Announcing the Best Credit Cards in Canada for 2026

Our ninth annual rankings are out – and for the first time since we launched them in 2017, we've overhauled our awards.

First, we no longer dish out 1 award per category. We've given out gold, silver, and bronze awards in all 35 categories. Many categories have plenty of competition, and this way we can award cards that perform well, even if they aren't the best overall.

To better reflect typical household spending, we’ve also increased the default monthly spend we use to calculate rewards. Now, our default is a $3,000 average monthly spend, still split across various spend categories.

We also introduced a new category. With all 3 of Canada's major airlines offering credit cards, we've created the Best Airline Credit Cards page to compare them all. This replaces the Air Miles category, which we've finally sunsetted, since the only Air Miles credit cards are the BMO AIR MILES World Elite Mastercard and its no-fee and business counterparts.

Let's dive into what’s new with this year’s awards – and which major awards changed hands. Consider this a little peak behind the curtains how things work around here.

Our new awards system

We've always given out just 1 award for each category we track. For many categories, it works out well – there's a very clear winner.

But others can be very tight. Case in point: the best cash back credit cards. It's always a tight category, and this year was no different – just 0.03 in rating separates the MBNA Rewards World Elite Mastercard and the Neo World Elite Mastercard.

In past years, only the MBNA Rewards World Elite Mastercard would have received recognition. But now the Neo World Elite Mastercard still gets a shiny silver award badge.

A card may come out on top by only a few fine data points – and maybe those points aren’t the most important for you.

Our awards are meant to recognize the best cards on the market and help you choose the best card for your needs. With our new gold, silver, and bronze awards, we recognize more top-performing cards and offer a detailed comparison to help you decide which one is best for your purposes.

For some categories, we’ve also included honourable mentions on the category webpage. For example, all of the best insurance cards come with premium fees, so we’ve highlighted the top cards with standard fees.

A new monthly default spending

Our monthly spending default of $2,000 hasn't changed since we launched creditcardGenius in 2017.

It was finally due for an update. And while we could have gone higher based on statistics, $3,000 felt like a solid, round number to increase our spending. (And of course, you can always tailor it to your actual spending when you compare credit cards). The ratios we used among our categories hasn't changed. We increased each spend category equally.

Save for a few categories with custom spending analysis, we use this estimated average monthly spend in our algorithm for each award. And the shift to $3,000 per month had 2 broad impacts.

First, it resulted in increased Genius Ratings for Visa Infinite Privilege cards. And it's simply because when spending $3,000 instead of $2,000 per month, the annual rewards of these cards get much bigger. As an example, this change is solely responsible for making the RBC Avion Visa Infinite Privilege the best Visa card as opposed to the RBC Avion Visa Infinite (which got silver).

It also impacted any credit card with lower monthly spend caps on categories ($500 or less). In the past, the BMO CashBack World Elite Mastercard was always a high contender. But this new spend puts a few key categories over the monthly spend limit, where you don't earn the full bonus on categories. As a result, this card lost ground in a few areas.

A new credit card category – best airline credit cards

Now that Porter and BMO teamed up in March of 2025 to introduce a pair of VIPorter Mastercards, all of Canada's 3 major airlines offer credit cards.

So, we felt it was time to include a Best Airline Credit Card page. To qualify, a card had to directly earn points/miles in an airline rewards program. Any cards that simply can transfer points did not qualify (looking at you Amex Membership Rewards and RBC Avion cards).

There are a few international airlines that offer credit cards, and they do qualify but they simply aren't competitive (that's the RBC British Airways Visa Infinite and the Cathay World Elite Mastercard).

Top airline credit cards provide many airline benefits to either save money or make your travelling life easier. This includes things like free checked bags, priority services, lounge access, and companion vouchers are incredibly helpful.

So, when weighing our 7 standard Genius Rating categories, we not only gave extra weight to rewards, but also to the perks offered by these cards.

The result of our inaugural airline awards? A clean sweep by Air Canada.

