One of the things that I try to do here at PointsNerd is to have a singular one-stop resource for Canadians that are looking for Travel Hacking information.  I have put together posts on How to Find Award Availability, Booking Alaska Airlines Partner Awards and other handy things like How To Get US Credit Cards (among other things).

While I have tried to provide some color around earning miles through my Credit Card Reviews and delved deeper so that people can understand the Insurance Coverages of the major rewards cards in Canada, I realize I haven’t made it easy for you to see what offers are available for all the cards out there.  That is until now.

What Is It?

I have created what I hope to be a very comprehensive sortable table of all the major credit cards in Canada.  Everything is covered from the issuers in Canada, including American Express, TD, CIBC, MBNA, RBC, Scotiabank, and BMO with both Personal and Business Cards addressed.

The table covers things like the minimum spend, sign-up bonuses, and any promotions with the card, including if the first year is free.  I’ve also provided any dates that promotions expire (if given) and what the CPM is of the sign-up offer so you can determine the best value.

What’s Great About This Table?

Besides the fact that I have tried to cover off every single card in Canada, what I love about this table is that you can multi-sort it.  Interested in which card offers Aeroplan points and is the best value in terms of the annual fee charged?  Just sort the table for Aeroplan under “Rewards Program” and Sort A–>Z under “CPM”.

What about answering the question, what’s the best Personal Card to get that is First Year Free and has the lowest minimum spend required to earn the sign-up bonus?  Well, just go to the “(P)ersonal or (B)usiness” column and choose P then go to the “First Year Free” column and choose Yes and finally go to the “Sign-Up Bonus” column and Sort Z–>A.

The possibilities to find the perfect card for your needs is endless.  If you’ve ever read my blog, you’ll know that I would never say “this is the perfect card for you” because I have no idea what your specific situation is.  If you come across a blog that tells you that you need this card, take it with a grain of salt because there are usually ulterior motives involves.

This table levels the playing field because you are now in charge of determining what criteria are important to you, full stop.

What Are Your Ulterior Motives?

I won’t lie, I have placed my referral links in some of the cards, notably the American Express,  Scotiabank, and Great Canadian Rebate links.  I fully understand that you have complete choice when it comes to what link to use.  I hope you use mine because it helps to keep the blog rolling but if you would rather use someone else’s link, that’s your choice.  I only hope to earn your referral through the work I do via the blog.

Outside of earning a few referrals here and there, I really have done this because it’s just too difficult to quickly comparison shop for credit cards in Canada without being led by the nose to a specific outcome based on the referral earned by the company promoting the card.

I wanted to give you choice, not just the illusion of choice.

Nuisances to the Table

Due to the having to lock down the spreadsheet, you will be provided with a Read Only view that does not have sorting abilities, which is the most powerful part of the spreadsheet.  In order to enable the sortable view, go to Data–> Filter Views –> Create new temporary filter view.

One of the most important columns to this table is the “First Year Free” column.  There are plenty of cards that don’t charge an annual fee and those cards are also classified as First Year Free so if you want to know which cards normally have an Annual Fee but also have a promotion waiving the first year’s Annual Fee, you will have to multi-sort.  First, go to the “First Year Free” column and choose Yes and then go to the “Annual Fee” column and Uncheck 0.  You will be left with cards that charge an Annual Fee but also have a waiver for the first year.

You may also notice a black corner on some of the cells.  Those cells contain notes that provide further detail so if you see that denotion, simply hover over the cell to get more information.

Most cashback cards do not have a sign-up bonus except for a couple of MBNA cards so it’s not abnormal to see a $0 sign-up bonus in this category of cards.

Updates to the Table

I have done my best to ensure the accuracy of the information in this table but I’m human and I make mistakes.  If I happen to have made a mistake, please report the error by using the link in the sheet.  If you click on the link next to the name of the card, an email will be generated with the subject line of the card in question.

Please provide detailed information on what the error is.  Once I verify the error, I will update the table and correct the information.

My intent is to have the most comprehensive and updated table of Canadian Credit Cards so you don’t have to search the web, only to find old information.  When I update a row in the table, I will denote it under the “Last Updated” column.

Where to Find the Table

You can find the table at:

http://www.pointsnerd.ca/go/credit-card-table/

You will notice that you do not have the ability to edit the information in the table and that’s to ensure the validity of the information provided.  It literally took me over 8 hours to properly compile this information so I have a vested interest in keeping the data locked down … I don’t want to have to do it again.

If there are any cards that are missing out of this table, please let me know at jayce@pointsnerd.ca.

Conclusion

If you are a data-driven nerd like I am, you should find this table very useful in deriving some interesting facts about the Canadian Credit Card Industry.  For example, did you know that from all the major banks, Visa is the most common card with 33 offerings, AMEX in second at 22 and MasterCard is the least represented card at only 16?

Did you also know that of the cards that charge an Annual Fee that the MBNA Alaska World Elite MasterCard is the best value and that’s not even including the $60 cash back you can earn from Great Canadian Rebates?  All this pure nerdy information is for you to uncover with this table.

I truly hope that this table helps you in your quest to find the perfect credit card for your Travel Hacking needs.  Good luck and let me know if there is anything I can do to help you on your quest.