The spread that matters in Canadian GICs in 2026 is not between one big bank and another - it is between the Big Six and everyone else. A one-year GIC pays 2.45% at RBC and Scotiabank and up to 2.85% at National Bank, while online banks and credit unions post 3.30% to 3.80% and deposit brokers reach 4.05%. Over five years the gap is the same shape: 2.75%-3.45% at the Big Six against 3.90%-4.30% elsewhere. All of it is insured the same way - CDIC covers $100,000 per depositor, per insured category, per member institution - with the Bank of Canada policy rate at 2.25%.
Big Six posted rates, 2026
| Bank | 1-year non-redeemable | 5-year non-redeemable |
|---|---|---|
| RBC | 2.45% | 2.75% |
| TD | 2.70% | 3.10% |
| Scotiabank | 2.45% | 2.75% |
| BMO | 2.70% | 3.10% |
| CIBC | 2.45%-2.70% | 2.75%-3.10% |
| National Bank | 2.85% | 3.35%-3.45% |
Where the higher rates actually are
| Institution | 1-year | 5-year | Minimum |
|---|---|---|---|
| Deposit brokers | Up to 4.05% | - | Varies by broker |
| Hubert Financial | 3.80% | - | - |
| Servus Credit Union | 3.75% | - | - |
| WealthONE | 3.70% | 4.30% | - |
| Oaken Financial | 3.55% | 4.25% | $1,000 |
| Haventree Bank | - | 4.20% | - |
| Achieva Financial | 3.65% | 4.10% | $1,000 |
| EQ Bank | 3.40% | 4.00% | $100 |
| Tangerine | 3.30% | 4.00% | $0-$1 |
On $50,000 for five years the difference between 2.75% and 4.30% is roughly $4,300 in interest - for an identical, identically insured product. The Big Six also set higher minimums: generally $1,000 for non-registered GICs, dropping to $500 inside a TFSA, RRSP or FHSA, while Tangerine starts at effectively nothing and EQ Bank at $100. Two things are not published anywhere: the discount-brokerage GIC rates inside TD WebBroker or RBC Direct Investing, which often match challenger banks, and branch-level promotional rates negotiated case by case. Both are worth asking for explicitly.
Cashable, redeemable, non-redeemable: what liquidity costs
| Type | Access to your money | What it costs in yield |
|---|---|---|
| Non-redeemable | Locked for the full term, from 30 days to 10 years; early exit only in hardship or estate cases | Nothing - these carry the highest posted rates |
| Cashable | Withdrawal allowed after an initial hold of 30 to 90 days | Posted rate is 0.50 to 1.00 percentage points lower; redeeming inside the first 30 days pays 0% interest |
| Redeemable | Access at any time, no initial hold | Early exit forfeits accrued interest or drops you onto a penalty schedule; at major banks early redemption rates fall to 0.35%-0.65% |
The practical reading: a cashable GIC is not a slightly worse non-redeemable one, it is a different product priced for optionality you may never use. If the money is genuinely untouchable for the term, the non-redeemable rate is the only one worth comparing. If it is not, a ladder - equal amounts maturing each year - buys the same liquidity without paying the cashable penalty on the whole balance.
Tax is the second rate
In a non-registered account GIC interest is 100% taxable as ordinary income at your marginal rate, and Canada's accrual rule means you report it in the year it is earned even if the GIC compounds and pays only at maturity - a cash-flow trap on multi-year compounding GICs. Inside a TFSA the interest is tax-free on the way in and out; inside an RRSP it grows tax-deferred and is taxed as income on withdrawal; an FHSA combines the deductible contribution of an RRSP with tax-free qualifying withdrawals like a TFSA.
The CRA sets the annual TFSA limit each year, unused room carries forward indefinitely, and any amount withdrawn is added back to your room on 1 January of the following year - which is why withdrawing in late December rather than early January restores the room a year sooner. For where to hold shorter-term cash, compare against Canadian savings accounts; if you are weighing a GIC ladder against paying down a mortgage, see the best mortgage rates.
What CDIC actually covers
Coverage is $100,000 including principal and interest, counted separately for each insured category - deposits held in one name, in joint names, in a TFSA, in an RRSP, in an RRIF and so on - at each member institution. That structure is why a couple can insure well beyond $100,000 at a single bank by using separate categories, and why splitting across institutions is only one of the available moves.
One rule changed and is still widely misquoted: CDIC permanently removed the five-year term restriction on 30 April 2020. A six, seven or ten-year GIC is fully eligible today under the same $100,000 per-category limit, so the longest-dated offers on the table above are insured exactly like a one-year deposit.
GICCA-CA-20260911A ladder, in numbers
The standard objection to the higher rates is that they require locking money away. A ladder answers it without paying the cashable penalty: split the amount into five equal parts with terms of one to five years, and from year two onward something matures every twelve months.
| Tranche | Term | Rate available in 2026 | On $10,000 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 year | 3.80% | $380 in year one |
| 2 | 2 years | About 3.9%-4.0% | Renews at the prevailing 1-year rate |
| 5 | 5 years | 4.30% | $430 a year, locked for the full term |
Two details make the difference. Keep each tranche within the CDIC category limits rather than piling the whole ladder into one institution and one category, and hold the ladder inside a TFSA if you have room - at a marginal rate of 40% a 4.30% GIC nets about 2.58% outside a registered account, which is less than the Big Six pay before tax on a five-year term.
Three questions before you buy
Ask whether the rate you were quoted is the branch rate or the brokerage rate - the discount-brokerage platforms at the same bank often match challenger institutions, and those rates are not on the branch rate board. Ask whether the GIC is non-redeemable, cashable or redeemable, because a 0.50 to 1.00 point difference is the price of optionality. And ask where the interest is paid: annually, at maturity, or compounding - the accrual rule taxes it either way in a non-registered account.
Then check the account it sits in before the institution it sits at. A TFSA turns the headline rate into the actual return, and CDIC insures $100,000 per category rather than per account, so a couple using individual, joint and registered categories at one member institution is covered for far more than a single $100,000 line suggests.