4 Best Credit Cards in Canada For Dining & Restaurants

Top Picks + Rewards Calculator
We've run the calculations and found the 4 best credit cards in Canada for earning rewards on dining. Review the list and find out which cards earn you the most.
Last Updated 2022-10-23 By R.Flowers III

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
American Express Cobalt™ Card
  • 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.
  • 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.

Simplii Financial Cash Back Visa

Best For High Cash Back
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: 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.

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.

Scotiabank Gold American Express® Card

Best For No Foreign Transaction Fee
Scotiabank Gold American Express® Card
  • 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.

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.

Calculate Total Rewards & Card Value Per $1 Spent For 100+ Canada Credit Cards
Search Results Display Here
Maximize your credit card rewards

Our Credit Card Rewards calculator can help you find the credit cards that will earn you the most points, miles and cash back based on your monthly and yearly spending habits. Simply enter your spend amounts into our tool and let our tool do the work for you!