If you live in Canada, it’s likely you’ve noticed your grocery bill is still uncomfortably high. The latest Consumer Price Index numbers show that the price of food is finally rising at a slower pace: at 1.9% year-over-year grocery prices increased at a slower rate than headline inflation for the second month in a row since October 2021.
And while there’s little you can do about the conditions affecting grocery prices, you can put a little of your hard-earned money back in your pocket by shopping strategically—and with the right grocery store credit card.
We’ve crunched the numbers and rounded up the best grocery store credit cards in Canada that can give you hundreds of dollars worth of points or cold hard cash when you spend on groceries. Add to that, some cards come with no annual fee and offer valuable perks like travel insurance and (the much rarer) mobile device insurance.
Here are the cards that made the cut when it comes to saving the most money at the grocery store, so you can still have your favourite cereal or the fanciest cheese.
When determining a rating for individual credit cards, the Forbes Advisor Canada editorial team factors in an exhaustive list of data points. With grocery, the scoring model used takes into account factors such as, but not limited to, annual reward earnings, fees, welcome bonuses and other rewards and features. Keep in mind, what may be best for some people might not be right for you. Conduct informed research before deciding which cards will best help you achieve your financial goals.
Rewards: Earn 5 Membership Rewards per dollar spent on groceries (up to $30,000 annually), 3 Membership Rewards points per dollar spent on eligible streaming subscriptions in Canada, 2 Membership Rewards points per dollar spent on rideshares, transit and gas in Canada 1 Membership Rewards point per dollar spent on all other eligible purchases and 1 additional Membership Rewards point for every dollar spent on eligible hotel or car rental bookings made with American Express Travel.
Welcome Offer: In your first year as a new Cobalt Cardmember, you can earn 1,250 Membership Rewards® points for each monthly billing period in which you spend $750 in net purchases on your Card. This could add up to 15,000 points in a year. That’s up to $150 towards a weekend getaway or concert tickets
Other Benefits and Drawbacks: This card offers a stellar earn rate on grocery spending and impressive benefits like thorough travel insurance coverage. That said, it does have a high annual fee. Amex is not accepted everywhere and there is a tier of credit cards out there with an even higher welcome bonus.
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Earn BMO points on your essential spending and a whopping 5 points per dollar on groceries.
Rewards: 5 points per dollar on groceries, gas, transportation and dining. 1 point per dollar on everything else.
Welcome Offer: Get up to 60,000 points (a $402 value) in your first year.
Annual Fee: $120
Other Benefits and Drawbacks: This card offers the potential to earn a ton of points on groceries and gas (with some travel insurance coverage) but points are not as flexible as cash back and though standard, the annual fee is still pretty steep.
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The CIBC Dividend Visa Infinite earns fuss-free cash back at an impressive rate on both groceries and gas spending.
Rewards: Earn 4% cash back on groceries and gas, 2% on dining, transportation and recurring bill payments, and 1% on everything else.
Welcome Offer: Earn 10% cash back when you spend $2,000 in the first four months (up to $200).
Annual Fee: $120
Other Benefits and Drawbacks: You’ll also save $0.10 per litre at select gas stations when you link your Journie Rewards. You’ll also get travel insurance coverage and mobile device insurance. However, this card has an annual fee, a fairly high income requirement and Visa still isn’t accepted at Costco or Loblaws stores.
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Earn Scene+ points on all essential spending.
Rewards: 6 points per dollar on groceries at select grocery stores, 5 points per dollar at grocery stores, restaurants, bars and food delivery. Plus, 3 points per dollar on gas and transit, 3 points per dollar on streaming services and 1 point per dollar everywhere else.
Welcome Offer: 40,000 Scene+ points in the first year ($400 value).
Annual Fee: $120
Other Benefits and Drawbacks: This card offers flexible cash back on all your essential spending. However, it falls short when it comes to the annual fee, spending caps and its less than stellar travel insurance.
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The BMO CashBack World Elite earns flexible cash back on all your essential spending—and a very high rate on grocery spends.
Rewards: 5% back on groceries, 4% on transit, 3% on gas, 2% on recurring bills and 1% on all other purchases.
Welcome Offer: Up to 10% cash back in your first three months on $2,600 in purchases, a $260 value. Must apply before May 31, 2024.
Annual Fee: $120
Other Benefits and Drawbacks: While this card offers solid earnings, plus perks like purchase security, there’s a cap of $5,000 per year on the groceries and gas earn rate.
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Earn Aeroplan points on your grocery spending.
Rewards: 1.5 Aeroplan points per dollar spent on groceries, gas, and Air Canada vacations. 1 point per dollar on everything else.
Welcome Offer: Get a total of up to 20,000 Aeroplan points (up to $400 in travel value) and an Air Canada Buddy Pass, entiling your travel companion to a $0 base fare on any flight.
Annual Fee: $139
Other Benefits and Drawbacks: While the Aeroplan points are earned at a good rate and this card comes with decent travel insurance, the points are not the most flexible. Plus, there’s a moderately high annual fee.
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Earn Aventura points on groceries and other essentials.
Rewards: Earn 1.5 Aventura points per dollar at gas stations, grocery stores and drug stores. Earn 2 points per dollar on travel purchased through the CIBC Rewards Centre. Earn 1 point per dollar on everything else.
Welcome Offer: 35,000 Aventura Points ( up to $800 in travel) during your first year, when you make your first purchase (20,000 points) and when you spend $1,000 or more each monthly statement during the first year (15,000 points).
Annual Fee: $139
Other Benefits and Drawbacks: This card earns Aventura points, comes with decent travel insurance, a Nexus credit and lounge access. However, the points are not the most flexible and there’s a moderately high annual fee.
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The Scotia Momentum Visa Infinite earns cash back while getting good travel insurance coverage.
Rewards: 4% cash back on groceries, recurring bills and subscriptions. You’ll also get 2% back on gas and transit and 1% back on everything else.
Welcome Offer: 0% cash back in the first 3 months on your first $2,000 in total purchases ($200 value).
Annual Fee: $120
Other Benefits and Drawbacks: This card offers a high earn rate, comprehensive travel insurance, mobile device insurance and discounts on rental cars. The annual fee, strict cash back redemption rules and moderate income requirement hold it back.
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This card earns on groceries and offers a few extra perks.
Rewards: 3% cash back on groceries and gas, 2% on dining, transportation and recurring bills and1% on all other purchases.
Welcome Offer: 10% cash back if you make net purchases totaling $2,000 in the first four months.
Annual Fee: $99
Other Benefits and Drawbacks: While this card offers decent cash back, it is does not compare favorably as far as other perks go, with the exception of some travel insurance coverage. Plus, it still has an annual fee.
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A card that earns on all spending and offers some travel perks.
Rewards: 2 Membership Rewards points per $1 on all spending and 5 points per dollar on spending at Marriott Bonvoy.
Welcome Offer: Up to 50,000 Membership Rewards points, when you charge $1,500 the first three months of card membership.
Annual Fee: $120
Other Benefits and Drawbacks: This card comes in last because, while it offers good earnings and some travel perks like insurance, it’s only of really good use to people who stay at the Marriott hotel chain.
Data research and analysis provided by Debra Toews.
You should choose a grocery credit card based on how quickly you can earn free groceries and the minimum requirements necessary for redeeming your points towards free groceries. For example, if you get 5 points per dollar spent on groceries, this is a high earn rate and can help you earn points quickly the more money you spend on groceries. Earning more points faster means you will achieve the number of points necessary to redeem your desired reward quicker, whether that be free groceries, free flights, free hotel stays, free merchandise or free gift cards.
As for the minimum requirements for redemption, with a PC Optimum Mastercard, you must have spent at least $20 on groceries before you can redeem since 20,000 points is equal to $20 off in groceries. You can then redeem in increments of 10,000 points ( a$10 value) thereafter. This redemption minimum isn’t that bad. However, if you can start to redeem your points regardless of how many points you have in your account or how much you have spent, that is so much better.
Lastly, you should choose a grocery credit card based on where you buy your groceries most often. For example, you should not choose a Scotiabank Scene+ Card for your grocery spending if you’re more inclined to shop at Loblaws stores. This is because Scotiabank’s grocery partner for Scene+ is Sobeys and if you never shop at Sobeys, what’s the point of collecting points you can only redeem for free groceries there? As a frequent Loblaws customer, you’d be better suited to acquire a PC Optimum Mastercard so you can get free groceries where you actually shop.
You should apply for a grocery credit card if you either want cash back on groceries, if you want to redeem points toward free groceries or if spending money on groceries with that particular credit card will give you a high earn rate for points towards other rewards.
If you find yourself spending a lot of money on groceries with your current credit card, it’s time to turn that spending to your advantage and get rewarded either with cash back or points. You may get free groceries or you may be able to use that grocery spending to rack up tons of points toward travel, merchandise, gift cards, charitable donations, statement credit and more.
