Glossary

What the card costs to hold for a year, charged whether or not you use it.

A fee card is not more expensive than a free card. It is more expensive until a spending threshold and cheaper after it.

What an annual fee has to earn back

The annual percentage rate, which is the yearly cost of carrying a balance expressed as a percentage.

One card can carry several. A purchase APR, a cash advance APR and a balance transfer APR are usually three different numbers on the same card.

Moving a balance from one credit card to another, usually to a promotional rate for a fixed number of months.

The promotional rate is not the price. Of the 98 personal cards tracked here, only 28 publish the transfer fee, and the fee is usually the larger cost.

What a balance transfer costs

A percentage of the amount moved, charged once at the time of the transfer.

On a balance cleared inside the promotional term, this fee is the entire cost of borrowing, which makes it the effective interest rate for the period.

Taking cash against a credit card, at a machine or a counter.

It normally has its own rate, and interest usually begins on the day of the advance rather than after a grace period.

The most an issuer will let you owe on a card at one time.

The share of your available credit you are using, across one card or all of them.

What a card returns per dollar spent, as a percentage, a number of points, or a number of miles.

An earn rate on its own is not comparable between cards unless the unit is worth the same, which is why a points card and a cash back card cannot be ranked on the headline number.

How we value points

A percentage added to any purchase not made in Canadian dollars.

Commonly 2.5% in Canada. A blank in this field on a product page means the issuer has not published one, not that there is none.

The window between a statement being issued and payment being due, during which purchases do not accrue interest.

It normally applies only if the previous statement was paid in full. Carrying any balance usually means new purchases begin accruing interest from the day they are made.

A lender checking your credit file as part of an application, which is recorded and can be seen by other lenders.

Distinct from a soft inquiry, which is a check that does not form part of an application and is not visible to other lenders.

The smallest amount a card issuer will accept in a billing period without treating the account as in arrears.

Paying it is what keeps an account in good standing. It is not designed to clear a balance, and on a typical rate a balance paid at the minimum takes many years to clear.

Credit card payoff calculator

A promise by an individual to repay a business card balance if the business does not.

It makes the person liable for the debt even though the card is in the company name.

A card backed by a deposit you place with the issuer, usually equal to the credit limit.

An additional card on the same account, issued to somebody else but billed to the primary cardholder.

A one time reward for taking out a card, normally conditional on spending a stated amount within a stated number of months.

It is worth counting once. A bonus is a first year figure and the annual fee is charged every year.

An account built for money moving in and out, normally with a monthly fee and a limit on included transactions.

An account built for money sitting still, normally paying interest and limiting or charging for withdrawals.

A savings account paying a rate well above a standard savings account, often from an institution without branches.

Frequently written HISA. The posted rate and any promotional rate are two different things and both should be read.

The recurring charge for holding an account, before any transaction charges.

It is the price of the plan rather than the price of the account. Extra transactions, e-Transfers, cash deposits and machine fees are all charged separately.

What a chequing account costs

A minimum balance that, if held, removes the monthly fee.

The waived fee is a return on the balance you must keep. Across the chequing accounts tracked here that publish both figures, the implied return has a middle value near 5%, which is above every posted savings rate in the database.

The Canadian system for sending money between accounts at different institutions using an email address or phone number.

Some accounts include them at no charge, some include a monthly number, and some charge for each one.

A charge for a payment attempted against an account without enough money in it. NSF stands for non sufficient funds.

An arrangement letting an account go below zero up to a limit, normally for a monthly fee, interest, or both.

The ordinary published rate on an account, as opposed to a promotional rate offered for a limited period.

A promotional rate that ends is not the rate you earn over a year, which is why this site never annualises one.

An account registered with the Canada Revenue Agency for tax treatment, such as a TFSA, an RRSP or an FHSA.

Registration is a status applied to an account rather than a product in itself. A savings account, a GIC and an investment account can each be registered.

A small refundable amount bought to become a member of a credit union, which is what makes you an owner rather than a customer.

The Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation, the federal body insuring eligible deposits at member institutions.

Coverage is per depositor, per member institution, per insurance category, up to $100,000 in each category. It covers deposits rather than investments: mutual funds, stocks, bonds, exchange traded funds and cryptocurrency are not covered.

What deposit insurance actually covers

Protection for deposits at a provincially regulated credit union, provided by a provincial guarantee corporation rather than by CDIC.

The terms differ by province and are not always a dollar limit. Several provinces describe deposits as guaranteed in full.

One of the separate buckets CDIC insures independently, such as deposits held in one name, deposits held jointly, and deposits in a registered plan.

Because each category is insured separately at the same institution, total protection at one bank can exceed $100,000.

A financial institution owned by its members rather than by shareholders.

Most are provincially regulated and protected by a provincial guarantee. A few are federally regulated and are CDIC members instead.

A guaranteed investment certificate. Money placed with an institution for a fixed term at a stated rate.

A one year and a five year GIC from the same issuer are different products at different rates, which is why they are listed separately here.

How long money is committed for, from the date of deposit to maturity.

The date a term deposit ends and the money plus interest becomes available.

A GIC that can be cashed before maturity, normally at a lower rate than one that cannot.

Also called cashable. The rate difference is the price of being able to change your mind.

A GIC whose return is tied to the performance of an index rather than to a stated interest rate.

The principal is normally protected and the return is not. Because there is no rate to publish, products like these are never ranked on one here.

The total length of time a mortgage is scheduled to take to be paid off in full.

Distinct from the term, which is the length of the current contract. A twenty five year amortization is commonly made up of a series of five year terms.

The length of the current mortgage contract, after which the balance is renewed, renegotiated or repaid.

The Canadian legal convention for a fixed rate mortgage, under which interest is compounded twice a year rather than monthly.

It is why a Canadian payment figure differs from one produced by an American calculator using the same rate, and the difference runs through every payment for the length of the amortization.

Mortgage calculator

A mortgage rate that does not change for the length of the term.

A mortgage rate that moves with the lender prime rate, and therefore with the Bank of Canada policy rate.

A qualifying rule requiring a borrower to demonstrate they could afford payments at a rate higher than the one they are being offered.

It affects how much can be borrowed rather than what is paid.

Affordability calculator

Insurance protecting the lender when a down payment is less than 20% of the purchase price. Commonly called CMHC insurance after one of the three providers.

The premium is paid by the borrower, is normally added to the loan, and is charged sales tax in some provinces which cannot be added to the loan and must be paid in cash at closing.

Closing costs in Canada

The size of a mortgage as a percentage of the value of the property.

A tax charged on the transfer of property, set provincially and in some cities charged again municipally.

Thirteen separate regimes apply across Canada, and several offer a rebate to first time buyers.

Land transfer tax calculator

The one time costs of completing a property purchase, separate from the down payment and the mortgage itself.

The reference rate Canadian lenders set their variable lending rates against, which moves with the Bank of Canada policy rate.

A line of credit quoted at prime plus two moves whenever prime moves.

A borrowing limit that can be drawn on, repaid and drawn again, with interest charged only on what is outstanding.

Line of credit calculator

A home equity line of credit. A line of credit secured against a property, normally at a lower rate than an unsecured one.

Borrowing backed by an asset the lender can take if the debt is not repaid. Unsecured borrowing has no such asset behind it.

The maximum annual rate a lender may charge in Canada, set at 35% APR since 1 January 2025.

Payday lending is exempt and separately capped.

Every way to borrow, ranked

Paying debts down highest interest rate first, which costs the least in total interest.

Snowball against avalanche

Paying debts down smallest balance first, which clears individual debts sooner and costs more in total interest than the avalanche method.