Best Cash Back Credit Cards Canada

Top Picks & Cash Back Calculator
Get our top picks for best cash back credit cards in Canada and calculate which cards will earn you the most cash back based on your spend.
Last Updated 2022-10-23 By R.Flowers III

The best cash back credit cards are the ones that earn you the most cash back based on how you spend your money. Review our top Canada cash back credit cards and calculate which cards earn you the most cash back and best return on your spend.

Tangerine Money-Back Credit Card

Best For Unlimited 2% Money-Back At No Annual Fee
  • Earning Rate: Earn 2% Money-Back on up to two select categories of your choice and 0.5% on all other purchases. Choose a 3rd 2% Money-Back category if you deposit rewards into a Tangerine Savings account.
  • Main Highlights: Unlimited 2% Money-Back, rewards paid out monthly, and low income requirement.
  • Intro Bonus: Get 10% back, up to $100, when you spend up to $1,000 in your first 2 months.
  • Annual Fee: $0.
  • Summary: The Tangerine Money-Back Credit Card is one of the best cash back credit cards on the market thanks to it's great return, flexibility, and $0 annual fee.

Tangerine World Mastercard®

Best No Annual Fee Cash Back Card For Travel
  • Earning Rate: Earn 2% Money-Back on up to two select categories of your choice and 0.5% on all other purchases. Choose a 3rd 2% Money-Back category if you deposit rewards into a Tangerine Savings account.
  • Main Highlights: Airport lounge access, car rental collision/loss damage insurance, mobile device insurance, discounts, unlimited 2% Money-Back, and rewards paid out monthly.
  • Intro Bonus: Get 10% back, up to $100, when you spend up to $1,000 in your first 2 months.
  • Annual Fee: $0.
  • Summary: If you're love earning 2% cash back paid monthly on popular categories AND enjoy traveling, you'll want to consider the Tangerine World Mastercard®. It offers great value, lounge access, insurance, and more—all at no annual fee!

National Bank ECHO Cashback Mastercard

Best Low-Annual Fee Card For Online Shopping
  • Earning Rate: Earn 1.5% back on gas, grocery, and online purchases (on up to $25,000 in annual spend) and 1% back on all other purchases.
  • Main Highlights: Low annual fee and uncommon online purchases category.
  • Annual Fee: $30.
  • Summary: If you shop online often and you're for easy cash back rewards, the National Bank ECHO Cashback Mastercard is a solid choice. It also offers purchase protection which makes it even better.

Simplii Financial™ Cash Back Visa Card

Best For High Cash Back On Dining
Simplii Financial Cash Back Visa
  • Earning Rate: Earn 4% cash back on restaurant, bar, and coffee shop purchases (on up to $5,000 per year), 1.5% back on gas, grocery, drugstore, and pre-authorized payment purchases (on up to $15,000 per year), and 0.5% back on everything else.
  • Main Highlights: High earnings on restaurant/dining at no annual fee.
  • Annual Fee: $0.
  • Summary: The Simplii Financial Cash Back Visa Card is one of the best cash back credit cards in Canada for dining out. The card also offers purchase security and extended protection insurance which is another big plus.

CIBC Dividend® Visa Infinite Card

Best Cash Back Visa For Gas
CIBC Dividend Visa Infinite Card
  • Earning Rate: Earn 4% back on gas and groceries, 2% back on transportation, dining, and recurring payments, and 1% back on everything else.
  • Main Highlights: High returns on gas and groceries and Visa Infinite benefits.
  • Annual Fee: $120 (rebated the first year)
  • Summary: The CIBC Dividend Visa Infinite Card is a hard to beat when it coems to gas and grocery purchases. You'll also receive Visa Infinite benefits and valuable insurance coverage including mobile device insurance and emergency travel medical insurance.

Scotia Momentum® Visa Infinite Card

Best For Groceries and Bills
Scotia Momentum® Visa Infinite Card
  • Earning Rate: Earn 4% back on grocery, recurring bill payments, and subscription purchases, 2% back on gas and daily transit purchases, and 1% back on all other purchases.
  • Main Highlights: High return on recurring bill payments and subscriptions, and Visa Infinite benefits.
  • Annual Fee: $120.
  • Summary: The Scotia Momentum Visa Infinite Card is a fantastic choice if you spend heavy across grocery and also have a good amount of recurring bills and subscriptions. The card offers a handful of useful benefits as well including discounts on Avis and Budget car rentals, access to Visa Infinite benefits, and a large range of insurance coverage like trip cancellation and trip interruption insurance.

BMO CashBack® Mastercard®

Best For No Grocery w/ No Income Requirements
BMO CashBack Mastercard
  • Earning Rate: Earn 3% cash back on grocery, 1% cash back on recurring bill payments, and 0.5% cash back on all other purchases
  • Main Highlights: High return on grocery at no annual fee with no income requirements.
  • Annual Fee: $0.
  • Summary: The BMO CashBack Mastercard is one of the best credit cards for maximizing your grocery spend at no annual fee. It works well if you spend $500 or less per month on grocery as the rewards for the category are capped at $500 per cycle.

