There is rarely a single best groceries card. There are a few honest answers depending on what you value. These 23 cards earn a bonus on groceries, ranked by the cashback-equivalent rate each one pays. Every rate is quoted from the issuer's own terms, with the clause and the date we checked it.
Scotiabank Gold American Express Card earns the top rate on groceries here, at 6.0%, only at Sobeys, Safeway and 11 more, up to $50,000 a year. Away from those merchants, it earns its 1.0% base.
PC Financial World Elite Mastercard is among the best cards for groceries with no annual fee, at 3.0%, at Loblaws, No Frills and 12 more. The next no-fee option is Walmart Rewards Mastercard at 3.0%, at Walmart.
Scotiabank Gold American Express Card is the best card for groceries that also skips the foreign-transaction fee, at 6.0%, at Sobeys, Safeway and 11 more. It keeps paying when you spend abroad, where most cards add a fee of about 2.5%.
PC Financial World Elite Mastercard earns 3.0% at Loblaws, No Frills and 12 more with no monthly or yearly cap, so the rate never tapers as you spend more. Walmart Rewards Mastercard is also uncapped, at 3.0%, at Walmart.
Every card here earns in a different currency: cash back, points, or travel rewards. We turn each one into a single honest number, what a dollar spent on groceries is really worth back, valued conservatively. That is the rate we rank by, and nothing gets rounded up in a card's favour.
We never quietly subtract the annual fee from the rate. A $250 card and a $0 card can both earn 2.0%, and you decide whether the fee is worth it.
Aeroplan, Scene+, PC Optimum and the rest are valued conservatively in real dollars, so a points card and a cash back card compare fairly.
A card with a condition can still finish first, on purpose. The catch is right there on the row so you can tell if it fits your life.
By the cashback-equivalent rate each card can earn in this category, converting every rewards currency to its conservative dollar value. The annual fee is shown beside the rate, never subtracted from it.
A rate can be higher because it comes with a condition: a specific station or store, a category you have to choose, or an annual cap. We rank by the highest rate a card can earn here and show the condition right on the row, so you can see whether it fits how you actually spend. A conditional rate can finish above an unconditional one, on purpose.
No. Each rate is quoted from the issuer's current terms on the date we checked it, shown on every row. Terms change, so verify with your issuer before you apply.
No. Verdict is independent, is not a bank, and takes nothing today to place any card above another.
Spot something that doesn’t match the issuer’s terms?
This page ranks the whole market. The app ranks the cards in your pocket. Add the ones you actually carry and Verdict names the best card for anything you buy, the moment you buy it. No account, nothing leaves your phone.
