Canada’s best guaranteed investment certificate (GIC) rates and high-interest savings account rates have been largely unchanged over the past week, with the leaders remaining in their spots.
GICs rates in Canada continue to be led by Achieva and WealthOne, offering the best GIC rates across most popular terms. Achieva’s five-year GIC rate of 3.85 per cent is the highest GIC rate available across most popular terms. It is followed by Achieva’s two-year rate of 3.80 per cent.
The three-year GIC rate has the most competition with five independent financial institutions offering the best rate of 3.70 per cent.
Notably, three-year and five-year GIC rates exceed comparable best fixed mortgage rates with a modest spread. The best fixed mortgage rates for three and five years stand at 3.49 per cent and 3.69 per cent, which leads to a gap of 21 basis points and 16 basis points, respectively.
The shorter term GIC rates are lower than the comparable fixed mortgage rates. One and two-year GIC rates stand at 3.65 per cent and 3.80 per cent while the best mortgage rates are at 4.69 per cent and 4.29 per cent, respectively.
Savings account rates remain unchanged from the past week. The Bank of Nova Scotia continues to offer a top promotional rate of 4.65 per cent for three months. The Royal Bank of Canada and the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce follow with a rate of 4.60 per cent for the same term. Once the promotional term ends, savings rates drop by over 400 basis points after the promotional period, providing minimal ongoing returns.
For stronger continuing returns, regular savings accounts may also provide competitive rates. Saven Financial currently leads with 2.85 per cent, followed closely by Oaken Financial at 2.80 per cent.
Canadian fintech companies may also provide competitive savings rates for certain customers. Neo Financial offers 3.0 per cent on accounts with balances of $20,000 or more. KOHO pays up to 3.5 per cent through its paid plan. Wealthsimple offers 2.25 per cent on registered CAD savings accounts and 3.25 per cent on USD savings accounts for clients with over $500,000 in assets.
Interest rates are provided by WOWA.ca, which gathers, aggregates and freely disseminates data on mortgage rates, savings accounts and GIC rates from 50+ Canadian financial institutions.
Kirill Sukhikh is a writer and financial content developer at WOWA.ca, a Canadian personal finance platform.
