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Credit Cards

Nine cards.
One system.

What is in the wallet, what each one costs, and what it is actually there to do. Every fee and rate checked against the issuer in August 2026.

See The StackBest In Canada

Cody Wise carries nine credit cards in Canada across six issuers: three American Express, two TD, one CIBC, one Tangerine, one MBNA, and an ATB business card. Two of the nine are held by C. Wise Enterprise Corp. rather than personally. The annual fees total 1,308.00 Canadian dollars. Five of the nine cost nothing to hold. The stack is built so each card owns a category rather than competing for the same spend, and one low rate card exists purely so nothing ever carries a balance on a rewards card.

9

Cards Held

Seven personal, two corporate.

1,308.00

In Annual Fees

Canadian dollars, before a single credit is counted back.

5

Cost Nothing

Five of the nine have no annual fee.

6

Issuers

No single bank holds more than three.

How To Read A Card

Four rules that decide whether a card earns its place. They matter more than any headline earn rate.

The Fee Is A Cost, Not A Verdict

A $799 card with $400 of credits you would have spent anyway costs $399. A no fee card you never use costs nothing and earns nothing. Compare after credits, not before.

Never Carry A Balance On A Rewards Card

Twenty one ninety nine against four percent back is not a trade, it is a loss. If something has to sit, it sits on the twelve ninety nine card.

Read The Cap, Not The Headline

Almost every accelerated rate in Canada stops somewhere. CIBC cut the Dividend cap from eighty thousand to fifty in 2025 and the headline number did not change.

One Currency Beats Three

Three Amex cards feeding one Membership Rewards balance is worth more than three separate programs, because a balance you can actually spend is the only balance that counts.

The Stack

Nine cards across six issuers. Seven personal, two held by the corporation.

Personal

Seven cards, each one owning a category instead of competing for the same spend.

American ExpressPlatinumThe Platinum Card

The Platinum Card

$799a year

A charge card, not a credit card, so there is no pre-set spending limit. The fee is the highest here by a distance and the two credits take $400 off it on day one. What is left buys lounge access and hotel status.

Where It Earns

  • 2x on eligible dining and food delivery in Canada
  • 2x on eligible travel
  • 1x on everything else

What It Comes With

  • $200 annual travel credit and a $200 annual dining credit, which covers half the fee before anything else
  • Global Lounge Collection, 1,550 lounges, plus Toronto Pearson Priority Security Lane
  • $100 NEXUS credit every four years, Marriott Bonvoy Gold and Hilton Honors Gold
Foreign transactions Not published outside the account disclosure Supplementary Platinum $250 each. Two supplementary Gold Cards are included. Issuer page
American ExpressGold RewardsAmerican Express Gold Rewards Card

American Express Gold Rewards Card

$250a year

The everyday earner of the three Amex cards. Gas, grocery and drugstore at 2x covers most of a normal month, and the travel credit takes the real cost down to $150.

Where It Earns

  • 2x on eligible travel
  • 2x on gas, grocery and drugstore in Canada
  • 1x on everything else, plus one extra point per dollar on American Express Travel Online

What It Comes With

  • $100 annual travel credit
  • Priority Pass membership plus four Plaza Premium Lounge visits a year
  • $50 NEXUS credit, eleven insurance coverages, metal card
Foreign transactions Not published outside the account disclosure One supplementary card included, each additional card $50. Issuer page
American ExpressGreenAmerican Express Green Card

American Express Green Card

No fee

The one that costs nothing to keep open. It holds the oldest account age in the Amex family and keeps the Membership Rewards balance alive if the other two are ever cancelled. That is the whole job.

Where It Earns

  • 1 Membership Rewards point per dollar on eligible purchases
  • One extra point per dollar on hotel and car bookings through American Express Travel

What It Comes With

  • Buyer’s Assurance, which doubles the manufacturer warranty up to a year
  • Purchase Protection, $1,000 for 90 days
  • Front Of The Line presale access
Foreign transactions Not published outside the account disclosure No income requirement. Issuer page
TDAeroplan Visa InfiniteTD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Card

TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Card

$139a year

The bag fee alone pays the annual fee back on two return flights with a companion. That is the entire case for it, and it is a good one if Air Canada is the default airline.

Where It Earns

  • 1.5 points per dollar on gas, EV charging, groceries and anything bought direct from Air Canada
  • 1.5 points per dollar at participating Hyatt hotels
  • 1 point per dollar on everything else

What It Comes With

  • First checked bag free on Air Canada for you and up to eight companions on the same booking
  • NEXUS application rebate up to $100 every four years
  • Travel medical to $2 million for the first 21 days, mobile device to $1,000
Foreign transactions 2.5% Additional cardholder $75. Issuer page
CIBCDividend Visa InfiniteCIBC Dividend Visa Infinite Card

CIBC Dividend Visa Infinite Card

$120a year

Cash back rather than points, on the two categories that recur every week. Read the cap: the accelerated rates stop at $50,000 of annual spend or $20,000 inside the bonus categories, whichever comes first. CIBC cut both from $80,000 in August 2025.

Where It Earns

  • 4% on gas, EV charging and groceries
  • 2% on transportation, dining, recurring payments and travel booked through CIBC
  • 1% on everything else

What It Comes With

  • Mobile device insurance and purchase security
  • Out of province emergency travel medical and $500,000 common carrier accident
  • Visa Infinite concierge, hotel and dining benefits, free Skip+
Foreign transactions 2.5% First year rebated. Additional cards $50, first year rebated. Issuer page
TangerineMoney-Back WorldTangerine Money-Back World Mastercard

Tangerine Money-Back World Mastercard

No fee

The category filler. Whatever the rest of the stack does not cover at a decent rate, this one covers at 2%, and the categories move every quarter as spending moves.

