The best credit cards in Canada for online shopping 2024
When shopping online, not all cards are created equal. These picks will earn you more than the standard 0.5% to 1% in rewards.
Earn at least 2% cash back on everyday purchases, including online shopping (doubling the 1% rewards rate offered by most cards).
Earn 1% cash back and pay no FX fees when shopping online in a non-Canadian currency.
Earn 1.5% cash back per $1 spent, including online purchases, and pay no annual fee. Note: personal income required is $80,000.
MoneySense is an award-winning magazine, helping Canadians navigate money matters since 1999. Our editorial team of trained journalists works closely with leading personal finance experts in Canada. To help you find the best financial products, we compare the offerings from over 12 major institutions, including banks, credit unions and card issuers. Learn more about our advertising and trusted partners.
Best credit cards for online purchases
If you collect points or cash back on your in-store purchases, you may be well-versed in your spending categories. But sometimes (not always) an online purchase doesn’t “reward” you as you’d expect—with some cards, you’ll only get the generic, “everything else” earn rate on purchases made online. That’s not the case with our picks for the best credit cards for online purchases in Canada.
| Credit card | Why we love it |
|---|---|
| SimplyCash Preferred Card from American Express* Annual fee: $120 | 2% cash back |
| Rogers Red World Elite Mastercard* Annual fee: $0 | 1.5% cash back and U.S. forex savings |
| Meridian Visa Infinite Travel Rewards Annual fee: $99 (waived for the first year) | 1.5% in travel rewards and forex savings |
| Home Trust Preferred Visa* Annual fee: $0 | 1% cash back and no forex fees |
| Amazon Rewards Mastercard $0 (Prime subscription required for full card benefits) | 2.5% cash back and forex savings |
At a glance: With a base cash back rate of 2% on everything—including online purchases—plus a stellar 4% cash back on gas and grocery purchases, the SimplyCash Preferred Card from American Express card will accelerate your earnings.
SimplyCash Preferred from American Express
- Annual fee: $120
- Earn rate: 4% cash back on eligible gas and grocery purchases; 2% cash back on everything else
- Welcome offer: You can earn a $40 statement credit for each monthly billing period in which you spend $750 in purchases on your card.
- Annual income requirement: None
- Recommended credit score for approval: 660 or higher
- Interest rates: 20.99% on purchases, 21.99% on cash advances
At a glance: The Rogers Red World Elite Mastercard is a no-fee cash-back card that delivers an impressive 1.5% cash back on every purchase (plus an extra 0.5% for Rogers, Fido and Shaw customers) and 3% on website purchases made in U.S. currency. You’ll need to spend at least $15,000 per year on the card in order to continue qualifying to use it.
Rogers Red World Elite Mastercard
- Annual fee: $0
- Earn rate: 1.5% cash back on all purchases, or 2% back for Rogers, Fido and Shaw customers; 3% cash back on all purchases in USD
- Welcome bonus: You can This card does not have a welcome bonus at this time.
- Annual income requirement: Personal income of $80,000 or household income of $150,000
- Recommended credit score for approval: 725 or higher
- Interest rates: 20.99% on purchases, 22.99% on cash advances, 22.99% on balance transfers
Meridian Visa Infinite Travel Rewards
At a glance: Meridian Visa Infinite Travel Rewards cardholders earn 1.5 points per dollar (1.50% in travel rewards) on all purchases, including online, and 3 points per dollar on purchases made in foreign currencies— which covers the foreign transaction fee with a little left over.
Meridian Visa Infinite Travel Rewards
- Annual fee: $99
- Earn rate: 1.5 points per dollar; 3 points per dollar on purchases made in foreign currencies
- Welcome offer: Earn 6 points per $2 spent on purchases made outside Canada in foreign currencies, and 3 points per $2 on all other purchases.
- Annual income requirement: Personal income of $60,000 or household income of $100,000
- Points value: 1 point = $0.01 when redeemed for travel
- Recommended credit score for approval: 725 or higher
- Interest rates: 19.50% on purchases, 21.99% on cash advances
At a glance: Home Trust Preferred Visa is a good, basic cash-back card that carries no annual fee. With this card, you’ll receive 1% cash back on all Canadian purchases. Even better, purchases made in another currency on this card aren’t charged a foreign transaction fee—this is an automatic savings of 2.5 to 3% and super-valuable for those who shop at online retailers from the United States.
Home Trust Preferred Visa
- Annual fee: $0
- Earn rates: 1% on all purchases in Canada and pay no FX fees on foreign currency purchases
- Welcome offer: You can earn 1% cashback on eligible purchases in Canada, with no caps on cashback earn.
- Annual income requirement: None
- Recommended credit score for approval: 660 or higher
- Interest rates: 21.99% on purchases, 21.99% on cash advances
Amazon Rewards Mastercard
At a glance: The Amazon Rewards Mastercard is ideal for frequent Amazon Shoppers who have a Prime Membership, as Prime account holders earn boosted rewards when shopping at the online retail giant.
Amazon Rewards Mastercard
- Annual fee: $0 (Prime subscription required for full card benefits)
- Earn rate: Prime members earn 2.5% on Amazon.ca and foreign currency transactions. Non-Prime members earn 1.5% back on Amazon.ca. Get 1% everywhere else
- Welcome offer: 5% back at Amazon.ca, Whole Foods Market stores for 6 months up to $3,000 in eligible purchases (for a value of $150)
- Income requirement: None specified
- Points value: Rewards come in the form of points which can be redeemed for Amazon.ca gift cards (1 point is worth 1% cash back savings off Amazon purchases)
- Recommended credit score for approval: 725 or higher
- Interest rates: 19.50% on purchases, 21.99% on cash advances
Prime members benefit from having the card’s foreign transaction fees offset by cash back rewards, which is handy if you’re travelling or shopping online in different currencies. The drawbacks? While the card technically has no annual fee, if you’re not a paying Prime member (the membership costs $99 annually or $9.99 monthly), you’ll get a serious downgrade with just 1.5% on Amazon purchases and will lose the benefit of no foreign transaction fees. Plus your rewards can’t be used for cash back and can only be redeemed for gift cards at Amazon.
More of Canada’s best credit cards:
