Best Overall Credit Card in Canada for 2025
When you want the best of the best.
The American Express Cobalt Card is the best overall credit card in the country, providing users with a solid insurance package, high earn rates, flexible rewards, and a sweet welcome offer. It's easy to see why this Amex card has held this title for the past eight years.
Not everyone is an Amex fan, though. Luckily, the MBNA Rewards World Elite Mastercard and RBC Avion Visa Infinite also offer top-notch features and benefits.
We've conducted thorough research to provide you with this list of the best credit card options available, and the reviews below can help you compare details to choose the option that best fits your needs.
Key Takeaways
- The best overall credit card in Canada is the American Express Cobalt Card.
- While acceptance remains an issue, the Cobalt Card’s high earning rates outshine its minor flaws.
- The Amex Cobalt Card is also the best gas, grocery, restaurant, rewards, and travel credit card in Canada.
- Amex Membership Rewards are worth up to 2 cents per point and can be redeemed on gift cards, merchandise, statement credits, and travel.
The best credit card in Canada: American Express Cobalt Card
×8 Award winner 
2025 WINNER OF THE:
- Best Overall Credit Card
- Best Aeroplan Credit Card
- Best American Express Card
- Best Grocery Credit Card
- Best Restaurant Credit Card
- Best Rewards Credit Card
- Best Travel Credit Card
- People's Choice Credit Card
The American Express Cobalt Card stole our hearts (and several award categories for 2025) for one simple reason: its incredible rewards. With eight ways to spend your points and seven ways to earn them, every Canadian is sure to find something they like about the Cobalt.
Its benefits and insurance aren’t too shabby, either – especially when you consider it has no income requirements and only charges $12.99 per month.
Here’s what you can look forward to if you add the Cobalt Card to your wallet:
Pro: Fast, flexible rewards
The American Express Cobalt Card gets you to your goals faster with rewards on every purchase:
- 5 points per $1 spent on eligible groceries and restaurants
- 3 points per $1 spent on eligible streaming services
- 2 points per $1 spent on eligible gas, transit, and ride share purchases
- 1 point per $1 spent on foreign currency purchases
- 1 point per $1 spent on all other purchases
You can redeem American Express Membership Rewards points on everything from gift cards to statement credits, but their most valuable use is travel. Transferring them to Aeroplan and redeeming them on a flight yields an average value of 2 cents per point.
Assuming you spend your points on travel, the American Express Cobalt Card provides a return rate of up to 4.5%. That means you’ll receive up to $4.50 in rewards for every $100 you spend – about double the returns of the average credit card in Canada.
Top alternative: The next-best flexible rewards credit cards in Canada are the MBNA Rewards World Elite Mastercard for points and the Rogers Red World Elite Mastercard for cash back.
Pro: Top-notch benefits
It may not be as famous as the World Elite Mastercard or Visa Infinite Privilege programs, but the American Express lineup of benefits is still quite impressive. With the Amex Cobalt, you’ll gain access to:
- Special dining, rewards, and shopping offers through Amex Offers
- Early sales of in-demand event tickets and reserved seating with Front Of The Line
- Curated dining, entertainment, shopping, and wellness benefits and events through American Express Experiences
- Exclusive deals on accommodations and car rentals through American Express Travel Online
More mundane, but no less useful, is the 4.7-star Amex Canada app, which you can use to check your balance and pay your bills. Amex cardholders can also access 24/7 customer service and request an emergency card replacement at any time.
Top Alternative: For more travel perks – including a $100 annual travel credit and complimentary airport lounge access – check out the premium metal American Express Gold Rewards Card.
Pro: Valuable insurance
The American Express Cobalt Card balances travel insurance with shopping coverage, offering 10 types of protection:
American Express Cobalt® Card
| Extended Warranty | 1 year |
| Purchase Protection | 90 days |
| Mobile Device | $1,000 |
| Travel Accident | $250,000 |
| Emergency Medical Term | 15 days |
| Emergency Medical Maximum Coverage | $5,000,000 |
| Flight Delay | $500 |
| Baggage Delay | $500 |
| Lost or Stolen Baggage | $500 |
| Hotel Burglary | $500 |
| Rental Car Theft & Damage | Yes |
Please review your insurance certificate for details, exclusions and limitations of your coverage.
Mobile device insurance alone adds about $53 to the Cobalt’s estimated insurance value. There are only a handful of credit cards with cell phone coverage in Canada with up to $1,000 of compensation after accidental damage, loss, or theft (minus a deductible and depreciation).
Con: Lower acceptance
The biggest weakness of the American Express Cobalt Card is acceptance. Unlike Visa or Mastercard, Amex isn’t welcomed by every major Canadian retailer, including:
- A&W
- Costco
- Loblaw brands
You may have less luck if you try tapping your Cobalt Card at the checkout of a farmers’ market or small business. Remember, you won’t be eligible for insurance coverage or rewards if you can’t use your credit card to pay.
Top Alternatives: You can use the RBC Avion Visa Infinite and BMO AIR MILES World Elite Mastercard almost anywhere in Canada and the world.
