Canadian Tire Credit Card: We break down the Triangle Rewards Program and Triangle Mastercard

The company itself has also evolved, expanding its family of businesses to include unisex apparel chain Mark’s Work Wearhouse (Mark’s), as well as the sporting goods chains SportChek and Atmosphere, among others. Not surprising, then, that in 2019 Canadian Tire topped a list of Canada’s most admired companies, as determined by a survey of 2,100 Canucks.

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 Canadian Tire Money.

This card puts 4% in CTM back in your pocket on spends at Canadian Tire and partner stores. Purchases made anywhere else earn 0.8% back, and gas is rewarded at $0.05 per litre at Gas+ and participating Husky gas stations. Cardholders receive personalized offers tailored to their interests.

• Annual fee: $0
• Rewards at partner locations: 4% in Canadian Tire Money on purchases at Canadian Tire and partner stores and $0.05 back at Gas+ and participating Husky stations
• 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
• Income requirement: None
• Additional benefits: Personalized offers and exclusive bonuses; member-only events; extended warranty
• Purchase interest rate: 19.99%

Click here for more details about the Triangle Mastercard.*

Earning Canadian Tire Money

Where can you redeem Canadian Tire Money?

All About Canadian Tire’s Triangle Rewards Program

Participating locations of these stores are partnered with Canadian Tire in their new Triangle Rewards Program, the company’s loyalty structure. For consumers, this is good news. Canadian Tire has loads of experience with customer rewards—they’re the inventors of Canadian Tire Money (CTM), 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 CTM to use in lieu of cash on a future visit. (We’re guessing you have a roll of brightly coloured Canadian Tire bills in your glove box at this very moment.) Shoppers who like to collect the coupons can still claim paper Canadian Tire Money today. 

In addition, through the Triangle Program, collectors can accumulate CTM digitally at Canadian Tire stores, at participating partner stores and online. The 2018 introduction of the Program digitized the CTM concept, allowing Triangle Program members to collect CTM 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 CTM 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. 

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 CTM 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 Canadian Tire Money on the payments.

If your goal is to collect as much CTM 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 CTM (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 CTM 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, SportChek, 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 CTM at Canadian Tire, SportCheck, 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.

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