These top credit card picks help you earn from your biggest regular purchases: groceries! Select the best card for your spending habits and reap the rewards.
Photo by Greta Hoffman from Pexels
Everybody needs to put food on the table, so you might as well earn rewards while doing so. Considering that the price of food in Canada is predicted to rise between 5% and 7% this year (nearly $1,000 more per year for a family of four), there’s no better time to earn useful rewards and cash back on this essential household expense.
Whether you’re looking for cash back, to rack up points or simply to find the best grocery credit card in Canada, we’ve gathered the information you need to maximize your spending. Take stock of your shopping habits, and get ready to cash in on the rewards.
If you’re looking for the best no-fee grocery credit card, look no further. 3% cash back on grocery purchases, no annual fee, and solid earn rates in other categories have made this card is a standout in the category. Keep in mind, though, that earnings are capped at $500 spent per statement period, so if you spend more than $500 per month on groceries, you’ll want to consider another card in order to reap the full benefits.
In addition to earning cash back on groceries, this card earns you 1% on recurring bill payments and an unlimited 0.5% on other spending. You can choose when to redeem cash back, in increments as little as $1; you can also set up automatic recurring redemptions of $25 or more.
Get more details about the BMO CashBack Mastercard*
Every cardholder is given a 2% return on spending in two categories of their choice, of which groceries is one. (There are 10 categories in total, including drug store, gas, hotel and motel accommodations, restaurants, furniture, recurring bill payments, home improvement, entertainment, and public transportation and parking.) Plus, you can earn 2% on a third category of your choice just by having your rewards deposited into your Tangerine Savings Account.
In addition to being a no-fee card, this is a stand-out because your cash-back earnings are unlimited, meaning that your regular 2% earnings don’t have a cap. While this card doesn’t offer too much in the way of perks, like the card above, it currently has an attractive welcome offer.
Get more details about the Tangerine Money-Back Credit Card*
Everybody likes flexible rewards, and cash is the most flexible around. This card offers 4% cash back on groceries and is part of the Visa Infinite family, which means cardholders receive perks including concierge service, and wine and dining experiences.
You’ll earn a healthy 4% on groceries, as well as subscription services like Netflix and recurring bill payments, while transportation costs (including Uber) and gas earn at 2% (up to an annual total spend of $25,000; after that the earn rate drops to 1%). All other purchases earn at 1%, so if you’re carrying this card you’ve got a lot of cash back to earn in a broad group of spending categories.
When it comes to can’t-avoid-it expenses, gas and groceries top the list. Our pick for the best gas and grocery credit card in Canada was a draw, with each card boasting 4% cash back on both filling your tank and your fridge, as well as some pretty decent earn rates in other categories and perks. Which card you choose will really depend on where you tend to spend more, and what perks are most useful to you.
This credit card offers compelling earn rates on all types of food purchases—with 4% cash back on groceries and 2% on dining (including take out and food deliveries). And you will earn 4% on gas as well helping you earn at the pump while on your way to earn at the grocery store. Plus, save up to $0.10 per litre at participating Chevron, Ultramar and Pioneer gas stations when you link your card with Journie Rewards.
Aside from 4% cash back on groceries and gas—two very popular spending categories—the Meridian remains strong by offering 2% back on drug store purchases and recurring bills. The 1% regular rate on everything else is pretty standard but the annual fee of $99 is fairly accessible (and it’s waived for the first year). The Meridian has some good included insurance and carries the increasingly popular mobile device coverage.
With about 2,500 stores operating under the Loblaw company banner, including the economy brand No-Frills, the big-box Real Canadian Superstore and the market-style Fortinos, it’s safe to say this is a useful card for many Canadians. The PC Financial World Elite Mastercard is the country’s first no-fee elite-level card. Shoppers who pay with this card will earn a whopping 30 PC Optimum points per $1 on grocery purchases (equivalent to 3.0%) at any Loblaw banner store and at PC Travel; 45 points per $1 at Shoppers Drug Mart; and 10 points per $1 everywhere else. Gas purchases at Esso and Mobil earn at least 30 points per litre, making this an all-around valuable card for everyday living expenses. PC Optimum points are easily redeemed at the checkout counter starting at 10,000 points (which is equal to $10) and can be used on any products in participating stores.
A drawback to this card is the $80,000 minimum annual income requirement (or $150,000 for the household), which will put it out of reach for some. However, there are related PC Financial credit cards with slightly lower earn rates for those who can’t meet the threshold.
For those who want to turn their grocery purchases into world travel, the American Express Cobalt is here to help. There are a few standout elements of this card, starting with the unique payment structure that bills the annual fee in monthly installments of $12.99. Next is the welcome bonus, encouraging new cardholders to spend by rewarding 2,500 points when you make $500 in purchases each month for the first year. If you hit that target every month, you’ll have a cool 30,000 points accumulated by the end of the year. The earn rate on groceries as well as dining out and food delivery services is a very competitive 5 points per $1 (to a maximum spend of $30,000; thereafter, the earn is 1 point per $1); plus you get 2 points per $1 on transportation. Everything else earns at a rate of 1 point per $1.
