Benchmark MoneyCanada

Credit union accounts in Canada

A credit union deposit is not guaranteed by CDIC. It is guaranteed by the province, and the provinces do not offer the same promise: in Alberta, Manitoba and British Columbia the guarantee carries no stated limit, while CDIC stops at $100,000 per category. That is the reason to read this page rather than a rate table.

We track 75 credit union accounts from 16 institutions, 35 of them with no monthly fee. Every figure here comes from the institution’s own published pages and fee schedules, last checked 19 August 2026. Where an institution does not publish something we leave it blank rather than guess, which is explained on how we research.

Who Guarantees the Money, and up to What

41 of the 75 accounts here sit with an institution that describes its guarantee as carrying no limit at all. That is a different promise from the federal one, and it is the single most useful thing on this page for anybody holding more than $100,000. It is also a promise made by a provincial body rather than by Ottawa, which is worth knowing rather than worth panicking about.

ProvinceGuaranteed byWhat the institutions stateAccountsBest posted rate
Ontario
5 institutions		Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario13 state $250,000, 13 do not publish a limit262.85%
Alberta
3 institutions		Credit Union Deposit Guarantee Corporation (Alberta)19 state no limit191.8%
Manitoba
5 institutions		Deposit Guarantee Corporation of Manitoba17 state no limit172%
British Columbia
1 institution		Credit Union Deposit Insurance Corporation of British Columbia5 state no limit50.6%
Quebec
1 institution		Autorité des marchés financiers5 state $100,00050.55%
Saskatchewan
1 institution		Credit Union Deposit Guarantee Corporation of Saskatchewan3 do not publish a limit30.3%

Read that last column against the guarantee beside it rather than on its own. The highest rate in this table and the widest guarantee in it are in different provinces, and which one matters depends entirely on how much money is sitting there. What deposit insurance actually covers sets out the categories, and every figure above is what the institution itself publishes.

How We Picked

  • Every account here sits with an institution whose deposits are guaranteed by a provincial body rather than by CDIC. The scheme is read from what the institution publishes about itself, not from where its head office is.
  • The posted rate leads, with promotional rates marked as promotional. A rate that ends in ninety days is not what an institution pays.
  • The guarantee is stated on every row, and where a province publishes a limit but the institution does not repeat it, the row says the limit is not published rather than filling in the provincial figure on its behalf.
  • Membership is not treated as a cost. Most of these require a small share purchase, usually refundable, and it is recorded on the account rather than counted here.
The 10 credit union accounts we rank highest, of 75 we track. Ordered by posted rate, highest first. Figures last checked 19 August 2026.
#AccountInstitutionMonthly feeTransactionsInterest
1ATB Financial Springboard Savings AccountATB FinancialNo fee10.6%
2Steinbach Credit Union Daily Growth Savings AccountSteinbach Credit UnionNot publishedNot published1.5%
3ATB Climber Savings AccountATB FinancialNo fee10.3%
4Vancity Jumpstart High Interest SavingsVancityNo feeNot published0.6%
5Saven Financial High Interest Savings AccountSaven FinancialNo feeNot published2.85%
6DUCA Rise ChequingDUCA$9Unlimited2%
7Steinbach Credit Union High Interest Savings AccountSteinbach Credit UnionNo fee12%
8Achieva Financial Daily Interest Savings AccountAchieva FinancialNo fee11.8%
9ATB High Interest Savings Account, Personal Series AATB FinancialNot publishedNot published1.8%
10Hubert Financial Happy Savings AccountHubert FinancialNo feeNot published1.6%

The 10 Best Credit Union Accounts

  1. ATB Financial Springboard Savings Account

    ATB Financial · 4.6% promotional rate until 30 September 2026 · No monthly fee

    Open only to residents of Alberta. The rate is conditional: Base tiers: 0.20% on $0 to $4,999.99; 0.50% on $5,000 to $249,999.99; 0.60% on $250,000+. Bonus 4.00% on net new deposits, capped at $1,000,000, promo period July 6, 2026, September 30, 2026 (total up to 4.20%/4.50%/4.60% by tier).

    Everything published about the ATB Financial Springboard Savings Account

  2. Steinbach Credit Union Daily Growth Savings Account

    Steinbach Credit Union · 4.6% promotional rate · Monthly fee not published

    Open only to residents of Manitoba. The rate is conditional: Standard rate 1.50%. A special pays 4.60% on the first $500,000 and 1.50% on the balance above that. Rates page effective December 18, 2025; no promo end date published.

    Everything published about the Steinbach Credit Union Daily Growth Savings Account

  3. ATB Climber Savings Account

    ATB Financial · 4.5% promotional rate until 30 September 2026 · No monthly fee

    Open only to residents of Alberta. The rate is conditional: Base 0.30% plus a climbing premium that resets on withdrawal: 0.00% (0 to 29 days), 0.20% (30 to 89), 0.25% (90 to 179), 0.40% (180 to 269), 0.50% (270 to 359), 0.60% (360+). Welcome bonus 4.00% for the first 90 days, promo period July 6, September 30, 2026.

    Everything published about the ATB Climber Savings Account

  4. Vancity Jumpstart High Interest Savings

    Vancity · 4.5% promotional rate · No monthly fee

    Open only to residents of Must be a resident of British Columbia. A credit union, so opening the account means buying a membership share of $5.00. The rate is conditional: Posted rate 0.60% effective Feb 6, 2026. New member promo: up to +3.90% bonus for 90 calendar days on new funds, max $1M; account must be opened within 30 days of a new personal membership opened after Jan 5, 2026; BC resident with SIN and $5 membership share. Promo rates: 4.50% non-registered, 4.60% TFSA/RRSP.

    Everything published about the Vancity Jumpstart High Interest Savings

  5. Saven Financial High Interest Savings Account

    Saven Financial · 2.85% interest · No monthly fee

    The rate is conditional: You must be a Saven member to get the rate; rate subject to change at any time

    Everything published about the Saven Financial High Interest Savings Account

  6. DUCA Rise Chequing

    DUCA · 2% interest · $9.00 a month · fee waived with $2,000 kept in the account

    Open only to residents of Ontario residents only. A credit union, so opening the account means buying a membership share of $1.00. The rate is conditional: 2.00% paid monthly; available to new members only

    Everything published about the DUCA Rise Chequing

  7. Steinbach Credit Union High Interest Savings Account

    Steinbach Credit Union · 2% interest · No monthly fee

    Open only to residents of Manitoba. The rate is conditional: 2.00% under $100K; 2.10% $100K, $249,999; 2.25% $250K+. Rates page effective December 18, 2025. No minimum balance to earn interest.

    Everything published about the Steinbach Credit Union High Interest Savings Account

  8. Achieva Financial Daily Interest Savings Account

    Achieva Financial · 1.8% interest · No monthly fee

    Everything published about the Achieva Financial Daily Interest Savings Account

  9. ATB High Interest Savings Account, Personal Series A

    ATB Financial · 1.8% interest · Monthly fee not published

    Open only to residents of Alberta. The rate is conditional: Rate as of January 19, 2026; simple interest paid monthly into the account. Series F pays 1.90%.

    Everything published about the ATB High Interest Savings Account, Personal Series A

  10. Hubert Financial Happy Savings Account

    Hubert Financial · 1.6% interest · No monthly fee

    The rate is conditional: The rates page displays two unlabelled values, '1.60% | 1.65%'; the tier or condition separating them is not published on the page

    Everything published about the Hubert Financial Happy Savings Account

The Other 65

Every credit union account we track, in the same order. An account outside the top ten is not a bad account; it is one that lost to the accounts above it on the criteria at the top of this page.

Common Questions

How many credit union accounts are there in Canada?
We track 75 of them. That is what we have verified against the institution's own pages, not a claim about every account that exists, and the number moves as accounts are added and withdrawn.
What is the highest savings rate in Canada right now?
The highest we have on file is 4.6% on the ATB Financial Springboard Savings Account, which is a promotional rate rather than the posted rate. A promotional rate ends, and what matters afterwards is the rate underneath it. Rates move, and the date each one was checked is shown on the account.
Is a promotional rate worth chasing?
It depends entirely on how long it runs and what it applies to. Several offers here apply only to money that is new to the institution, which means moving an existing balance between your own accounts earns the ordinary rate. Every promotional rate on this page is labelled as promotional and carries its end date where one is published.
Can the monthly fee be waived?
On 23 of these the institution publishes a balance that waives the fee. It is worth doing the arithmetic before treating that as free: money kept still to avoid a $16 fee is money earning nothing, and $4,000 in a savings account at 3% would have earned more than the fee costs.
Are unlimited transactions worth paying for?
28 of the accounts here include unlimited transactions. Only if you would otherwise go over the limit on a cheaper account. Extra transactions typically cost around $1.25 each, so an account including twelve of them costs the same as an unlimited one somewhere around the thirtieth transaction of the month. Below that the cheaper account wins, above it the unlimited one does.
Is my money safe at these institutions?
Bank deposits are insured by CDIC and credit union deposits by a provincial insurer, on different terms. A few products in our database are money services businesses rather than banks, and those are flagged on the account itself, because the account looks the same and the protection is not.

Other Lists

Comparing something other than credit union accounts? Compare every account on the way you actually bank, or browse the full directory.

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