Thinking about earning tangible returns on funds in your savings account? You should take a look at the best high-interest savings accounts in Canada.
Savings accounts are generally not where you park your funds if you want to generate significant returns and realize capital growth.
However, if you have funds that are meant for short-term projects (such as a vacation, wedding, tuition, or home down payment) which you do not want to be exposed to the vagaries of the stock market, a high interest savings account (HISA) can serve as a low-risk option to safeguard your money.
A high-interest savings account can also help you earn some interest while keeping pace with inflation and the best ones today are close to the inflation rate or higher.
Top High-Interest Savings Accounts in Canada
Here are the best high-interest savings accounts available in Canada as of today.
| Featured Bank Accounts | Interest Rate | Other Perks |
| Simplii HISA | 6.25% (promo) | Up to 5% cash back on purchases, unlimited free transactions, bill payments, & Interac e-Transfers, $20 bonus, free Mastercard (no credit check) |
| KOHO Earn Interest | 5.00% (regular and non-promo) | Up to 5% cash back on purchases, unlimited free transactions, bill payments, & Interac e-Transfers, $20 bonus, free Mastercard (no credit check) |
| EQ Bank Notice Account | Up to 4.25% for the Notice Savings Account; up to 4.00% for Personal Account | Personal Account – Unlimited debits, Interac e-Transfers; mobile cheque deposits; set up pre-authorized payments; 0.50% cash back on purchases |
| Laurentian Bank HISA | 2.85% to 3.85% | No monthly fees |
| Neo Financial | 4.00% | No fees |
| Scotiabank MomentumPLUS | 1.15% + 3.40% + premium period interest | Higher interest for 3 months when you combine the regular rate, promo, and premium period interest rate |
| Wealthsimple | 1.50% to 4.50% | No fees; higher rate with Cash account |
| Motusbank | 1.65% | No monthly service fees and unlimited transfers |
Before choosing a bank to save with, take a look at their small print, including:
- Are there any restrictions on transactions allowed per month? Any lock-in periods?
- Are any fees charged on withdrawals or transfers? Does it offer free transactions?
- Is the offered rate a promotional or introductory rate, or is it an ongoing non-promotional rate?
- Is there a minimum balance requirement?
- Are automatic transfers possible? Can you conduct a mobile cheque deposit?
- How accessible is your savings account? Is it an online-only bank?
1. Simplii Financial High-Interest Savings Account (6.25% promo rate)
Simplii Financial offers one of the highest promotional savings account interest rates in Canada.
This new 6.25% interest rate offer is available for 5 months from account opening (0.35% to 4.25% after). The Simplii high-interest savings account has no monthly fees, and there is no minimum balance required.
Along with this HISA, you can also open a free chequing account that includes unlimited free debits, Interac e-Transfers, withdrawals, and personalized cheques.
New clients get a $500 cash bonus when they also open a new free chequing account using the link above and set up a direct deposit of $100 or more for three consecutive months.
2. KOHO Earn Interest (5.00%)
With your KOHO Essential account, you can earn a 5.00% interest rate on every dollar and up to 5% cash back on purchases.
Similar to EQ Bank, a KOHO account works like a hybrid bank account, and you can send unlimited free Interac e-Transfers, pay online and in-store bills, and not have to worry about promotional interest rates coming to an end.
However, it also offers other perks, including free credit score checks and access to 0% APR cash advances of up to $250.
All KOHO customers get access to a reloadable prepaid Mastercard that can be used to make payments and earn instant cash back on purchases. When you set up a recurring direct deposit or savings, the low monthly fee is waived.
You get a $20 welcome bonus when you open an account using our CASHBACK referral code and make your first purchase.
3. EQ Bank Notice Savings Account (Up to 4.25%)
EQ Bank is the online banking arm of Equitable Bank. Its high-interest savings account (HISA) is known as the “EQ Bank Personal Account” and currently offers one of the best non-promotional savings interest rates in Canada of up to 4.00% (if you set up a direct deposit). Non-promo rates mean you won’t start earning less on your savings after a few months.
This account has no monthly transaction fees, offers unlimited transactions, free electronic fund transfers, no minimum balance, free mobile cheque deposits, free bill payments, and unlimited free Interac e-Transfers per month.
The interest rate is calculated daily on your closing balance and paid monthly. The maximum balance you can hold in your account is $200,000.
Combine this account with the new EQ Bank Card, and you will earn unlimited 0.50% cash back on all purchases.
More recently, EQ Bank introduced its Notice Savings Account which pays an interest rate of 4.00% or 4.25% on your deposit, depending on how much notice you require when making withdrawals.
For example, if you are okay with a 10 Day notice, you earn 4.00% interest on every dollar. If a 30 Day notice works for you, then your interest rate is 4.25%. These two rates are some of the best non-promotional savings rates in Canada.
