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Published Sep 13, 2025 8:53 PM UTC • 9 min read
Data-driven rankings of 120+ credit cards using a proprietary algorithm
Comprehensive analysis using 25+ data points including terms and conditions, points programs, and more
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FinlyWealth's credit cards content, including rankings and recommendations, is overseen by a team of engineers and writers who specialize in credit cards, banking, and personal finance. Our work has been featured in The Globe and Mail, GoBankingRates, and AOL. Our proprietary analysis systems evaluate product features, terms, and conditions to deliver comprehensive reviews and comparisons while maintaining strict editorial standards for accuracy and integrity.
I think I speak for all of us when I say credit cards have evolved from an optional accessory to an essential tool. If used correctly, they can save you a ton of money each year.
Among the big three—Visa, American Express, and MasterCard—MasterCard is the one more widely accepted in Canada. In this post, we will look at the best no-annual-fee Mastercard credit cards in Canada and also discuss a few reasons you should choose this credit card network instead of American Express and Visa.
At the end of this post, you will have a clear picture of the best credit card choice for you, so let's get right into it!
The Rogers Mastercard is not only one of the best no-fee credit cards in Canada, but it is also one of the best cards among all the other credit cards, both paid and free!
Welcome Bonus
Up to $60 cash back ($90 if redeemed for Rogers, Fido or Shaw purchases) until Sept 16, 2025^
Rewards Rate
1% - 3%
Cash Back
Annual Fee
$0
Interest Rates
20.99% - 25.99%* / 22.99% - 27.99%*
This card is one of our top-ranked options in terms of rewards, especially if you are a Rogers, Fido, or Shaw customer. With those services, you can effectively get a 3% cashback rate, which is a higher rate than almost any other card offers, even those with annual fees! If you have a high income of $80K or a household income of $150K, you can apply for the World Elite version of this card, which comes with additional insurance and benefits like a lounge pass.
Pros
Cons
Rewards
Benefits
Details
No Cost roaming
Eligibility
Credit Score
Annual Income
The only catch for this card is that the rewards you earn on this card depend on whether you have a qualifying Rogers, Fido or Shaw service.
If you don't have a qualifying service, then the reward rate is 1% for overall purchases. But if you do, then you can earn 2% on all your everyday purchases and redeem them with a 1.5x redemption bonus equal to a 3% cashback value! That's almost double the cashback value of the other cards we are going to discuss below!
Because of this simple fact, the Rogers Mastercard makes it to the top spots of many different reward categories, such as the best card for recurring bill payments and subscription purchases, etc.
If you decide not to use the Rogers credit card, then the MBNA Reward Platinum Plus Mastercard is one of the other good choices. This card provides 2 points on restaurant, grocery, digital media, membership, and household utility purchases (Up to 20000 points yearly, 1 point after) and 1 point on all other eligible purchases.
on MBNA's website
Welcome Bonus
Up to 10,000 bonus points†† + 4x points on restaurant, grocery, digital media, membership and household utility purchases††
Rewards Rate
1x - 4x Points
Points
Annual Fee
$0
Interest Rates
19.99%* / 24.99%*
The MBNA Rewards Platinum Plus MasterCard is a solid no-annual-fee card choice with high returns on restaurant and grocery purchases, which are the most common spending categories for most people. Additionally, it offers one of the highest signup bonuses for a no-annual-fee card. However, there are two main considerations before choosing this card. If you are open to a card with an annual fee, many other cards offer better rewards. Furthermore, the points earned need to be used for travel to fully benefit from this card; otherwise, if you are not planning to use the points for travel, you are better off with a cashback or another type of card.
Pros
Cons
Rewards
Insurance
Coverage
Mobile Device Insurance
Purchase Protection
Extended Warranty
Benefits
Details
Annual Birthday Bonus
Car Rental Discount
Eligibility
Credit Score
Annual Income
What gives this card an edge over the other credit cards is its annual birthday bonus points, which earns 10% of the points earned the last 12 months prior to the cardholder's birthday month. This allows this card to get ahead of the others based on their reward rate.
Because this card earns you MBNA - Platinum rewards points, what you decide to redeem your points for is very important. You will get the best value for your points if you redeem your points for travel, gift cards and merchandise at almost $0.01 value per point, but not a very good redemption rate if you go for statement credit. So if you plan to redeem the points for cash, you will be better off with another card.
