Those of you who’ve wandered the continents without being lost, or perhaps just needed to get to Saskatoon for Christmas, have doubtless heard the siren song of the savvy spender: “five times the points”. Caramel macchiatos taste that much sweeter when the ludicrous $7 price tag contributes 35 miles or points to your next escape.
Here in Canada, we’re heavily spoiled on the 5x rewards credit card front, with many issuers vying for your business by trying to offer the most lucrative rewards credit card. As such, not all credit cards that offer 5x rewards points are created equal: each card has its own quirks, annual fees, and ideal use cases.
Today, we’ll cut through the noise to see which of these points-earning machines is right for you, which are just pretenders to the throne, and why one of them remains the undisputed champion.
Canadian Credit Cards That Earn 5x Rewards
American Express Cobalt Card
Let’s start with the heavyweight champion of the scene, the Undertaker of Canadian credit cards: the American Express Cobalt Card.
The American Express Cobalt Card gives cardholders the opportunity to earn 5x Membership Rewards on eligible restaurant, food delivery, and grocery store purchases.
Check out our American Express Cobalt card review for more details.
15,000 Membership Rewards points
$9,000
$300+
$191.88
Yes
–
Unlike the Undertaker, it doesn’t re-accommodate Westjet passengers with steel chairs: it provides a potent way to get yourself closer to your next getaway through the power of everyday spend. As we’ll see, this card deserves its title because of the supreme flexibility of the American Express Membership Rewards points it earns.
Quick review: the Cobalt earns 5x the Membership Rewards on eats and drinks, which includes groceries and meal delivery services like Uber Eats. It also gets 3x points on streaming services like Netflix as well as 2x the points on transit, gas, and travel purchases. All other purchases get a base earn of 1 point per dollar spent.
Instead of an annual fee, the Cobalt opts for a $12.99/month subscription fee or $191.88 per year. This fee is never waived; don’t bother even asking them about it. So what’s the big deal?
Well, this card lets you earn up to 150,000 transferable Membership Rewards points per year on the 5x category alone. To max this out, you’ll need to spend $2,500 on dining and groceries per billing period (all earn above $2,500 only being 1x), but the floor value of these points is $1,500 in statement credit, or 1 cent per point (cpp).
However, the real value lies in the transfer partners: with 150,000 points, you could get 150,000 Air Canada Aeroplan or British Airways Avios. It’s also one of the only ways to get up to 112,500 Air France/KLM Flying Blue miles in Canada. Fancy hotels? The same points are worth 180,000 Marriott Bonvoy.
The American Express Cobalt card remains the undisputed master and is the easiest #1 pick for those wanting to maximize their spending while earning a valuable convertible point currency.
Scotiabank Gold American Express Card
Scotiabank has decided that the best way to compete with the Cobalt card is to attempt to do it by offering the Scotiabank Gold American Express Card, and it’s a fantastic competitor.
The Scotiabank Gold American Express Card earns up to 6x Scene+ points at Empire grocery stores and charges no foreign exchange fees on purchases made in foreign currencies.
Check out our Scotiabank Gold American Express card review for more details.
Earn when you apply through Frugal Flyer.
45,000 Scene+ points
$7,500
$600+
$120
No
Jul 1, 2026
While its Scene+ points lack the transferability of Membership Rewards points, they are good for 1 cent per point on all travel-coded purchases. It can be a great supplement or competitor to the Cobalt card. More importantly, it’s the only 6x card in the country, earning 6x Scene+ points at Empire-owned grocery stores (Sobeys, Safeway, FreshCo, etc.).
Not convinced? It also gets 5x at other grocery stores as well as in the familiar dining and food delivery category, as well as entertainment. The entertainment category is key: it refers primarily to Cineplex theatres, but also to theatre and sporting tickets from sites like Ticketmaster. Not bad for the hockey fans in the audience. The combined 6x/5x earn rate is capped at $50,000 per calendar year (not cardmember year) across all categories.
The card also gets 3x the Scene+ points on gas, transit, and streaming services, as well as 1x on everything else. It is odd that there is such an obsession with 3x on streaming across both cards, as it’s unlikely Netflix and Spotify will garner more than a couple of bucks in a year, but the card remains fantastic.
The annual fee is $120, though it’s often waived as part of the welcome bonus during promotional offers.
The card also features no foreign transaction fees, theoretically making it great to travel with, but only if it’s in a jurisdiction that takes Amex. All foreign transactions are also coded as 1x, so be aware. Regardless, the Scotiabank Gold American Express card is a simple, powerful, and effective machine for turning daily spending into straightforward travel savings.