The bank also offers TFSA and RSP accounts with high-interest rates, and if you are looking to save money inside these registered accounts, the interest rate is 2.75%*.
Visit:
- EQ Bank Notice Savings for a non-promotional rate of 4.00% to 4.25%
- EQ Bank General Savings to earn a non-promotional rate of 2.25% to 4.00%
- TFSA Savings Account (2.75% interest)
- RRSP Savings Account (2.75% interest)
Learn more: EQ Bank review.
4. Neo High Interest Savings Account
Neo Financial’s high interest savings account pays a 4.00% interest rate. This account has no monthly fees and can be combined with other Neo Financial accounts.
This financial technology company also offers a no-fee prepaid card, cash back credit card, secured credit card, mortgages, investments, and more.
Learn more about the Neo HISA.
5. Scotiabank High-Interest Savings Account
The Scotiabank MomentumPLUS Savings Account offers up to a 6.00% interest rate for a limited time. This offer includes the following:
- 1.15% regular interest rate
- 3.40% welcome bonus interest for the first 3 months
- Premium period interest when you keep your funds for 90-360 days. This interest rate ranges from 0.70% to 1.35%.
- 0.05% to 0.10% bonus interest when you have an eligible Scotiabank chequing account.
6. Laurentian Bank (2.85% to 3.85%)
The Laurentian Bank High Interest Savings account helps you earn a higher rate on your balance without locking up your funds.
How much you earn in interest varies with your balance, but there is no minimum amount for getting started.
You earn 2.85% interest on savings under $100,000 and 3.85% interest on savings deposits from $100,000 up to $5 million. On balances exceeding $5 million, the savings rate is 1%.
In addition to its savings account, Laurentian Bank offers credit cards, chequing accounts, mortgages, investments, and personal loans.
Learn more: Laurentian Bank Review.
7. Wealthsimple Save and Cash
Wealthsimple is better known as a robo-advisor for managing your investment portfolio. Its HISA is called “Wealthsimple Save” and offers an interest rate of 1.50%. There are no monthly fees and no minimum account size.
This account allows unlimited withdrawals and transfers to your linked bank accounts.
You can also open a Wealthsimple Cash account and earn higher interest. This account can instantly send money to friends and family members on your phone contact list.
8. Motive Financial Savings
Motive Financial is a division of the Canadian Western Bank, which is a member of CDIC. Its HISA is known as “Motive Savvy Savings” and currently offers 4.10%. Its basic savings account (Motive Savings) offers a 1.00% interest rate.
The account comes with two free withdrawals (costs $5 each after), no monthly fees, and no minimum balance requirements.
Learn more: Motive Financial Review
9. Wealth One Bank of Canada HISA
WealthOne Bank of Canada is a relatively new bank and a member of CDIC. Its HISA is known by the same name and currently pays a 3.50% interest rate. The bank also offers TFSA and RRSP savings accounts.
There are no monthly fees, no minimum balance requirements, and you have access to their automatic savings program (ASP) with an easy process for depositing money.
Learn more: Wealth One Bank of Canada Review
10. Motusbank Savings
motusbank is a newer online bank and a subsidiary of Meridian Credit Union, the most popular credit union in Ontario and the third-largest in Canada. It offers a high-interest savings account, no-fee chequing, competitive mortgage rates, investment accounts, and more.
motusbank’s general savings account offers a 1.65% non-promotional interest rate. There’s a $1.25 fee per Interac e-Transfer.
Learn more: Motusbank review
11. Tangerine High-Interest Savings Account
Tangerine is a subsidiary of Scotiabank and was formerly known as ING Direct. Its HISA is referred to as the “Tangerine Savings Account” and currently offers a 0.70% interest rate.
This savings account has no monthly fees or account minimum, no lock-in periods or service charges, and an automatic savings plan. In addition to the HISA, Tangerine also offers a Tax-Free Savings Account and RRSP savings plan that offer similar rates.
Learn more: Tangerine Bank Review.
12. Alterna Bank HISA
Alterna Bank and Alterna Savings are together known as the Alterna Financial Group. Their HISA is known by the same name and currently offers a non-promotional interest rate of 2.00%.
There is no minimum balance requirement, unlimited free bill payments, and free unlimited Interac e-Transfers per month. The maximum balance for new customers is $250,000, and it is also available in Quebec.
Learn more: Alterna Bank review
13. Oaken Financial Savings Account
Oaken Financial is Home Trust’s direct banking arm. Their HISA is known as “Oaken Savings Account” and currently offers an interest rate of 3.40%. They also offer TFSA and RRSP savings accounts.
The Oaken savings account has no monthly fees and no minimum balance.
Learn more: Oaken Financial
Credit Unions
Some credit unions in Canada also offer great rates. Check the small print for details on how their rates work and whether there are transaction fees.