Because this is a travel-based card, it should come as no surprise that there are some sweet perks geared toward frequent flyers and drivers, like emergency medical coverage and car rental theft and damage coverage. Cardholders are also eligible for a credit on amenities at participating hotels.
It does bear mentioning that because this is an American Express card, it is not accepted at every store—but if you’re a shopper at Food Basics, Longo’s, McEwan, Metro, Pusateri’s, Rabba, Safeway, Sobeys or Whole Foods, you’re golden. Loblaw banner stores, including No-Frills, do not accept Amex.
Want to earn points toward next year’s vacation while you cover this week’s grocery haul? Here’s how it works: For every point you earn, you get $0.01 redeemable toward travel, which is easy to figure out and calculate. Just think of it like a cash-back credit card with 1% earn rate toward travel savings. Plus, the welcome offer is pretty sweet. Earn up to 45,000 bonus Scotia Rewards points your first year, too—that’s about $450 towards your next trip.
While we’re comparing the two, it’s worth noting that the American Express Cobalt has an edge on the Scotiabank Gold American Express card since the former lets you get 15% to 75% more value out of your points through Amex’s fixed points travel chart or by transferring points to hotel loyalty programs. Neither are available with the Scotiabank Gold. That said, the Scotiabank Gold American Express is still a great card. Plus, the Scotiabank Gold American Express has some great perks that the Cobalt doesn’t, like no foreign transaction fees and additional points on entertainment and streaming services.
As we noted above, the American Express Cobalt and Scotiabank Gold American Express offer the most bonus points on this credit card list, but they just aren’t as widely accepted at all grocery stores as we’d like, like No Frills and Costco. That said, here are the major grocery stores that both accept American Express and let you earn bonus points for grocery purchases. Note: It’s possible that some franchise locations don’t participate in bonus offers.
Walmart may be synonymous with groceries for you, but not all credit cards recognize Walmart as a “grocery store.” While American Express and Visa are accepted at Walmart, neither credit card company categorizes Walmart on their merchant code system as a grocery store. For instance, while the TD CashBack Visa Infinite earns 3% cash back on groceries, it earns just the base 1% cash back rate at Walmart.
If you are a Walmart Supercentre frequent shopper, know that Mastercard does, however, recognize several Walmart Supercentre locations for grocery purchases, but not all. You will have to check with Mastercard to find out if the Walmart Supercentre near you qualifies. The best credit cards to use for groceries at Walmart Supercentres include the BMO CashBack Mastercard and Tangerine MoneyBack Card.
As for Walmart, including the Walmart Supercentre locations, the top credit cards to consider include the Amex SimplyCash Preferred and MBNA Rewards World Elite. Both these cards earn double the points when you use them, regardless of the type of purchase you’ve made.
If you prefer to “add to cart” at Walmart.ca for grocery pickup and grocery delivery, the newly-launched Walmart World Mastercard is a good card to look at. It earns you 3% on online purchases from Walmart (and 1.25% when shopping in store and 1% at all other grocery stores).
Costco exclusively accepts Mastercard credit cards (sorry Visa users.) And even though it’s not recognized as a “grocery store” in credit card reward programs, you can still earn rewards. It just won’t be as bonus rewards with your groceries from Costco. For example, the BMO CashBack Mastercard earns 3% on groceries, but at Costco you earn the card’s base earn rate of 0.5% on your purchases. It’s why we categorized the MBNA Rewards World Elite Mastercard as the best credit card for use at Costco, since it earns double the points–regardless of the purchase category. Other great cards to use at Costco include the BMO CashBack World Elite Mastercard and the Rogers World Elite Mastercard.
While it used to be that No Frills only accepted Mastercard, like Costco, but the grocery chain now accepts both Visa and Mastercard.
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Is Save On Foods included in your list?
– Rogers World Elite MC at Costco with 1.75% cash rewards, no annual fee.
– Canadian Tire Triangle World Elite MC for grocery with 3% Canadian Tire rewards, no annual fee.
– CapitalOne Costco 3% restaurants and 2% gas, no annual fee.
Why wouldn’t the Desjardins WE cash back card not be on here? 4% back at grocery stores (including Walmart b/c it’s MC)?
Rogers World Elite MC at Costco with 1.5% cash rewards, no annual fee. Not 1.75%
PC World Elite Master Card from Loblaws is taking my card away and replacing it with a regular PC Mastercard because I Don’t charge $1500.00 per month on it and I’ve heard that from other people as well
MBNA rewards world elite DOES NOT give you 5 pts for $1 spent at Costco. They do not recognize Costco as grocery. I literally just checked with their customer sales rep.
Author should update this info ASAP as it could heavily mislead people.
Thank you for letting us know. We regret the error and have updated the article accordingly.