If you are interested in signing up for the Scotiabank Gold American Express Card where you can earn a welcome bonus of up to 45,000 Scene+ points plus a $150 FlyerFunds Rebate. Click to apply for the cash back rebate offer on the Scotiabank Gold American Express Card.
MBNA Rewards World Elite Mastercard
The MBNA Rewards World Elite Mastercard is a bit of an odd duck, but a potentially useful one. It’s a Mastercard, so you can use it at both Costco and mom-and-pop shops that raise their eyebrows in chagrin at Amex.
The MBNA Rewards World Elite Mastercard earns 5x MBNA Rewards points on restaurant, grocery, digital media, memberships, and household utility purchases.
Check out our MBNA Rewards World Elite Mastercard review for more details.
Earn when you apply through Frugal Flyer.
30,000 MBNA Rewards points
$2,000
$400+
$120
Yes
–
As for the 5x rewards? That is earned on groceries, restaurants, digital media, memberships, and recurring utility bill payments, capped at $50,000 in spend per category annually. This is unique: it’s not $50,000 combined among those categories, it’s $50,000 a year on each category.
This makes it great for small businesses or residential landlords with large utility bills or digital media fees, despite the $120 annual fee. I don’t know how you spend $50,000 on memberships, maybe it’s for the country club or ski resort crowd?
So, where’s the catch? It’s in the redemption value of MBNA Rewards points. The main way to redeem points is via its Travel Portal, which gives the usual suspect value of 1 cent per point. Not great, not terrible.
I’d argue the real value is in exchanging your points for gift cards. Whereas most banks only offer 0.7 cents per point on gift cards when redeeming their funny money, MBNA gives you higher floating values closer to 1cpp. For example, a $25 gift card to The Keg, a Canadian steakhouse institution, often costs between 2,550 and 2,660 points, yielding a value of ~0.94 to 0.98 cents per point.
This is one of the better gift card redemption rates in Canada, and much better than the 0.83 cents per point value when redeeming for a straight statement credit. The card’s value is basically that it’s a good Cobalt alternative if you have a huge categorized spend or can’t pay with Amex.
If you are interested in signing up for the MBNA Rewards World Elite Mastercard where you can earn a welcome bonus of up to 30,000 MBNA Rewards points plus a $100 FlyerFunds Rebate. Click to apply for the cash back rebate offer on the MBNA Rewards World Elite Mastercard.
BMO eclipse Visa Infinite Card
Next up, we have the BMO eclipse Visa Infinite card, a card that is very much the odd one out among our cast.
The BMO eclipse Visa Infinite card earns 5x BMO Rewards points on several bonus categories, an anniversary $50 lifestyle credit, and a $20 monthly streaming credit.
Earn when you apply through Frugal Flyer.
70,000 BMO Rewards points
$12,000
$594+
$120 (FYF)
Yes
Oct 31, 2026
When it was initially released, it started off great, with a flashy promo, a $50 per calendar lifestyle credit, and a redemption rate of 0.83 cents per point with 5x BMO Rewards points on groceries, dining, gas, and transit, and 1x on all other purchases. All lived in harmony until the BMO Rewards department attacked.
First thing they did? Devalued BMO Rewards points to a fixed value of approximately 0.67 cents each towards travel, though on the upside, they didn’t oblige you to use only their travel portal anymore for the bookings. However, the $50 lifestyle credit then became per cardmember year, whereas before it was per calendar year.
And then, in a confusing act that is hard to understand, BMO changed the terms and conditions on February 3rd, 2025, to something even worse: a $20,000 cap per calendar year on gas and transit purchases, respectively. Dining and groceries? $6,000 per calendar a pop! Why make the millennial-focused lifestyle credit card only reward people who drive F350s?
Whereas MBNA gives up to $50,000 a year on multiple different categories, BMO insists on giving less than half that, or only about 12% of the limit on the critical dining and grocery bonuses. Once you hit the collective limit, every buck you pay earns you a paltry 0.67cpp.
This makes the $120 annual fee, typically waived for the first year, sting even harder despite the $50 lifestyle credit offsetting it somewhat. It’s a passable option for deep-pocketed BMO clients who can get the fee waived entirely through a premium bank account, but it struggles to stand out against more valuable and flexible competitors.
If you are interested in signing up for the BMO eclipse Visa Infinite card where you can earn a welcome bonus of up to 70,000 BMO Rewards points plus a $125 FlyerFunds Rebate. Click to apply for the cash back rebate offer on the BMO eclipse Visa Infinite Card.