14. Maxa Savings: 3.25% interest rate HISA
15. Achieva Financial: offers 3.25% on their HISA
16. Outlook Financial: offers a 3.25% interest rate HISA
17. Hubert Financial: offers a 2.85% interest rate on their HISA
18. Saven Financial: offers a 3.85% HISA rate (Ontario-only)
Big 5 Bank High-Interest Savings Accounts
How about the big banks and their savings interest rates?
Unfortunately, the top 5 banks in Canada, i.e., RBC, CIBC, TD, BMO, and Scotiabank, rarely offer the highest savings rates.
If you want to earn returns on your deposits and stand a chance against inflation, you may need to look elsewhere for competitive returns.
You can learn more about what the big banks offer below:
19. RBC High-Interest Savings Account (1.70% interest rate).
20. TD High-Interest Savings Account (0.05% interest rate)
21. BMO High-Interest Savings Account (0.50% interest rate on BMO Savings Builder Account)
22. CIBC High-Interest Savings Account (up to 1.90% tiered regular interest rate)
Methodology:
Savvy New Canadians compiled the best high-interest savings accounts in Canada based on their interest rates, monthly fees, transaction limits, minimum balance requirements, convenience, accessibility, and many other features. We carefully evaluate each bank account’s offerings and place more weight on each account’s overall value. Based on our research, these are some of the best savings accounts, but they may not be suitable for you. Visit each bank’s website to see the most recent information.
What is a High-Interest Savings Account?
Simply put, a high-interest savings account (HISA) pays a higher rate on your money than you would get from a regular savings account. The interest rate is calculated on your daily closing balance and paid out monthly.
High-interest savings accounts are also known as high-yield savings accounts.
They are a great place to put the money you don’t need right away but that you need access to on short notice, such as your emergency fund.
There are different types of high-interest savings accounts, including:
- Tax-Free Savings (TFSA) HISA
- Registered Retirement Savings Plan HISA
- Registered Retirement Income Fund HISA, and
- US Dollar Savings HISA
How To Open a High-Interest Savings Account in Canada
You can open any of the online high-interest savings accounts on this list fairly easily. In fact, some of them take only a few minutes to set up.
To get started, visit the website of the bank using the links provided and have the following information handy:
- Basic personal details, i.e. name, address, date of birth, phone number
- Social Insurance Number (SIN)
- Copy of government-issued photo ID
You may need to connect an external chequing account to fund your deposit in the new savings account.
High-Interest Savings Account vs. Traditional Savings Account
When people hear “high-interest savings accounts” or “HISA,” they often wonder what differences (if any) are between them and traditional savings accounts at their bank.
For starters, a high-interest savings account pays a higher interest rate than is offered on regular savings accounts. For example, compare a 0.05% rate on a savings account at a major bank while 0.50% is offered on a HISA at the same bank.
There may be limits on the frequency at which you can withdraw from a HISA. The reasoning behind this is simple – the bank lends some of the deposits they hold to borrowers in order to generate income. The longer your deposit sits in your HISA, the more it earns for the bank. If you are ‘in’ and ‘out’ of your account too frequently, then your money is not earning as much for the bank and they are unable to justify paying you higher rates.
That being said, the majority of online-only banks which offer great HISA rates do not have limits on the number of withdrawals you can make from your HISA per month.
There may be fees associated with some transactions conducted in a HISA if you exceed your monthly quota. These may include when you exceed a certain number of withdrawals, money transfers, or when you request a paper statement. The bank may also require you to maintain a minimum balance in order to earn the HISA rate. Again, most online-only banks waive these fees, except for free Interac transfers, which often have a limit.
Essentially, a high-interest savings account is not designed to conduct day-to-day transactions.
Advantages of a High-Interest Savings Account
1. Higher Returns: You will earn better returns with a high-interest savings account than with a traditional savings account.
2. Safe and Guaranteed: Your money is generally safe in a savings account. If the financial institution is a member of the Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation (CDIC), your funds are insured for up to $100,000 per customer if the bank goes bankrupt. Deposits at credit unions are insured provincially and usually cover the customer’s full deposit, even those exceeding $100,000.
3. Flexible: Compared to a Guaranteed Investment Certificate (GIC), which may lock in your funds for 6 months to 5 years or even longer, most high-interest savings accounts are readily accessible and penalty-free if you need your money. As such, they can be a good option for holding emergency funds.
4. Bonuses: Some banks will offer cash bonuses when signing up. They may also offer promotional rates that come up now and then.
Disadvantages of a High-Interest Savings Account
A savings account will not double your money overnight, but that’s not necessarily bad. They are less risky than many other investment assets, and your expected return is supposed to reflect your assumed investment risk.