This card also has one of the best welcome bonuses among the no-fee Mastercard credit cards, with up to 20K point signup bonus, valued at $200 if redeemed for the correct redemption categories. Also, this credit card has $1000 mobile device insurance in addition to normal Purchase protection and Extended warranty insurance, which is a bonus.
If you are a Costco member, then you are eligible to apply for the Costco Mastercard. One common misconception about this card is that it's only great for Costco purchases and not any other purchases.
But it's actually the other way around!
on CIBC's website
Welcome Bonus
N/A
Rewards Rate
1% - 3%
Cash Back
Annual Fee
$0
Interest Rates
20.75% / 22.49%
The CIBC Costco Mastercard offers one of the highest cashback rates on restaurant purchases in Canada, making it an excellent choice for optimizing rewards in this specific category, especially since it has no annual fees. If you use Costco Gas or shop on Costco Online, there is a decent cashback rate as well. However, for other categories, the cashback rate is average. Notably, you will be better off using other credit cards for warehouse Costco purchases, as you will only earn 1% cashback. If you are looking for no annual fee credit cards only, this is a good card to go for.
Pros
Cons
Rewards
Insurance
Coverage
Mobile Device Insurance
Purchase Protection
Extended Warranty
Eligibility
Credit Score
Annual Income
The Costco Mastercard earns 2% on Costco purchases only if they are made from their site, Costco.ca! So, when you purchase something in-store from Costco, you don't earn anything extra compared to other eligible purchases you do!
This card is great because it earns 3% on restaurant purchases, which is the main reason you might decide to get it. My biggest monthly expense, besides rent and my car, is the cost of going to restaurants, so if you are similar to me, it's worth optimizing for this category.
The big downside of this card is that it doesn't offer the best cashback in other categories. With a base cashback rate of 1% on most purchases, this card is not for you if you don't go to restaurants that much! It also has the basic Extended Warranty, purchase protection, and mobile insurance.
One of the main issues of no fee credit cards is that they don't come with many different benefits and insurance (especially travel insurance). This is something solved by Neo Financial. They offer the Neo Credit Card, which has the unique capability of perks that can be bought for a month for a very low fee and then cancelled when they are no longer needed.
on Neo Financial's website
Welcome Bonus
N/A
Rewards Rate
1% - 4%
Cash Back
Annual Fee
$0
Interest Rates
19.99% - 29.99%□ / 22.99% - 31.99%□
The Neo Credit Card is special because it earns rewards based on whether the merchant is a partner or not. Most of the time, the cashback earned at these partners is the highest possible compared to all other credit cards. However, we don't recommend using this card as your main credit card and suggest using it only at partner merchants. This is because the rewards at non-partner merchants are very small, and most merchants are not partnered with Neo.
Pros
Cons
Rewards
Insurance
Coverage
Balance Protection
Benefits
Details
Neo Premium ($4.99/month)
Neo Travel Benefits ($4.99/month)
Neo Food Cashback boost ($1.99/month)
Neo Mind and Body Perks ($9.99/month)
Eligibility
Credit Score
Annual Income
In summary, you have the option to buy perks that increase your cashback rate on certain spending categories, the option to buy travel perks for $4.99/month that gives access to Priority pass for lounge access, delay insurance, emergency medical, trip cancellation and car rental protection insurance and more.
They also have Mind and body perks that give access to free classes at some partners like Oxygen Yoga and Fitness, FinOn Pro, and Headspace Plus. In addition, there is a Mobile & Personal Protection insurance that gives you access to Damage and theft protection for your mobile, $1 million dollar coverage for fraud and identity theft, and a password management tool.
Roadside assistance is one of the unique benefits that not many credit cards offer and it is useful when you get stranded on the road. Given it's a very expensive benefit to offer on a credit card, there aren't that many cards, even paid ones, that offer it.
However, the Triangle World Elite Mastercard is the only free card in Canada that offers this benefit.
The big catch is that it's hard to qualify for because it requires an excellent credit score and a Personal income of $80K/year or a household income of $150K/year.
on Canadian Tire's website
Welcome Bonus
N/A
Rewards Rate
1x - 4x CanadianTire Dollars
Points
Annual Fee
$0
Interest Rates
21.99% / 22.99%
This card is the only one with no annual fee that provides a roadside assistance benefit, which can be a lifesaver for people who travel on the road a lot. The main reason to apply for this card is to have free access to this benefit, given that the rewards are not great in most categories (except for Canadian Tire and grocery purchases).