Buying groceries online with a credit card is easy. All you need is to purchase your groceries through any of the online options available whether that be PC Express for Loblaws stores, Grocery Gateway by Longos or mobile options like Instacart, Uber and DoorDash.
Whether on a computer or on your phone, you can visit the corresponding website, search for the grocery item you’re looking for, add it to your cart and, when you have all your items, checkout. All you need to do is add your preferred credit card to your online account, at whatever online grocery service you are using, and you’ve just bought groceries online using a credit card.
Oh, but how will you get your groceries? You either pick them up curbside from your car when they are bagged and ready (you’ll get a call telling you exactly that) with services like PC Express or someone will shop for you and deliver your items directly to your door like with Uber, Instacart or DoorDash.
Related: Best Credit Cards in Canada
Buying groceries with a credit card does build credit in the same way that buying anything with a credit card builds credit. If you want to improve your credit score, it doesn’t matter what you are buying as long as you pay your credit card bill in full and on time.
If you happen to carry a balance, pay it down and make your payments by your statement deadline and you’ll be okay, as long as you have more available credit across all of your credit cards and loans than you are currently using. All you need to do is keep the cycle going by making your payments on time and decreasing your balance gradually. The further away the credit you’ve used is from your credit limit, the better your credit score will be and that’s across all the credit products you currently hold.
As long as you use your credit card — or other credit products — responsibly, buying groceries (buying anything) with a credit card will build your credit.
You can save on groceries by paying attention to sales through the weekly circular or flyer at your local grocery store, you can clip coupons or you can buy items that are close to their best before date and you could “eat it tonight” at 50% off.
However, the easiest way to save on groceries is to buy them with a credit card because you can save either with cash back or through rewards points you can redeem for free groceries. Cash back will give you a percentage of money back on every purchase, so find a credit card with a high cash back rate on groceries and you will potentially be saving much more on groceries than other purchases, even if other purchase categories on the same card also offer high earn rates.
If you apply and get accepted for a card card like the PC Optimum, you can use the points you collect by buying groceries to get money off your grocery bill. In the case of PC Optimum, you’ll get $10 off for every 10,000 points you redeem and the most basic PC Optimum Mastercard offers 10 PC Optimum points per dollar spent at Loblaws-owned grocery store and 25 points for every dollar spent at Shoppers Drug Mart.
Scotiabank offers free groceries when you shop at Sobeys or Sobeys-owned stores through the Scene+ program. You can redeem $10 off groceries at Sobeys or any Sobeys-owned store, including Needs convenience stores when you redeem 1,000 Scene+ points.
In Canada, Costco only accepts Mastercard. So, by default, you won’t earn grocery-specific points at Costco if you have a Visa or Amex, since they won’t be accepted there. However, most Mastercards don’t categorize Costco as grocery either. If you want to earn cash back at Costco, getting a Costco specific credit card, like the CIBC Costco Mastercard, could be your best bet. But be warned, that card only earns 1% at Costco in-store, which is the base rate for many other Mastercards anyway.
If you want to earn cash back or points on groceries at Walmart, Mastercard is likely your best bet since they have been known to categorize Walmart as grocery. However, always check with your credit card provider first to make sure you’re getting the most out of your spending.
While the chain used to only accept Mastercard, No Frills stores now accept both Mastercard and Visa. However, they still don’t take Amex.
The “best” credit card depends on your goals, that is, whether you’re interested in cash back or points that can be redeemed for rewards. For example, based on our research the American Express Cobalt card has an impressive earnings rate for Membership Rewards points, but if you’re interested in a straight cash back card, then the BMO Cash Back World Elite is the best card.
While not part of this ranking, the BMO Air Miles World Elite Mastercard offers the best earn rate on groceries: 2 Miles for every $12 spent on groceries, up to $500 per month.
According to the company, over 90,000 stores, restaurants and service providers in Canada started accepting American Express in 2019 alone. This includes the following grocery stores: Sobeys, Farm Boy, Metro, Foodland, Longos, Safeway , Pusateri’s, Walmart Grocery and Country Grocer. Two big retailers, Loblaws and Costco, do not accept Amex.
If you use your credit card responsibly, that is pay it off in full each month and before the due date, then using it to buy groceries is a great way to build credit and earn rewards. However, if you rack up your credit card and then carry a balance, the interest charges can eat away at any potential savings from rewards.
The best credit card for overall cash back and back back on gas is the CIBC Dividend Visa Infinite Card, while the BMO CashBack World Elite Mastercard is the best cash back credit card for groceries, according to our Best Cash Back Credit Cards In Canada ranking.
