The Best Credit Card Welcome Bonuses in Canada for 2024

Most credit card issuers will let you apply for a card online, and you'll usually know whether or not you're approved within minutes. Here are the basic steps for applying for a credit card in Canada:

1. Have a thorough read of the card’s details to ensure it suits your needs and that you meet the eligibility requirements.

2. Fill out the application form. You'll typically be asked for details such as your full name, date of birth, employment details, home address and Social Insurance Number.

3. Review your application carefully to make sure all the information you've provided is accurate.

4. Submit your application to the card issuer.

Credit card interest is the cost of borrowing money from the credit card issuer. In Canada, credit card interest rates are typically expressed as an annual percentage rate (APR), representing the total cost of borrowing over a year.

Credit card issuers give a grace period to pay for your previous month’s purchases without interest. The grace period begins on the last day of your billing period. However, this grace period doesn’t apply to cash advances or balance transfers. On those transaction types, you'll start accruing interest right away.

If you don't pay off your balance in full before the end of the interest-free grace period, you'll start accruing interest.

Find out more about how credit card interest works in Canada on our blog.

While the average Canadian has between 1-2 credit cards, there’s no hard and fast rule for how many credit cards a person should have, and there are pros and cons to having several cards.

As long as you manage your credit cards responsibly and make your payments on time, there’s nothing wrong with having multiple credit cards. In fact, if you use credit strategically, holding multiple cards can help you capitalize on rewards programs, improve your credit to debt ratio, and offer a safety net for emergency purchases.

However, if you’re not thoughtful about which credit cards you apply for or how you use them, you may wind up paying excessive annual fees, and you could even harm your credit score if you don’t manage your accounts well.

Ultimately, it’s up to you to determine how many cards you can reasonably manage based on your income, spending habits, and goals.

Your credit score directly impacts the types of credit cards you can qualify for. Higher credit scores often mean better credit card perks, higher credit limits, and a greater selection of credit card lenders to choose from.

Generally, consumers with credit scores below 660 may find it harder to qualify for premium cards and may only qualify for a limited selection of general credit cards with lower credit limits. Consumers with credit scores higher than 660 are typically eligible for credit cards with increased limits and additional perks, such as travel points or high cashback rates.

Applying for a new credit card can affect your credit score. This is because a hard credit inquiry is usually required when you apply for a credit card. A hard credit inquiry is when a potential lender checks your credit report to help them decide whether to approve your application for a credit product. Any time a hard inquiry is performed, it can potentially lower your credit score by a few points. For this reason, it's a good idea not to apply for too many credit products at once.

That being said, if you manage your credit well by making your payments on time and keeping your credit utilization below 30%, your credit will likely recover quickly and even improve further over time.

Credit card churning is the process of opening cards purely to take advantage of the welcome bonus or other perks. Often, it involves closing the card after the bonus period and before the next annual fee is charged.

Credit card churning can have a negative effect on your credit score depending on how many credit cards you're applying for over what period of time. This is for a number of reasons. Firstly, whenever you apply for a credit product, the issuer will run a hard inquiry on your credit report, which can have a small negative effect. If you're applying for multiple credit cards at once, this negative effect can add up.

Secondly, credit card churning typically involves closing credit cards at the end of the bonus period, and closing credit cards can affect your credit score negatively as it "wipes out" the good credit you build up with that card, like the credit history and payment history. It will also increase your credit utilization by reducing the amount of credit you have available, which in turn increases the proportion on credit that you're using.