National Bank World Elite Mastercard
The National Bank World Elite Mastercard is the dark horse of the group of credit cards that earn 5x rewards in Canada.
The National Bank World Elite Mastercard offers benefits that include an annual $150 travel credit and access to the National Bank VIP airport lounge in the Montreal Airport International terminal.
Check out our National Bank World Elite Mastercard review for more details.
0 À la carte Rewards
$0
$0+
$150
Yes
–
Why? Well, its value does not come from the À la carte Rewards points, which, while decent, earn 5x points on groceries and restaurants at a cap of $2,500 per month. Past this cap, groceries and restaurants revert to a respectable 2x, which it also garners for gas and EV charging, recurring bill payments, or purchases on National Bank’s in-house travel agency.
Redemption values aren’t super inspiring, sticking at 1 cpp through National Bank’s travel portal, or 0.83cpp on any travel you choose to pick.
So why consider it? While its points are a bit lacklustre, its comprehensive travel insurance package in Canada includes an exceptional out-of-province medical coverage for up to 60 days for those under 54, as well as all award bookings made with the card. In fact, it is one of the best credit cards for award travel insurance.
To offset the National Bank World Elite Mastercard’s annual fee of $150, you can get a premium bank account or use its $150 annual travel credit. This credit is designed to be used for incidentals like seat selection, baggage fees, and airport parking. Do note, though, that these requirements are pretty stringent and liquidating the credit can thus be a bit of a pain.
For Western Canadians, such as many of us who write at Frugal Flyer, National Bank’s recent acquisition of Canadian Western Bank means its physical presence and brand recognition to the left of the map of Ontario is set to increase significantly, making it a more practical option for us to get if we do need to go into a branch. Incentives are sure to follow.
If you are interested in signing up for the National Bank World Elite Mastercard where you can earn a welcome bonus of up to 0 À la carte Rewards plus a $0 FlyerFunds Rebate. Click to apply for the cash back rebate offer on the National Bank World Elite Mastercard.
What’s the Best 5x Rewards Credit Card for Me?
To sum up, the American Express Cobalt remains the undisputed king. No other card offers its combination of 5x plus ultra-high-value transfer partners. If you are a miles and points value maximizer, this is the card for you.
For those individuals who want to keep it simple and would rather have one card that earns a points currency that requires minimal thought to maximize value, I recommend the Scotiabank Gold American Express card as the best solution. It has great earn rates and an easy, transparent redemption system. It’s also a great supplement to anyone who hates foreign transaction fees.
If what you need is strong, protective travel insurance, then the National Bank World Elite Mastercard is your choice. The points are secondary to the exceptional travel insurance and annual credit.
Finally, the MBNA Rewards World Elite Mastercard is a solid Mastercard option that has a very niche use case. While its 5x is good for many, it’s most useful for people with $50,000 in annual spend on one or both of recurring bills or digital media. On the other hand, of all the credit cards on the market, BMO eclipse Visa Infinite card is one of them.
Conclusion
The allure of 5x points is strong, but choosing the right card depends entirely on your goals. Feel free to mix and match the products we’ve outlined today and use them according to your needs; just because the American Express Cobalt card is the Ultimate Warrior doesn’t mean there’s no place for the National Bank World Elite Mastercard in your wallet.
For those of you who have ski memberships in Whistler, first, please invite me, and second, pay those extortionate fees on the MBNA Rewards World Elite Mastercard. And for those of you with the BMO eclipse Visa Infinite card, you’re cool too.
To everyone: Stop paying foreign currency markups. Get a Scotiabank Gold American Express card already and enjoy up to 6x on top of it.
Kirin Tsang
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Hi Kirin.
About the Scotia Amex Gold. For the last year or so, foreign transactions are also coded as 5x, 3x or 1x, depending on categories.
Awesome article, but I think you’re forgetting that MBNA WE earns a birthday bonus of 10%, effectively making the 5% back category 5.5%. Best for Loblaws (Superstore and No Frills) that doesn’t take AMEX and are arguably cheaper than other grocery stores. Also some superstore liquorstores have coded as 5%. Wholesales (Costco) don’t earn 5% back, but they do run promotions like right now until the end of August ’25 you can get 5% back. Great use for AirBnb giftcards, especially when you redeem for $200 you get slightly better than 1 cpp. IMO the best card for restaurants and groceries when you can’t use the Cobalt and for categories that aren’t covered like utilities and gym memberships