Much depends on how bond markets react to future Bank of Canada moves.Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press
Following the Bank of Canada’s 25-basis-point rate cut two weeks ago, the savings and GIC market seems to have stabilized, with minimal changes since last week.
Although yields are lower than earlier this fall, savers can still find value in high-interest savings accounts and guaranteed investment certificates (GICs) for short-term, stable returns.
For GICs, MCAN Financial continues to offer the best rates across all popular GIC terms. Its 3.95 per cent rate for a five-year GIC is the highest available from any major financial institution in Canada.
Notably, for a three-year term, the highest available GIC rate of 3.70 per cent is now nearly identical to the best mortgage rate of 3.69 per cent for a three-year fixed insured. This alignment underscores the narrow spread between borrowing and saving costs.
For savings accounts, Meridian Credit Union’s 4.7 per cent promotional rate for four months remains the best available. Among major banks, Scotiabank offers 4.65 per cent for three months, followed by BMO’s 4.6 per cent for four months and RBC and CIBC’s 4.6 per cent for three months. Meanwhile, both Simplii Financial and Tangerine provide the longest promotional offer at 4.5 per cent for five months.
Oaken Financial is offering the best standard (non-promotional) savings account rate of 2.8 per cent.
Looking ahead, much will depend on how bond markets react to future Bank of Canada moves. Banks may begin scaling back limited-time offers as the Consumer-Driven Banking Act moves closer to implementation in early 2026.
For now, savers can still benefit from the strong competition among online banks and credit unions, locking in attractive promotional and standard rates while they remain available.
Interest rates are provided by WOWA.ca, which gathers, aggregates and freely disseminates data on mortgage rates, savings accounts, and GIC rates from more than 50 Canadian financial institutions.
Sanika Purohit is a writer and content developer at WOWA.ca, a Canadian personal finance platform.