SimplyCash™ Preferred Card from American Express

Best For (Very High) Flat-Rate Cash Back
SimplyCash™ Preferred Card from American Express
  • Earning Rate: Earn 4% cash back on gas station purchases in Canada, 4% back on grocery purchases in Canada (up to $1,200 cash back annually), and an unlimited 2% back on all other purchases.
  • Main Highlights: Unlimited 2% cash back.
  • Annual Fee: $9.99 per month which comes out to $119.88 annually.
  • Summary: The SimplyCash Preferred Card is (simply) one of the best flat-rate cash back credit cards in Canada. If you're looking for a "one and done" cash back card that you can run all of your spending through, it doesn't get much better than this. You'll also be able to enjoy a handful of travel and purchase insurance which adds even more value to the card.

SimplyCash™ Card from American Express

Best For Flat-Rate Cash Back At No Annual Fee
SimplyCash™ Card from American Express
  • Earning Rate: Earn 2% cash back on gas station purchases in Canada, 2% back on grocery purchases in Canada (up to $300 cash back annually), and an unlimited 1.25% back on all other purchases.
  • Main Highlights: High cash back rates for a no annual fee card.
  • Annual Fee: $0.
  • Summary: The SimplyCash Card is one of the best no-annual fee flat-rate cash back credit cards in Canada. If you spend less than $1,100 per month in non-gas and non-grocery purchases, you'll find that this will be the better option over the Preferred version. If you spend more than $1,100 per month, go for the SimplyCash Preferred Card.

Desjardins Cash Back World Elite® Mastercard®

Best For Transportation
Desjardins Cash Back World Elite® Mastercard®
  • Earning Rate: Earn 4% cash back on grocery, 3% back on restaurant, entertainment, and alternative transportation, and 1% back on everything else.
  • Main Highlights: Airport lounge access and free travel insurance for up to 3 days.
  • Annual Fee: $100
  • Summary: The Desjardins Cash Back World Elite Mastercard is the best cash back credit card if you frequently spend in the category of transportation. The card also offers a solid amount of benefits including travel insurance for short trips, World Elite Mastercard benefits which includes access to airport lounges and restaurants through LoungeKey, mobile device insurance, and rental car loss/damage insurance.

Home Trust Preferred Visa Card

Best For No Foreign Transaction Fees
Home Trust Preferred Visa Card
  • Earning Rate: 1% cash back on all purchases.
  • Main Highlights: No foreign transaction fee and no annual fee.
  • Annual Fee: $0
  • Summary: The Home Trust Preferred Visa only earns 1% back on all purchases, but you won't have to worry about being charged a fee on foreign transactions which makes this the best credit card in this list for earning cash back on international purchases and travel. You'll also be able to enjoy purchase security which can protect your purchases against theft and damage for 90 days from the date of purchase.

Best Canada Cash Back Credit Cards Summary

Credit Card Annual Fee Best For
Tangerine Money-Back Credit Card $0 Unlimited 2% Money-Back
Tangerine World Mastercard $0 Cash Back and Travel
National Bank ECHO Cashback Mastercard $30 Online Shopping
Simplii Financial™ Cash Back Visa Card $0 High Cash Back On Dining
CIBC Dividend Visa Infinite Card $120 (first year rebated) Gas Visa
Scotia Momentum® Visa Infinite Card $120 (First-year annual fee waived) Groceries and Bills
BMO CashBack® Mastercard® $0 Groceries w/ No Income Requirements
SimplyCash™ Preferred Card from American Express $99 (Very High) Flat-Rate Cash Back
SimplyCash™ Card from American Express $0 Flat-Rate Cash Back At No Annual Fee
Desjardins Cash Back World Elite® Mastercard® $100 Transportation
Home Trust Preferred Visa Card $0 No Foreign Transaction Fees

Cash Back Credit Card Rewards Calculator

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These estimates are to help guide you towards making the best decision when it comes to picking up a rewards credit card. They should be used for illustrative purposes only. You can click on the estimated earnings to see the calculations or click on the card to learn more.

Do note that all spend amounts entered into the tool above will carry over to every credit card rewards calculator on the site, so there's no need to re-enter spend if you choose to dive deeper into calculating rewards for credit cards on the site.

Top Partner Offers

Earn 10% Back
Unlimited 2% Money-Back at No Annual Fee with No Minimum Income Requirement.
Earn 10% Back
Unlimited 2% Money-Back, Lounge Access, & Travel Insurance at No Annual Fee.
Up to 70,000 points
High Earning Rate, $150 in Annual Travel-Fee Refunds, Top-Notch Travel Insurance, & NBC Lounge Access.
Calculate Total Rewards & Card Value Per $1 Spent For 100+ Canada Credit Cards
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