Best Balance Transfer Credit Cards in Canada (2026)
The card hub is best credit cards in Canada. What to do with the payment you free up, once the high-interest balance is on a promo, is debt payoff versus investing. A rewards card is the wrong tool while you carry a balance. The rewards calculator assumes you pay in full. This page assumes you do not.
- Quote a promo rate only from the issuer page. Aggregator roundups are not the source for the numbers below.
- CIBC Select Visa: 0 percent for up to 10 months, 1 percent fee, transfers up to 50 percent of the credit limit you are assigned, offer selected at online application. Annual fee $29, first year rebated. Minimum household income $15,000.
- CIBC says the promo balance costs you the interest-free grace period on new purchases unless you pay the entire amount due, including the promo balance, every month.
- MBNA True Line: $0 annual fee, 12.99 percent on purchases, 17.99 percent standard rate on balance transfers, 24.99 percent on cash advances, and a 0 percent promo for 12 months on transfers in the first 90 days. The product page did not print one transfer-fee percent. It says the fee, if any, shows up when you calculate the transfer.
- MBNA says product rates and fees may vary by region, and its page notes that fee structures may differ for Quebec. Confirm the disclosure for your province.
Which balance-transfer offers were on the issuer sites?
Two issuer pages were clear enough to quote in September 2026. Other banks advertise transfers too. If this table does not name the card in your other hand, the rate was not verified here. Open that issuer’s page. Do not borrow a review site’s “0 percent for 18 months.”
| Card | Promo the page stated | Fee | After the promo, and the annual fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| CIBC Select Visa | 0 percent for up to 10 months on a balance transfer of $100 or more, chosen at online application. Up to 50 percent of the assigned credit limit. | 1 percent on amounts over $100. | Annual fee $29, rebated in the first year. Up to three additional cards at $0. The purchase interest rate on the marketing page did not render as a number in this review. Open CIBC’s summary of rates before you rely on a post-promo figure. |
| MBNA True Line Mastercard | 0 percent promotional annual interest rate for 12 months on balance transfers completed within 90 days of account opening. | Not stated as a single percent on the product page. The page says to calculate the total, which includes the balance-transfer fee if one applies. | Annual fee $0. Purchases 12.99 percent. Standard balance-transfer rate 17.99 percent. Cash advances 24.99 percent. Rates may differ by region. |
How do you price the fee against the interest you stop paying?
The 1 percent fee is CIBC’s. The 20 percent is not anyone’s posted rate in this article. It is a placeholder for the purchase rate on the card you are leaving. Fee: $8,000 × 0.01 = $80. A rough interest sketch, balance times annual rate times 10/12, is $8,000 × 0.20 × 10/12 = $1,333.33. Difference about $1,253, if you pay the transferred balance off inside 10 months, make no new purchases, and the old issuer really was charging 20 percent. Credit-card interest is usually calculated daily. The sketch is not the issuer’s formula. It is a ceiling-check before you pay the fee.
CIBC’s page says that once you have a promotional-rate balance, you lose the interest-free grace period on new purchases unless you pay the amount due, including the promo balance, in full each month. The practical reading: do not put groceries on the transfer card. Pay the old card’s minimum until the transfer posts, then pay the transfer card down. MBNA’s standard balance-transfer rate, after the 12 months, is the 17.99 percent printed on the product page. A balance that survives the clock is a new debt at that rate, plus whatever fee you already paid.
A transfer that uses half the new limit, which is CIBC’s own cap language, can also leave you with a high utilization on that card. Utilization is a credit-score input. The guide is utilization and applications. Opening the card is a new inquiry. If you are about to apply for a mortgage, read that cost before you add an inquiry to save ten months of interest.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best balance-transfer card in Canada in 2026?
The one whose clock is longer than your payoff, whose fee you have priced, and whose post-promo rate you have read. On the pages reviewed, CIBC’s 1 percent fee is the lower printed fee, and the clock is up to 10 months. MBNA’s clock is 12 months and the annual fee is $0, but the transfer fee was not a number on the product page. If you can finish in 10 months, price CIBC’s $80 on $8,000 against whatever fee MBNA shows you at the calculator step. If you need the 11th and 12th months, MBNA’s longer clock is the one the page actually offers.
Is the CIBC purchase rate 13.99 percent?
Not according to anything this review could read. The marketing page’s purchase-rate field did not come through as a number. Do not use a review site’s 13.99 percent as if it were CIBC’s disclosure. Open the summary of annual interest rates PDF linked from CIBC’s page.
Does MBNA charge 3 percent to transfer?
The True Line product page reviewed in September 2026 did not say 3 percent. It said the total includes the fee if one applies, and that you should read the terms when you confirm the transfer. Type the amount into MBNA’s transfer screen and read the fee line. Quebec fee structures can differ. The page says so.
Should I transfer a balance and keep spending on the new card?
No. CIBC says the promo balance removes the grace period on new purchases unless the whole amount due is paid in full. New purchases can accrue interest immediately. Put spending on a card you pay in full. Put the debt on the promo card. They are different jobs.
What if I cannot pay the balance off before the promo ends?
Then the post-promo rate is the product. On MBNA’s page that standard balance-transfer rate is 17.99 percent. On CIBC’s page the ongoing purchase rate was not readable here. A 12-month 0 percent offer you only half pay is a fee plus a year of principal reduction plus a high rate on the rest. Run that rate for the months you will still owe. If the number is ugly, a payment plan you can finish beats a promo you cannot.
Does a balance transfer help my taxes?
Personal credit-card interest is not a deduction. Moving it does not create a credit. The value is the interest you do not pay. Business interest is a different test and is not what these consumer offers are for.
Sources
The promo is a calendar. The fee is due whether you finish or not.
Pay the transferred balance on a schedule you can see. The rest of the year’s tax is the 2026 tax guide, not a reason to carry a card balance.
Get the 2026 Tax Guide — $49 CAD