Where It Earns

  • Unlimited 2% back in two categories you pick, or three if the rewards land in a Tangerine savings account
  • 0.5% on everything else
  • Categories can be changed every 90 days

What It Comes With

  • Mobile device insurance to $1,000
  • Rental car collision and loss damage, purchase assurance and extended warranty
  • Mastercard Travel Pass by DragonPass
Foreign transactions 2.5% Needs $50,000 personal or $80,000 household income. Issuer page
MBNATrue LineMBNA True Line Mastercard

MBNA True Line Mastercard

No fee

The card that exists for the month something has to sit. Twelve ninety nine against the twenty one ninety nine every rewards card charges is the whole point. Carrying a balance on a rewards card costs more than the rewards are worth, every time.

Where It Earns

  • No rewards program. This card is priced on its interest rate, not its earn rate.

What It Comes With

  • 12.99% on purchases, permanently, not a promotional rate
  • 0% on balance transfers for twelve months, with a 3% transfer fee, minimum $3.50
  • MBNA Payment Plan, fixed six, twelve or eighteen month terms on purchases over $100
Foreign transactions Not published outside the account disclosure Cash advances 24.99%. Up to nine authorised users at no charge. Issuer page

Corporate

Held by C. Wise Enterprise Corp. Business spend never touches the personal book.

TDBusiness Select RateTD Business Select Rate Visa Card

TD Business Select Rate Visa Card

No fee

The corporate low rate card. It does the same job for the business that the True Line does personally: if something has to sit, it sits at 11.99% instead of on a rewards card at twenty one ninety nine. Cash advances carry the same rate as purchases, which is unusual and is most of the reason to hold it.

Where It Earns

  • No rewards program. Like the True Line, this card is priced on its interest rate rather than its earn rate.

What It Comes With

  • 11.99% on purchases and on cash advances, not a promotional rate
  • Purchase security and extended warranty, ninety days against theft or damage and up to twelve extra months of warranty
  • Auto rental collision and loss damage for up to forty eight consecutive days
Foreign transactions Not published outside the account disclosure Additional cards $0. A $49 version drops the rate to 8.99%. Issuer page
ATB FinancialMyBusiness RewardsATB MyBusiness Rewards Mastercard

ATB MyBusiness Rewards Mastercard

No fee

The corporate card, in C. Wise Enterprise Corp. rather than a personal name. Business spend stays out of the personal book, which is a bookkeeping decision before it is a rewards one. 19.90% on purchases, 22.90% on cash advances.

Where It Earns

  • 1% cash back on purchases, applied monthly against the card balance or into a deposit account

What It Comes With

  • Purchase assurance and extended warranty
  • Car rental collision damage waiver up to $85,000
  • Up to 25% off Avis and Budget, identity theft assistance
Foreign transactions 2.9% First three supplementary cards free. Issuer page

Best In Canada Right Now

The current category winners, checked against every issuer rather than taken on trust.

Best Overall

American Express Cobalt Card

$15.99 a month

Five points per dollar on eats and drinks in Canada, on the first $2,500 each billing period.

Best Cash Back

MBNA Rewards World Elite Mastercard

$120 a year

Five points per dollar on restaurants, groceries, digital media, memberships and utilities, to $50,000 a year in each.

Best No Annual Fee

Rogers Red World Elite Mastercard

No fee

Three percent back on US dollar spend, two percent on everything else with a Rogers service.

Best Airline

TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Privilege

$599 a year

Unlimited Maple Leaf Lounge access and two points per dollar direct with Air Canada. Needs $150,000 of income.

Best Gas And Transit

CIBC Dividend Visa Infinite

$120 a year

Four percent on gas, EV charging and groceries, two percent on transportation and dining.

Best Low Interest

MBNA True Line Mastercard

No fee

12.99% on purchases, permanently, and 0% on balance transfers for twelve months with a 3% transfer fee.

Best Foreign Exchange

Scotiabank Gold American Express

$120 a year

No foreign transaction fee at all, six points per dollar at Sobeys, Safeway and FreshCo.

Best Student

CIBC Aeroplan Visa for Students

No fee

No minimum income, one point per dollar on gas, groceries and Air Canada.

Best Business

RBC Avion Visa Infinite Business

$175 a year

1.25 Avion points per dollar to $75,000 a year, and access to 1,300 lounges.

Categories and winners as ranked by creditcardGenius, verified against each issuer in August 2026. Ratehub ranks six of these categories differently. Treat it as one publication’s view, not a settled answer.

How A Stack Gets Built

One card cannot win every category, because no issuer in Canada pays a top rate across the board. So the question is never which card is best. It is which card owns groceries, which owns US dollars, which owns flights, and which one exists for the month something has to sit.

Start with the two categories you actually spend the most on and buy the best card for each. Add a no fee card for everything that falls outside them. Add one low rate card and never earn a point on it. That is four cards and it covers most of a life. The rest is optimisation, and optimisation only pays once the base is right.

What Kills The Math

Interest. A card paying four percent back charging twenty one ninety nine on a balance is not a rewards card any more, it is a loan with a marketing budget. Second is unredeemed points, which are a liability the issuer is happy for you to hold forever. Third is a fee you renew out of habit on a card whose credits you never use.

Every fee, earn rate and perk on this page was checked against the issuer’s own Canadian page in August 2026, and each card links to its source. Card terms change without much notice, so verify on the issuer’s page before you apply. This is a record of what one person carries and what the published terms say. It is not financial advice, and nobody here is a licensed advisor.

The Card Is Not The System.
The System Is.

Same principle as everything else here. Set it up once so it runs without you thinking about it.

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