Canadian Tire Rewards: How to earn CT Money with the Triangle Rewards program and Triangle Mastercard

Over the years, the company has evolved, expanding its family of businesses to include unisex apparel chain Mark’s Work Wearhouse (Mark’s), as well as the sporting goods chains Sport Chek and Atmosphere, among others. Let’s take a look at how you can earn rewards with one of Canada’s most well-known retailers.

Canadian Tire Triangle Mastercard

Canadian Tire Triangle Mastercard*

This accessible card has no income requirement and carries no annual fee—but, still allows you to rack up the CT Money.

This card puts 4% in CT Money back in your pocket on spends at Canadian Tire and partner stores. Purchases made anywhere else earn 0.8% back. Cardholders also receive personalized offers tailored to their interests.

• Annual fee: $0
• Interest rates: 20.99% on purchases, 22.99% on cash advances, 22.99% on balance transfers
• Rewards at partner locations: 4% in CT Money on purchases at Canadian Tire and partner stores 
• Rewards on everything else: 1.5% on the first $12,000 spent on groceries per calendar year (excluding Costco and Walmart); 0.5% on everything else
• Welcome offer: No welcome offer at this time.
• Additional benefits: Personalized offers and exclusive bonuses; member-only events
• Annual income requirement: None

All about Canadian Tire’s Triangle Rewards program

Participating locations of these stores are partnered with Canadian Tire in its Triangle Rewards loyalty program. For consumers, this is good news. Canadian Tire has loads of experience with customer rewards—they’re the inventors of Canadian Tire Money (CT Money), the granddaddy of Canadian rewards programs. Introduced way back in 1958, Canadian Tire Money (coupons printed to look like currency) offered customers a way to save on in-store purchases as a reward for their patronage; when you made a purchase, you were handed CT Money to use in lieu of cash on a future visit.

Today, through the Triangle Rewards program, collectors can accumulate CT Money digitally at Canadian Tire stores, at participating partner stores and online. The 2018 introduction of the program digitized the CT Money concept, allowing Triangle members to collect CT Money at more retailers and at a better rate. 

There are two ways to join the Triangle program: become a Triangle Mastercard cardholder, or register for Triangle Rewards with the downloadable app or a physical loyalty card. In both cases, members receive digital CT Money automatically on every purchase. But here’s where the paths diverge: Loyalty cardholders earn at a rate of 0.4% at Canadian Tire and its affiliates, while Triangle Mastercard account holders earn 10 times that amount (4.0%)—and they can earn on every purchase, anywhere. 

What’s more, in 2023, the company introduced Triangle Select, a premium subscription program. Triangle Select allows you to earn ten times the CT Money on everyday purchases made with your Triangle Mastercard, in addition to your regular in-store Triangle credit card rewards. The program costs $89 per year (plus tax).

Boosting your rewards with Canadian Tire Financial Services

Regardless of which card you carry, there are a few tips and tricks to help you get the very best out of your Triangle Mastercard. 

Just like with any credit card, there are some best practices to observe. First and foremost, it’s a smart idea to pay off your balance in full every month to ensure you don’t owe interest on your purchases. With that in mind, it’s always important to build a budget and stick to it. Don’t overspend in pursuit of CT Money rewards.

That said, at some point everyone faces making a purchase sometimes that’s too large for the regular budget. With the zero-fee, zero-interest financing option included with the Triangle Mastercard, qualifying purchases can be paid off in installments—without penalty. Qualifying purchases are a minimum of $200 spent at Canadian Tire-affiliated stores (or online), and the balance is split into equal payments. As long as you pay the minimum by the due date, you’ll incur no interest. Not only that, you’ll also collect CT Money on the payments.

If your goal is to collect as much CT Money as possible, here’s a pro-tip: Canadian Tire has its own bank, so cardholders who register and use their card to make recurring payments will earn even more CT Money (1.0% or 0.8%, depending on the Triangle card they have). Simply sign up to pay your major bills like your property tax, utilities, insurance premiums or even tuition on your Triangle Mastercard, then sit back and reap the rewards—on the regular. Those considering this strategy should be aware that unless they pay off their bills in full they will incur interest, but for those with sufficient funds and organizational savvy, the rewards potential is well worth a look. 

Extra benefits

Cardholders and Triangle Rewards members receive special offers each week, based on the kinds of purchases they typically make at Canadian Tire and its partner stores. So, if you regularly load up on pet supplies, you might receive an offer to earn 50 times the usual amount of CT Money on your purchase of pet items that week. If automotive is your thing, you might want to activate an offer to earn 25 times the CTM when you buy tires. (Hockey parents might find sporting goods offers especially handy, as their kids continually outgrow gear that needs replacing!)

Are there any drawbacks to the Triangle Mastercard?

Those who shop regularly at Canadian Tire, Sport Chek, Mark’s and other partners can build points balances pretty rapidly, especially when they combine their credit card earn rates with bonus point offers through the Triangle Rewards program. However, the earn rate at non-partner businesses is quite low: just 0.8% for Triangle Mastercard holders. Keep in mind, too, that you can only redeem CT Money at Canadian Tire, Sport Check, and participating Mark’s, L’Équipeur and Atmosphere locations. So if you don’t frequent Canadian Tire and its partners, the rewards of either card may not be exciting enough to warrant signing up.

More about credit cards in Canada:

• The best credit cards in Canada
• The best no foreign transaction fee credit cards
• The best Air Miles credit cards
• The best travel credit cards in Canada

About Keph Senett

Whether she's exploring how to purchase a first home, pursue estate planning or identify the best credit card, Keph Senett writes about personal finance through a community-building lens. She acknowledges the role of financial health in empowering marginalized people and seeks to make clear and actionable knowledge available to everyone.