Canada’s 8 best credit card promotions and sign-up offers for 2021

The SimplyCash Preferred from American Express might not be the only credit card currently advertising a 10% cash back welcome offer, but dig a little deeper, and you’ll see its offer is more lucrative than the rest. That’s because you’ll earn 10% for your first four months or up to a total spend of $4,000. In other words, its welcome offer maxes at $400. In comparison, most other cash back offers max out at $200 (not including first-year annual fee rebates).

Aside from the 10% welcome promotion, the SimplyCash Preferred stands out for offering the highest flat cash back rate in the market at 2% on all purchases. That simple and lucrative earn rate means: 1. you won’t have to think about bonus spending categories, and 2. you’ll earn twice as much cash back on otherwise generic purchases like online shopping and electronics. The kicker: the card’s annual fee is $99, which is a notch below the $120 charged by most other premium rewards cards.

The TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite offers a seriously stacked sign-up bonus provided in four tiers.

First, the card’s $139 annual fee is waived for the first year. Next, you’ll collect 10,000 bonus Aeroplan points right out of the gate just for making your first purchase on the card. Then, you’ll gain another 10,000 points along with an Air Canada Buddy Pass once you spend at least $1,000 within your first 90 days.

The Buddy Pass effectively functions like a companion airline ticket: when you book one economy seat on an Air Canada flight travelling anywhere within North America (including Mexico and Hawaii), you’ll snag a second complimentary ticket without having to pay the base fare (just cover taxes and fees). Considering the realities of travel in today’s new normal, the Buddy Pass is valid for a whole 12 months or can be converted into 30,000 Aeroplan points to use at another time.

The value of Aeroplan points is hard to pinpoint since they can fluctuate considerably based on the program’s dynamic rewards chart. That said, based on our calculations, the average value of 1 point hovers around 1.55 cents each when redeemed for economy flights on Air Canada and can climb to upwards of 2 cents or more when booking business class tickets or strategically using Aeroplan’s stopover policy.

The TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite is one of the best airline travel cards in Canada, with comprehensive travel insurance, first free checked bags on Air Canada flights, and the ability to earn Miles that get you closer to achieving elite airline status with Air Canada.

The Scotiabank Gold American Express is one of the most widely appealing rewards credit cards in Canada, offering between 3x and 5x the points on a range of common spending categories – from restaurants and groceries to gas and transit. That adds up to a ton of points on your everyday purchases. On top of all that, the card’s welcome offer gives you the opportunity to earn $400 worth of bonus travel rewards.

Scotia points are extremely flexible and can be redeemed for free or discounted flights on any airline at a flat rate of 5,000 points for $50 (or 1 cent per point). The Scotia Gold Amex is also among the minority of cards to waive its foreign transaction fees, so you can avoid paying an extra 2.5% on top of the exchange rate whenever making purchases in a foreign currency – like when swiping your card across the border or shopping online from international websites that don’t accept payments in Canadian dollars.

A quick glance at the American Express Cobalt and it’s easy to see who this credit card is made for: foodies, travellers, and millennials.

One of Canada’s best travel credit cards, the Amex Cobalt offers an earn rate of 5x on all food-related purchases (including food deliveries, restaurants, groceries, and cafes). For those who rely on public transit to get around, the card earns 2x the points on taxis, public transit, and rideshare services such as Uber. The card’s desire to appeal to millennials extends to its unique fee structure, which is charged monthly at a rate of $10 instead of as an upfront $120 annual fee, mirroring the subscription pricing models of Netflix and Spotify.

The Amex Cobalt also has plenty of wide appeal thanks to its earn rate of 2x the points on gas and travel (including flight tickets and hotels) and its flexible rewards program with points that can be redeemed for flights on any airline. The card also provides access to Amex’s lucrative Fixed Points Travel Program, early-bird tickets to concerts through American Express Invites, and top-notch travel medical insurance.

In terms of its sign-up bonus, the Amex Cobalt will offer you 2,500 bonus points for every month you spend a minimum of $500 on the card during your first year. If you don’t spend at least $500 in a particular month, you’ll lose out on 2,500 bonus points but you’ll still be eligible to earn bonus points in the next month. If you hit the $500 spending threshold for all twelve months in a row, you’ll rack up a total of 30,000 bonus points.

The value of one Amex Membership Reward point tends to hover between 1 cent up to 1.75 cents, depending on whether you choose to redeem using Amex’s Flexible Points Travel Program (1,000 points equal $1 in travel rewards) or Amex’s Fixed Points Travel Program (rewards values fluctuate depending on which region of the world you’re flying to and from).

Not all welcome offers are about points bonuses and accelerated cash back. Case in point: the CIBC Select Visa has an unbeatable balance transfer offer of 0% for 10 months that can help you address past credit card debt.

If you’re juggling balances on multiple credit cards and paying as much as 19.99% in annual interest charges, you can consolidate your debts on the CIBC Select Visa and clear off your balance while paying nothing in interest for a whole ten months. Even after the balance transfer offer ends, you’ll only be charged a 13.99% annual interest rate on any remaining transferred balance instead of the typical 19.99% or 22.99% charged by most rewards credit cards.

Depending on the size of your credit card debt, the CIBC Select Visa’s balance transfer offer can help you save several hundreds of dollars in interest.

Also read: What is a balance transfer and how do they work

The entry-level BMO CashBack Mastercard offers one of the top welcome offers for a credit card with no annual fee: 5% cash back on everything for the first three months up to $100.

Aside from the welcome offer, there are plenty of other reasons why the BMO CashBack Mastercard deserves a spot in your wallet. Firstly, at 3% cash back, the BMO Cashback Mastercard easily ranks among the highest-earning credit cards for groceries in Canada. Second, the fact it has no annual fee means there are no downsides to keeping the card and using it selectively (namely, for groceries). Finally, there’s BMO’s uber-flexible redemption system that lets you access your cash back rewards at any time of the year in increments of as little as $1.

The MBNA Rewards Platinum Plus should be on the radar of anyone who’s looking for a travel card but wants to avoid paying an annual fee. Why? Simple. It offers some of the best returns on your everyday purchases for a no fee points card.

The fact MBNA points can be redeemed for a straight 1% for travel means you’ll earn between 2% and 1% back on all your spending on this card.

The card’s welcome offer is also great since it lets you easily rack up $100 worth of travel points just for making $500 in purchases and for signing up for e-statements within the initial 90 days of opening your account. The icing on the cake: you’ll earn double the points (4%) on your bonus categories for the first 90 days. The only drawback is the card’s travel medical insurance coverage isn’t as comprehensive as most other annual fee rewards cards (and coverage is important if you happen to travel a lot).