4 Best Credit Cards For Dining In Canada (+ Calculator)

If you frequently dine out at restaurants, you can turn that spending into rewards redeemable for cash back, travel, gift cards, and much more. Check out the top Canada credit cards for earning rewards dining out and use our calculator to find out which cards will earn you the most rewards and best return.

American Express Cobalt™ Card

Best For Flexible Travel Rewards

Earning Rate: Earn 5X Membership Rewards points on restaurant and grocery purchases in Canada, 3X on streaming subscriptions, 2X on gas and transit in Canada and on travel, and 1X on everything else.
Main Highlights: High earning rates combined with the ability to transfer points to 8 partners including Air Canada, Delta Airlines, British Airways, and Marriott Bonvoy.
Intro Bonus: In your first year as a new Cobalt Cardmember, you can earn 2,500 Membership Rewards® points for each monthly billing period in which you spend $500 in purchases on your Card. This could add up to 30,000 points in a year.
Annual Fee: $12.99 per month ($155.88 annually)
Summary: The AMEX Cobalt is one of the best (if not the best) travel rewards credit cards in Canada. This is due to the high multipliers combined with the fact that Membership Rewards points can be redeemed for high value through American Express Online and be transferred to several airline and hotel partners.
Calculate Card Value & AMEX Points per dollar spent for the American Express Cobalt Card.

Simplii Financial Cash Back Visa

Best For High Cash Back

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: No card comes close to being able to offer such a high amount of cash back on dining at no annual fee. On top of that, the card features several other solid categories.
Calculate Card Value & Cash Back per dollar spent for the Simplii Financial Cash Back Visa.

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: If you're looking for uncapped cash back on dining, the Tangerine Money-Back Credit Card is the best option. You can choose dining as a 2% Money-Back category as well as another of your choice. Rewards are paid out monthly which is a big plus if you want to be rewarded quickly for your spending.
Learn More about the Tangerine Money-Back Credit Card.
Calculate Card Value & Cash Back per dollar spent for the Tangerine Money-Back Credit Card.

Scotiabank Gold American Express® Card

Best For No Foreign Transaction Fee

Earning Rate: Earn 6X Scene+ points at participating grocers, 5X in Canada on dining, food delivery, entertainment, and other eligible grocery stores, 3X in Canada on gas, daily transit, and select streaming services, and 1X on everything else.
Main Highlights: Airport Lounge access via Priority Pass, No Foreign Transaction Fees on international purchases, and top-notch travel insurance.
Annual Fee: $120
Summary: If you want a rewards credit card that earns a high return on purchases in Canada that you can also use when traveling internationally, the Scotiabank Gold AMEX is hands-down the best option. The lounge access and travel insurance is the cherry on top.
Calculate Card Value & Scene+ Points per dollar spent for the Scotiabank Gold American Express Card.

Best Credit Cards For Dining Summary

Credit Card	Annual Fee	Best For
American Express Cobalt™ Card	$12.99 per month	Flexible Travel Rewards
Simplii Financial™ Cash Back Visa Card	$0	High Cash Back
Tangerine Money-Back Credit Card	$0	Unlimited Money-Back
Scotiabank Gold American Express® Card	$120	No Foreign Transaction Fee

Credit Card Rewards Calculator

Input your monthly and yearly spend amounts to find out how which credit cards will earn you the most rewards and best return on your spending.

Loading Calculator...

If the calculator doesn't load after a few seconds, click here to re-load calculator.

Category Spending

Resets all fields in the Category Spending section for all columns. Also clears all saved spend values that carry from calculator to calculator.

Add Categories

Search for categories and click 'Add Category' to add it to the calculator. If you want to be more specific, you can specify domestic or international spend.

Type at least 3 characters.

Currently Selected:

Spend Region:

Income Requirement

Income Type

Select if you're looking for credit cards based on your own individual income or if you're looking for credit cards based on the income of the entire household.

Income Maximum

Select the maximum income requirement you want listed in your top picks.

Calculator Options

Find out which credit cards will offer you the most value based on the spend amounts you entered

No Results. This is usually due to:

There's no good card options based on the spend entered.
The calculator is having a brain-fart and is not calculating rewards properly.

Enter different values or try again later.

Results

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.

Best Credit Cards

Listed below are up to 10 of the best rewards credit cards based on the spend amounts you entered (when applicable).

Travel Cards

Travel credit cards are great for building rewards redeemable towards a wide variety of travel including airfare, hotels, car rentals, cruises, and more. Most travel cards also offer a range of benefits that can make your trips more enjoyable and save you money.

Cash Back Cards

Cash back is one of the most flexible form of rewards and most easy to understand. Rewards earned are worth face value and they can be used towards almost anything.

Rewards Cards

If you're looking to earn a solid return on your spend, rewards credit cards are the way to go. These cards offer general rewards that can be used towards a number of different redemptions including cash back, statement credits, travel, gift cards, and more.

Airline Cards

These are the best credit cards if you're looking to use rewards towards award flights. Co-branded credit cards offer benefits such as lounge access the ability to earn qualifying miles through spending.

Hotel Cards

If you're looking to use rewards towards free nights at hotels, these are the best cards for you. Many of these cards also offer great benefits such as annual free nights, complimentary elite status, and more.

No Annual Fee Cards

If you're looking to minimize your immediate costs while still earning plenty of value, you may want to consider a credit card with no annual fee. Some of these cards also offer lower interest rates and balance transfer offers.

No Foreign Transaction Fee Cards

When you make a charge with your credit card outside of the country, many card issuers will charge you a foreign transaction fee. Luckily, there are a handful of credit cards that waive foreign transaction fees which is great if you're looking to earn rewards on international spending and travel.