The same person can borrow the same $5,000 at anywhere from about 5% to about 365% depending only on which product they use. The ranking below is by price, and the spread between the top and the bottom is larger than most people expect.
Two numbers set the outer edges. The Bank of Canada policy rate is 2.25% and prime at the major banks is 4.45%, both as of 20 August 2026. And since 1 January 2025 the criminal rate of interest under the Criminal Code is 35% APR, down from an effective 48%. Everything legal sits between those, with one deliberate exception at the bottom.
The Ranking
| Roughly, from cheapest | What it costs | What it needs |
|---|---|---|
| Secured line of credit, or HELOC | Commonly within about half a point of prime, so mid single digits at a prime of 4.45% | Equity in a home. A HELOC plus the mortgage is limited to 80% of the value of the property. |
| Mortgage or mortgage refinance | The lowest rate available to most people | A home, and the closing costs and possible penalty that come with refinancing. |
| Student loan, government | Federal portion has carried no interest since 2023; provincial portions vary | Enrolment. Not available on demand. |
| Car loan, secured | Varies widely, secured against the vehicle | The vehicle is the security, so the rate depends on the car as much as on you. |
| Unsecured personal line of credit | Prime plus a spread, often high single digits to low teens | Income and credit history. No asset pledged. |
| Unsecured personal loan | Fixed rate, fixed term, generally above a line of credit | The fixed end date is the feature, and it is a real one. |
| Low interest credit card | The lowest published purchase rate we record is 8.90% | Usually carries an annual fee. The rate is the product. |
| An ordinary credit card | 21.99% on 55 of the 94 personal cards that publish a rate. 20.99% on 19 more | Nothing, if you already have the card. That is the danger. |
| A cash advance on that card | 22.99% on 61 cards, up to 24.99%, and no interest free period at all | An ATM. Interest starts the day it is taken. |
| Instalment lender, high cost | Up to the 35% APR criminal rate cap | Legal, and roughly seven times a HELOC. |
| Payday loan | Capped at $14 per $100 borrowed. On a fourteen day loan that is about 365% annualised | Exempt from the 35% cap by design, under provincial regimes. |
The Cash Advance Is the Trap in the Middle
It is worth separating out because it is the one most people fall into without deciding to. A cash advance is not a purchase, and three things change the moment you take one:
- It is charged at the cash advance rate, not the purchase rate. Across our data that is usually a point higher, and the highest we record is 24.99%.
- There is no grace period, ever. Interest starts the day of the transaction, even on a card that is paid in full every month.
- There is normally a flat fee per advance on top of the interest.
Several things count as a cash advance that do not feel like one, and this varies by issuer: buying foreign currency, some bill payments made at an ATM, wire transfers, money orders, and in many cases gambling transactions. The card agreement is the only place this is defined.
What the 35% Cap Actually Did
The criminal rate of interest fell to 35% APR on 1 January 2025. The regulations that came with it also capped payday lending at $14 per $100 borrowed nationally and capped dishonoured cheque fees at $20.
The important detail is the exemption. Payday loans remain outside the 35% cap, which is why the annualised cost of one can still be around 365% while a high cost instalment loan cannot legally exceed 35%. Certain commercial loans between $10,000 and $500,000 and pawn loans under $1,000 are also exempted, up to 48%.
So “it is legal” and “it is capped” are not the same statement, and the products at the bottom of this table are legal precisely because the law carved them out.
Price Is Not the Only Axis, and the Other Ones Are Real
Ranking by rate is the right starting point and it hides three things worth weighing.
- Secured means the asset is at risk. A HELOC is cheap because the home stands behind it. That is a genuine trade rather than a technicality, and it is the reason a HELOC is not simply the answer to every question.
- A line of credit has no end date. Most require interest only, which keeps the account current forever without reducing the balance by a dollar. A fixed term loan at a higher rate that actually ends can cost less in total than a cheaper line carried indefinitely.
- A promotional rate is a rate with an expiry. Nine of the personal cards we track run a balance transfer promotion, from 0% to 1.95%, for six to eighteen months, with a transfer fee of 1% to 3%. Cheap while it lasts, and the balance goes to the ordinary rate the day it ends.
Working It Out
The line of credit calculator prices a prime linked balance and shows what interest only payments actually do, which is nothing to the principal. The credit card payoff calculator works interest daily the way a statement does. The balance transfer calculator costs a transfer fee against the months of promotion, using the offers Canadian issuers are running now.
If a card is the cheapest option available to you, the comparison can be sorted by purchase rate, and nothing on this site estimates a rate an issuer has not published. Nobody here is a licensed adviser and none of this is advice about an individual situation.
The Benchmark Weekly
One email a week. Elevated welcome offers while they are still open, new cards and accounts as they arrive, and any fee, rate or earn rate that moved, with the old figure and the new one. A quiet week gets no email.