• Gold: TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Privilege Credit Card
• Silver: CIBC Aeroplan Visa Infinite Privilege Card
• Bronze: American Express Aeroplan Reserve Card

Sadly, it wasn't close. The next few credit cards in our top 10 also belonged to Air Canada. But rest assured, if you want a credit card with a WestJet or Porter logo on it, you're still getting an excellent card, and we’ve included the top options as honourable mentions.

In fact, this was a category that was heavily impacted by our new spending level. Spending $2,000 per month had the TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Card as the award winner. Spending $3,000 per month knocked it down to #4 on our list.

Say goodbye to the best Air Miles credit card page

In a move that is perhaps long overdue, we've sunsetted the best Air Miles credit card award (although we still have a page up for anyone interested). There certainly was a time when it was worthy, as it was an independent rewards program with plenty of cards to choose from from 2 issuers.

But, since we exclude student and business cards from regular rankings, for the last couple of years it's been a choice between 2 BMO cards once BMO acquired the program. (And now, the student Air Miles card has been discontinued anyway, leaving only 3 Air Miles cards on the market, each targeting a different cardholder.)

So, BMO will no longer be earning an award by default.

What's changed in 2026’s rankings

What awards changed hands this year? Despite what we've done, nothing major. A total of 7 awards out of 35 have shifted, despite a variety of new cards coming to the Canadian market.

Out of those, here are the most newsworthy changes.

Some things never change

But first, the credit card world still belongs to the American Express Cobalt Card. This card has won best overall and plenty of other categories every year we have been doing awards. And it's not like Amex isn't trying to devalue it – they've made some negative changes to the card over the years (mostly involving spend caps on food), with the biggest change yet coming in 2025 – an increase in the monthly fee by $3 to $15.99, making the annual fee $191.88.

But when using the rewards properly, it still can't be beat, offering a return of up to 10% on purchases.

Forums are all speculating more changes coming as they believe Amex doesn't really make money on the card – we'll see what 2026 brings.

A new top no-fee travel credit card

It's been a long time since the More Rewards program did away with their old Scotia Visa, but now they're back in business with RBC.

And the More Rewards RBC Visa Infinite is now the new king of no-fee travel cards. And while it's marketed for those living in Western Canada, make no mistake, it has plenty of value for all Canadians (unless you live in Quebec – you can't get it).

More Rewards points are best for 1 thing – free travel through the More Rewards Expedia portal. Yes, you can use More Rewards for free groceries at Save On Foods, but you're basically giving them back for free to the program. Travel is the only way to go – and why any Canadian can collect More Rewards points.

And you'll rack them up as these rates:

• 8 points per $1 spent at More Rewards partner stores
• 8 points per $1 spent on gas, EV charging, and dining
• 4 points per $1 spent on all other purchases

Yes, non-Western Canadians will miss out on the Save-On-Foods bonus, but there are still plenty of high rates. With each point worth 0.43, that base earn rate provides a very high return of 1.72%. Toss in even more rewards on gas and dining and this card is a surefire winner in many wallets.

A new best prepaid card

Wealthsimple did a number to the Wealthsimple Prepaid Mastercard in the fall. While they now reimburse more fees, they also removed earning any cash back on purchases.

Our algorithm promptly pivoted to the EQ Bank Card as being the best prepaid card in Canada.

Why? It earns 0.5% cash back on all purchases, better than any other prepaid card, while earning you up to 2.75% interest on your balance, charging no foreign exchange fees, and all for no annual fee.

It's Neo's world for secured credit cards (and Capital One for a no fee card)

Neo is upping their game in the secured card world, and now they offer a secured version of all of their cards. This category has been completely turned upside down.

And as such, the Neo Secured World Elite Mastercard becomes our new best secured credit card pick, offering some of the best cash back rewards you can find, with a low security deposit requirement of only $200.

Of course, the $125 may turn many off. You can also look at the Neo Secured World Mastercard, and while it has a monthly fee of 7.99 it can be waived by maintaining $5,000 in deposits with Neo.

Simply want a no-fee card? Then turn to the Capital One Guaranteed Secured Mastercard. Just know that it doesn't offer much.

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