In general, the main downside to savings accounts and other fixed-income assets is taxes. The tax on interest income is at your marginal tax rate, which can result in a significant chunk of your earnings going to the taxman if you are in a high-tax bracket. Interest income is taxed less favourably compared to dividends or capital gains.
To avoid paying taxes on the returns earned on your savings account, you can utilize a TFSA Savings Account.
Compound Interest Calculator
Are High-Interest Savings Accounts Taxable?
High-interest savings accounts are not tax-free unless when held inside a TFSA. The interest earned is included in your taxable income at the end of the year and taxed at your marginal tax rate.
Your bank will send you an investment income slip or T5 showing how much interest you earned for the year.
Are High-Interest Savings Accounts Safe?
All the online banks listed above are Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation (CDIC) members. This means that your deposits in regular savings, HISA and chequing accounts are insured for up to $100,000 should the bank become insolvent.
The credit unions are also insured by their provincial deposit insurers, such as the Deposit Guarantee Corporation of Manitoba, which guarantees 100% of deposits held by Manitoba’s credit unions and Caisses Populaires.
You do not need to reside within Manitoba to take advantage of this benefit.
Best High Interest Savings Accounts in Canada FAQs
Online banks like EQ Bank and Neo Financial offer one of Canada’s highest interest rates. While their rates are also subject to change at any time, I find that they are more consistent and don’t fluctuate every few weeks like some other banks. Also, EQ Bank’s interest rates are non-promotional.
If you go with a big bank paying 0.01%, you can expect to end the year with approximately 10 cents in interest using a “simple interest” calculation, and you will have $1,000.10. Assuming your funds are saved at an online bank offering 1.25%, you will earn $12.50 for a total of $1,012.50. Your $12.50 return is not a lot; however, it is 125x what you’d earn at the 0.01% rate. If you use daily compounding interest, you earn a little more over time. The current low rates don’t make much of a difference.
Online banks have lower overhead and can pass on the savings in operational costs to their customers through higher savings interest rates.
If you don’t need access to your funds for a while, you can consider investing in GICs, stocks, bonds, or ETFs. Note that some of these investments are higher risk, and you can lose your capital.
There are high interest savings TFSA accounts that earn higher interest than standard TFSAs. The difference between a TFSA and a general savings account is that income earned in a TFSA is not taxable, while you pay interest on HISAs. As investment vehicles, TFSAs can hold other assets, including stocks and mutual funds.
While your RRSP may offer high interest on your savings, there are differences between a regular HISA and an RRSP. Income earned in an RRSP is non-taxable until you start making withdrawals. Also, RRSP contributions are tax deductible when you file your income tax return. For a regular savings account, contributions are not taxable, and you pay taxes on income in the year it is earned.
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- Advantages and Disadvantages of Savings Accounts
- CIBC eAdvantage Savings Account Review
I’ve applied for Motive and one way to avoid fees on transfers is if you apply for the chequing account and then you won’t have any issue to transfer the money between their account and the chequing account is unlimited e-transfers.
@Luiz: Thanks for your feedback.
Motive rejected me for a savings account, wtf? My credit scores are well over 800 at Equifax and TransUnion, I have hardly any debt 🤣
Hi Enoch,
Thank you for this great article.
I hope you can provide more clear info about Simpli Financial offer. I am actually a Simpli customer from a long time. I can say with all due respect to you that Simpli is the — I have ever dealt with. I had a balance close to $150,000 and they refused to offer me the 4.9 % promo because I am not a new customer, which is total nonsense and ignorance. As a result, I withdrew the money and went with HSBC. Please advise all your readers.
Thank you
@AL Sayed: The savings offer only applies to new deposits. This is usually the case for most banks, although they may also offer promo rates to existing customers every now and then.
I’ve also been with simplii a long time, only reason I keep them is for bill payments and depositing large cheques… I’ve had zero holds on $30,000+ cheques (awesome and shocking).
All my spare cash is spread around multiple banks – Motus, EQ and Saven for now. I’m in process of opening an account with Oaken at which point I’ll likely split between Oaken and Saven.
I would go with motive but they rejected me (a common complaint it seems).
Tangerine has a new client offer of $400 cash back for online purchases using their debit card plus a promotional 3.25% savings account rate for 5 months. Might be good to include.
Wow Enoch, I am grateful for you post. I have learned so much about the finances in Canada as a new PR it’s so difficult to choose. Thanks again for your review of the different options we have.
@Mudi: Glad to hear you found it useful. Cheers
The B of C is aggressively (for them) raising their rate. When will this be reflected in Savings accounts
@Dr Mike: Banks are quick to pass on cost increases in the benchmark rates, but it takes them a while to pass on savings to consumers through higher rates on savings account deposits.
What about Saven Financial? Is there a reason you’ve not included in on your list?
@Jad: Ontario only.
Very informative I enjoyed the read
@Whitney: Great to hear. Cheers!