Con: Caps on rewards
This isn't unusual for a cash back or rewards card, but the American Express Cobalt Card has caps on how much you can earn on your restaurant and grocery spending.
The cap is $2,500.
While you usually earn 5 points per $1 spent at grocery stores, restaurants, and food and meal delivery services, the rate changes once you spend $2,500 in these categories. Any money spent on food after this will only earn 1 point per $1 spent.
Runners up
If you’re looking for a non-Amex card, consider one of these options.
| Category | Credit card | Current offer | Annual fee | Pros | Cons |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best premium alternative | MBNA Rewards World Elite Mastercard | 30,000 bonus points (terms) | $120 | * 12 types of insurance included * 10% bonus points on your birthday * 10% off AVIS and Budget car rentals in Canada and the US * World Elite Mastercard benefits * Worldwide acceptance for Mastercard | * $80,000 personal or $150,000 household income required |
| Best rewards alternative | RBC Avion Visa Infinite | 55,000 bonus points (terms) | $120 | * 12 types of insurance * 2-for-1 Friday ski lift passes * Points worth up to 2.33 cents each * Automatic Avion Elite membership * Visa Infinite benefits | * $60,000 personal income or $100,000 household income required * Points worth as little as 0.58 CPP each |
Best premium alternative
The MBNA Rewards World Elite® Mastercard® has plenty of premium perks and a great rewards program, solidifying itself as one of the best credit cards in Canada. While it has steep income requirements of $80,000 personal or $150,000 household, and charges a standard $120 annual fee. We think it’s money well spent.
You’ll earn up to 5 points per $1 spent and be awarded up to 30,000 points as a welcome bonus. Enjoy a 10% birthday reward on top of that, plus 12 types of insurance coverage. Although you’ll get the most value by cashing in your points for travel, electronic gift cards, gift cards, and merchandise are all great redemption options.
Best rewards alternative
With tons of insurance coverage and access to the Visa Infinite program, you can’t go wrong with the RBC Avion Visa Infinite. In exchange for income requirements of $60K personal or $100K household and an annual fee of $120, the program gets you access to Visa’s luxury hotel collection, dining series, and complimentary concierge service.
You’ll earn up to 1.25 points per $1 spent on travel and 1 point per $1 spent everywhere else in RBC Avion rewards points, which you can redeem for travel, merchandise, charitable donations, and more. You can also transfer those points to four different airline programs, which makes planning your next rewards trip a cinch.
Compare the 10 best credit cards in Canada
Awards are given out once a year but rating and rankings can shift throughout the year. The #1 card for 2025 is pinned to the top.
How we get our rankings
We identified the top credit card in Canada by evaluating over 126 credit card features in seven categories:
- Rewards (31%)
- Fees (20%)
- Insurance (16%)
- Perks (16%)
- Interest (7%)
- Acceptance (5%)
- Approval (5%)
We gave the most weight to rewards because they’re the #1 reason most people sign up for a credit card. After calculating the average returns of every credit card in Canada (based on a typical monthly spend of $2,000), the creditcardGenius algorithm scored every entry out of five to get the final Genius Rating.
Learn more about the Genius Rating methodology
Best cards by category
If you’re short on time and know what you’re looking for from a credit card, find the best one by category:
- Best cash back card: Shell AIR MILES Mastercard from BMO
- Best no annual fee card: Rogers Red World Elite Mastercard
- Best travel card: American Express Cobalt Card
- Best balance transfer card: MBNA True Line Mastercard
- Best foreign exchange card: Scotiabank Gold American Express Card
- Best Air Miles card: BMO AIR MILES World Elite Mastercard
- Best low interest card: MBNA True Line Mastercard
- Best grocery card: American Express Cobalt Card
- Best gas and transit card: CIBC Dividend Visa Infinite Card
- Best restaurant card: American Express Cobalt Card
- Best travel insurance card: RBC Avion Visa Infinite Privilege
- Best student credit card: CIBC Aventura Visa Card for Students
- Best USD credit card: CIBC U.S. Dollar Aventura Gold Visa Card
- Best store credit card: MBNA Rewards World Elite Mastercard
- Best perks and benefits credit card: American Express Platinum Card
- Best credit cards for lounge access: American Express Platinum Card
- Best rewards credit card: American Express Cobalt Card
- Best flexible rewards card: MBNA Rewards World Elite Mastercard
- Best Aeroplan credit card: American Express Cobalt Card
- Best prepaid credit card: Wealthsimple Prepaid Mastercard
- Best secured credit card: Secured Tims Mastercard
- Best newcomer credit card: Tangerine Money-Back Credit Card
- Best challenger bank credit card: Rogers Red World Elite Mastercard
- Best credit union credit cards: Desjardins Odyssey World Elite Mastercard
- People’s choice best credit card: American Express Cobalt Card
- Best business credit card: RBC Avion Visa Infinite Business
- Best cash back business credit card: BMO Ascend World Elite Business Mastercard
- Best no fee business credit card: BMO CashBack Business Mastercard
- Best travel business card: RBC Avion Visa Infinite Business
- Best overall credit card: American Express Cobalt Card
How to earn points with the American Express Cobalt Card
The American Express Cobalt Card earns 2 – 5 American Express Membership Rewards points per $1 spent on every grocery, restaurant, streaming service, gas, transit, and travel purchase. Whatever you buy from other businesses – such as barbers, bookstores, drugstores, etc. – only earns 1 point per $1 spent.
