 cents a point
- Desjardins BONUSDOLLARS: 100 cents a point
- Flying Blue: 1.9 cents a point
- Marriott Bonvoy: 0.8 cents a point
- moi Rewards: 0.8 cents a point
- More Rewards: 0.2 cents a point
- National Bank a la carte Rewards: 0.9 cents a point
- PC Optimum: 0.1 cents a point
- RBC Avion: 1.7 cents a point
- Scene+: 1 cents a point
- TD Rewards: 0.5 cents a point
- Triangle Rewards: 100 cents a point
- United MileagePlus: 1.6 cents a point
- VIPorter: 1.5 cents a point
- WestJet Rewards: 1 cents a point
A card whose points we can’t value yet shows its points and sorts after the cards we can value.
What Low interest adds up
Low interest ranks by what a year of carrying a balance would cost: interest at the card’s purchase rate, plus the annual fee. It assumes the balance stays the same all year and leaves out rewards and welcome offers.
A balance transfer offer shows on the card when it has one, but it doesn’t change the order.
Does pay change the order?
No. The order comes only from the math above. We get paid when you apply through some links, and a bank can pay to show a card in a spot marked Sponsored. Pay never moves a card in the ranked list or changes its score.
Help me choose
Four quick questions, then a list that fits. Your answers only set the list. We don’t keep them.
Show the questions as a form
Help me choose
Mr. Loonie is typing
Which kind of card fits you?
Start with what you want the card to do. Each one has its own ranked list.
- Cash back Good if you want money off your bill with no points to learn. Watch for the top rate usually covering a few kinds of spending, often with a yearly cap.
- Travel points Good if you fly at least once a year and will use points for flights. Watch for higher annual fees. Points are worth less on merchandise.
- No annual fee Good if you spend under about $1,500 a month or want a backup card. Watch for lower earn rates and fewer insurance perks.
- Low interest Good if you sometimes carry a balance from month to month. Watch for little or no rewards. Paying in full each month saves more than any rate.
- Balance transfer Good if you have card debt to pay down over several months. Watch for a transfer fee and the regular rate once the promo ends.
- No foreign fee Good if you shop in US dollars or travel outside Canada. Watch for an annual fee on most of them. The fee you save abroad can cover it.
- New to Canada Good if you’ve just arrived and have no Canadian credit history yet. Watch for lower limits at first. Some need a Canadian bank account or a deposit.
- Build credit Good if you’re rebuilding your credit after missed payments. Watch for the deposit, which sets your limit. Rewards are small or none.
- Students Good if you’re in school with little or no income. Watch for low limits. Pay on time and the card builds your history.
Cards by bank
Cards by network
Questions people ask
What’s the best credit card in Canada?
It depends on how you spend. At $2,500 a month, the RBC Avion Visa Infinite Business is worth the most in year one on our list, and the American Express Cobalt™ is worth the most after that. Pick your own spending above to see your order.
Which card has the best welcome offer right now?
At $2,500 a month, the RBC Avion Visa Infinite Business offer is worth about $1,275 and the American Express® Aeroplan® Reserve Card offer about $1,200. Offers change often, so check the date on each card.
What income do I need for a credit card?
No-fee cards that list a minimum most often ask for $15,000 or $80,000 a year. Cards with an annual fee most often ask for $60,000 or $80,000 personal income. Use the income filter to hide cards that ask for more than you earn.
Does comparing cards here affect my credit score?
No. Comparing is free and we never check your credit. Your score can change when you apply, because the bank checks your credit then.
Rates, fees and offers come from the card issuers and change often. We work to keep this page accurate and current, but it may contain mistakes, so always check the issuer’s terms before you apply. Values are estimates for the spending you picked, rounded to the nearest dollar.
Spot something wrong? We’ll check it with the bank. Suggest a correction