2022 was a big year for credit cards in Canada. Banks bounced back strong from the COVID inflicted years and offered some of the strongest bonuses and perks we’ve seen before. In this article we’ve broken down some of the best cards within each category, and some unfortunate losers that did not live up to the hype.

Biggest Surprise

Let’s start strong with the most surprising card of the year, to us this was a pretty easy choice. The RBC Avion card offered an exceptional bonus this year, with the potential to earn 55,000 Avion points after spending $5,000 in six months. These points can be utilized to book a round-trip flight to Hawaii through the RBC Travel Portal, or to travel almost anywhere in the world by transferring them to British Airways Avios. With an annual fee of $120, this card can provide at least $1,000 worth of free travel.

The only real difference between the RBC Avion Visa Platinum and the Visa Infinite is that the latter offers a multiplier of 1.25X on travel purchases. However, to qualify for the Visa Infinite, you will need to have an annual income of at least $80,000. If you meet that requirement, we would recommend going for the Visa Infinite, otherwise the Visa Platinum still offers a great value.

Best New Card

This year, due to the economic slowdown, there have been fewer new credit cards introduced to the market compared to previous years. Despite this, the RBC Ion+ emerged as a strong contender in the mid-range card category, even challenging some of the more established players. With a relatively low annual fee of $48 and a generous 3X earn rate on a wide range of categories, it presents a great value for those who don’t want to move into the higher annual fee bracket that the Amex Cobalt belongs to.

Unfortunately, the RBC Ion+ card only offers a 12,000 Avion point bonus, which can’t be used with the RBC Fixed Travel chart. Luckily, you can transfer points freely between the Ion and Avion Visa cards to take advantage of the chart or transfer to travel partners such as British Airways Avios. For more information, you can check our in-depth review of the Ion and Ion+ Visa cards.

Best Overall Card in Canada

Selecting the best card in the market was not an easy task, but after careful consideration, we have chosen the American Express Cobalt Card.

This card has long been considered the best in Canada and for good reason. While the welcome bonus of 30,000 Membership Rewards points, worth around $600 for travel, is impressive, it’s not the primary reason why this card is so great. The real draw is its earning structure, with a 5X multiplier on dining, grocery, and food delivery, 3X on subscription services, 2X on travel, and a 1X base earn rate on all other purchases. This translates to a return of around 10%, 6%, 4%, and 2% respectively when redeemed for travel, making it an excellent way to rack up a substantial number of points over the course of the year, which can be used for a round-trip flight for two anywhere in the world. And all this comes at a cost of only $156 per year, which is an incredible value for what you are getting.

Furthermore, the cardholder also have access to a range of insurance policies, from travel insurance to mobile device coverage, in addition to Amex Offers and Front-Of-Line access to concerts and sports events through Amex Experiences, This makes Amex Cobalt a clear winner as one of the best credit cards in Canada.

Best Travel Card

If you’ve read some of our previous articles, you’d have probably seen this coming, but the American Express Platinum is my pick for the best travel card in Canada, thanks to its features such as unlimited lounge access, transfer partners, and a generous sign-up bonus.

While that isn’t standard, you’d probably expect it for $700 a year; what sets it apart is the comprehensive travel insurance it offers. In today’s environment, such insurance has become almost a necessity, as demonstrated by a personal experience of missed flight and subsequent expenses last summer. The coverage of the card included reimbursement for transportation, essential clothing, toiletries, food, and lodging not only at the destination but also during the unexpected layover. The total reimbursement in that particular case was over $1,000. While nothing can replace the lost vacation days, this coverage provides significant peace of mind that unexpected events would not result in substantial financial loss.

Best Cash Back Card

The most simple type of card you can get is a cash back card, consequently, they are the most common card used and provided by issuers. On top of that, they are all nearly identical in their value. After sifting through subtle differences, one noteworthy cash back card in 2022 is the CIBC Dividend Visa Infinite.

While on the surface it looks like any other cash back card with a little bonus offer, it actually gives users decently high earn rates in high spend categories. Both groceries and gas earn 4% cash back. 2% on transportation, dining, and recurring payments, and 1% on everything else.

If you’re looking for a solid cash back card to start off the new year on the right foot, this is certainly a viable option. It is important to note the $120 annual which is waived in the first year.

Best Starter Card

While for students, our recommendation is to stick with your bank and pick up their no-fee cash back card, BMO stands out as the best option. The BMO Cash Back Mastercard for students offers simple cash back. Where it stands out among it’s no-fee peers is its elevated earn rates. Again, we see the grocery category boosted to 3% which is perfect for students who incur these expenses. It also offers 1% back on streaming services and subscriptions (another common expense for students), and 0.5% back on all other purchases (typical for student cash back cards).

Our recommendation remains that your first card should be your banks no-fee cash back card, but if you bank with BMO you’re in luck! Be sure to check out our video about applying for your first credit card where we take you through step by step.

Biggest Bust

We’ll start off on a disappointing note. To our regular readers, you’ll no doubt be shocked to know that we were quite disappointed with the Brim KLM/AF World Elite Mastercard. We wrote a full article on this card and you can check it out here.

To summarize, it carries a high annual fee, a weak annual bonus, and generic earn rates. Not to mention, with a collaboration like this, the perks (especially travel) are truly disappointing. This was a weak attempt to enter the Canadian market, and it didn’t work well. A card with so much potential for heavy travelers truly flopped.

Those are the top cards from 2022, and we can’t wait to see what will come this year! Let us know if we missed any cards!