Credit cards categorize transactions based on how a business makes most of its money. To earn points with the Amex Cobalt, you need to be mindful of where you buy, not what you buy. For example, if you buy a candy bar at a gas station, it counts as a gas purchase, not a grocery one.
Pro Tip: Check your credit card statement (especially the rewards section) to see which merchant categories your favourite stores belong to and plan accordingly.
How to redeem American Express Membership Rewards
You can check your Amex Membership Rewards point balance on the American Express app or website. The number of points you need, the value of each point, and the redemption method depend on the type of reward you want.
| Reward | Average value (in cents per point) | How to Redeem |
|---|---|---|
| Convert points to airline rewards programs | 2.00 | Transfer your Amex points to six airline partners (including Aeroplan and Delta SkyMiles) on the Amex website. |
| Use the fixed points travel program | 1.75 | Redeem a fixed number of points for certain routes and flight classes on the Amex Travel Online website. |
| Convert points to hotel rewards partners | 1.16 | Transfer your points to either the Hilton Honors or Marriott Bonvoy rewards programs on the Amex website. |
| Statement credits | 1.00 | Get $10 off your credit card bill for every 1,000 points you redeem on the Amex app or website. |
| Charitable donations | 1.00 | Donate $10 for every 1,000 points you redeem on the Amex Rewards website. |
| Gift cards | 0.77 | Exchange Amex points for gift cards from Air Canada, Esso, Hudson’s Bay, and Saks Fifth Ave on the Amex Rewards website. |
| Merchandise | 0.68 | Redeem your points on eight types of merchandise through the Amex Rewards website. |
Like we said, converting your Amex points to Aeroplan points and spending them on flights yields a 4.5% return. You can always spend the Cobalt’s rewards on statement credits (which is the same as cash back), but it’ll cut your average returns in half to 2.25%.
Pro Tip: Divide the cost of a reward in $CAD by its cost in Amex Points to reveal the value of your points in $CAD. Don’t accept anything less than $0.01 per point!
What cardholders say
Redditors seem to agree; an overwhelming majority claim that American Express Cobalt Card is the best card in Canada, as long as you like to travel and have Amex-friendly stores to spend at.
Of course, if you aren’t a big traveller or tend to shop in stores that don’t accept Amex, there are tons of great cash back options available.
How to choose the best card for your needs
Even though we love the American Express Cobalt Card, it might not be right for everyone. To find the best card for your financial situation, consider the following:
- Fees and eligibility: You won’t be accepted if you don’t meet the card’s income and credit score eligibility requirements, no matter how perfect the reward structure is for your spending habits. You should also ensure you’re comfortable with a card’s interest rates and fees before you apply for it.
- Spending habits: Find out which purchase categories (gas, groceries, travel, etc) you’re spending the most on. When you weigh your spending habits with the rewards you want to receive, such as travel or cash back, it’ll be much easier to find a credit card you like.
- Reward structures: Cash back options can vary – from flat-rate to category-specific rewards. They can also differ in how often rewards are paid out, so read the fine print carefully.
- Card perks and benefits: Consider which credit card perks you’d like to have, like travel insurance, purchase protection, or concierge services. Only you know which perks will be best or most convenient for your financial situation.
FAQ
How many credit cards should I have in Canada?
The number of credit cards you should have depends on your goals: start with one or two basic cards to build up your credit score, swap one for a premium card once you qualify, and add rewards cards as needed.
What credit card is best to use in Canada?
The best multipurpose credit card for Canada is the American Express Cobalt Card because of its versatility. You could also check out the MBNA Rewards World Elite Mastercard or the American Express Green Card. Both are flexible options.
Which credit card is best for all purpose?
Due to the flexibility of its rewards program and incredibly high earn rate, the American Express Cobalt Card is the best all-around credit card in Canada. It's an all-purpose credit card suited for gas, groceries, travel, and more.
What is the most widely accepted credit card in Canada?
Mastercard and Visa are the two most widely accepted payment networks in Canada – credit cards of either type are virtually guaranteed to be accepted wherever credit is used. American Express has more limited acceptance, but it's still excellent.
Can I access the lounge with Amex Cobalt?
Despite being the best card available, the American Express Cobalt Card doesn't provide airport lounge access. You'd need either American Express Platinum Card, The Business Platinum Card from American Express, or another card with premium benefits to get lounge access.
Editorial Disclaimer: The content here reflects the author's opinion alone. No bank, credit card issuer, rewards program, or other entity has reviewed, approved, or endorsed this content. For complete and updated product information please visit the product issuer's website. Our credit card scores and rankings are based on our Rating Methodology that takes into account 126+ features for each of 226 Canadian credit cards.