Pros
Cons
Rewards
Insurance
Coverage
Purchase Protection
Car Rental Damage & Theft
Benefits
Details
Gas Discount
Concierge Services
Roadside Assistance
Eligibility
Credit Score
Annual Income
If you make some purchases in stores that the Triangle reward program is part of, such as Canadian Tire, Sport Chek, Mark's, etc, then you can earn 3%-4% in Canadian Dollar rewards. If you don't, then the base reward rate is 1%, which is also pretty good. However, if you are only maximizing rewards and don't care as much about the roadside assistance benefit, then the previously mentioned cards are probably a better fit for you.
If you are a person who frequently buys from Loblaw's affiliate stores, then the PC World Elite Mastercard is a good card to consider.
on PC Financial's website
Welcome Bonus
20,000 PC points ($20 value)
Rewards Rate
10x - 45x Optimum Points
Points
Annual Fee
$0
Interest Rates
21.99% / 22.97%
This is a great card to have in your arsenal if you frequently shop at Shoppers Drug Mart®, Loblaw's owned chains, and ESSO and Mobil gas stations, as you will earn significant rewards in these categories. The additional benefits, such as out-of-province medical insurance, car rental damage insurance, and concierge service, are impressive and typically only come with cards that have annual fees; however, you can access these benefits for free with this card. We do not recommend using this as your primary credit card but as a supplement to another primary card, especially because there are no fees. This is because the rewards on purchases outside the mentioned shops are very average, and many other cards offer much more substantial rewards for general use.
Pros
Cons
Rewards
Insurance
Coverage
Emergency Medical Term
Car Rental Damage & Theft
Purchase Protection
Extended Warranty
Benefits
Details
Concierge Services
Identity Theft Assistance
Eligibility
Credit Score
Annual Income
With this card, you can earn 45 points with an effective cash back value of %4.5 on Shoppers Drugmart purchases and 30 points on grocery purchases, which has a 3% effective cash back value in places such as the Atlantic Superstore, Extra Foods, Fortinos, Loblaws, Maxi, etc. and 1.9% on participating gas stations, which are ESSO and Mobil gas purchases. The base cashback rate on this card is 1% for all other eligible purchases.
You would mainly want to use this card for the categories that earn extra points and use other cards for all other eligible purchases.
on Tangerine's website
Welcome Bonus
10% Cash Back (up to $100 value) + 1.95% balance transfer promo rate for 6 months
Rewards Rate
0.5% - 2%
Cash Back
Annual Fee
$0
Interest Rates
20.95%* / 22.95%*
While we think Tangerine isn't the best single credit card to own, it's still a valuable card to have in your arsenal for maximizing your rewards. It offers one of the highest cashback rates for pharmacy and recurring bill payments, areas where your other credit cards might not provide significant rewards. This card only requires a Fair credit score, making it an excellent choice for people who don't have a high credit score yet.
Pros
Cons
Rewards
Insurance
Coverage
Purchase Protection
Extended Warranty
Eligibility
Credit Score
Annual Income
The Tangerine Money back credit card is special in the sense that it allows you to select from ten different categories—like Furniture, Home Improvements, and Drug Stores—where you can earn an enhanced 2% cashback, making it a unique offer in the realm of no fee credit cards. You can choose two categories (or three with a Tangerine Savings Account). In the other categories, you will earn 0.5%.
Even though this card does not have the highest cashback rates, it can be used to earn cashback on categories that pretty much no other credit card covers which are Furniture and Home Improvement purchases, so if you have huge purchases coming this card can be considered. (But still if you have the option to go for the Rogers Mastercard, a 3% return on all purchases beats this card).
MasterCard's growing popularity among Canadians can be attributed to two key factors:
Every credit card has its own unique rewards and benefits, so there is no single card that is best at everything. Depending on your situation, you want to choose the no-fee credit card that works best for you based on your spending habits and benefit needs.
If you are looking for rewards, specifically the Rogers Master and MBNA cards are one of the most solid choices for a No annual fee Mastercard but if you are also looking to get some benefits as well the Neo card and Rogers World Elite are also great cards to consider.
About the author
Abid Salahi
Credit Card Expert
Abid leads the design and engineering of the FinlyWealth website, making sure everything runs smoothly and looks great. He’s a seasoned software engineer who follows best practices and designs interfa...
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Kevin Shahnazari
Credit Card Expert
Kevin started FinlyWealth and juggles a bit of everything—digging into data, running our marketing, and keeping the finances on track. Before this, he spent years as a data scientist at tech companies...
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