Best No Foreign Transaction Fee Credit Cards in Canada (2026)
This spoke belongs to best credit cards in Canada. The travel-structure choice, before the fee, is best travel rewards cards. Whether the annual fee clears at all is the annual-fee test. The wallet that holds this card next to a grocery card is the stack templates page.
- Passport Visa Infinite: $150 a year, no foreign-transaction fee, six complimentary lounge visits, Scene+ points. First additional card $0, then $50. Purchase interest 20.99 percent.
- Passport Infinite Privilege: $599 and the same no-markup language. A premium card, not the default for one trip.
- Scotiabank Gold American Express: $120, no foreign-transaction fee, 6 Scene+ points per dollar at listed Empire-banner grocers and 5 at other grocery, dining, and entertainment. Amex acceptance still limits it.
- A Scotiabank Ultimate Package can rebate up to $150 of one eligible card's annual fee. The chequing account has its own cost. Do not "save" $150 by paying more in account fees.
- Rogers Bank's disclosure still adds 2.5 percent on foreign currency. A higher US-dollar earn rate can offset that. It is not a no-markup card.
Which no-markup cards did the issuers actually publish?
| Card | Annual fee | Markup | Use it for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite | $150 | None. Scotiabank says the typical markup is 2.5 percent and that only the exchange rate applies. | Foreign-currency spend on Visa, plus Scene+ on travel. Earn on ordinary travel purchases is 1 Scene+ point per dollar on the product page, with an extra 3 points on hotels and cars booked through Scene+ Travel. |
| Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite Privilege | $599 | Same waiver language. | A household that already uses the Privilege benefits. Not a card you open only to avoid 2.5 percent. |
| Scotiabank Gold American Express | $120 | Same waiver language. | Foreign spend at merchants that take Amex, and Canadian grocery at Sobeys, IGA, Safeway, Foodland, FreshCo, and the other banners on Scotiabank's list (6 points per dollar). |
Other fintech and prepaid products advertise no foreign fees. This page does not assign them a rate that was not on an issuer page reviewed in September 2026. If your card's agreement is silent, do not assume the markup is zero. Confirm your own card before you travel. The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada explains credit-card fees in consumer language if the agreement is opaque.
When does avoiding 2.5 percent pay for the annual fee?
Owen spends the equivalent of $4,000 in foreign currency in a year: a trip and a few subscriptions billed in US dollars. Using the 2.5 percent figure Scotiabank calls typical, a marked-up card costs him about $100. Passport's fee is $150, so the waiver alone is $50 short. He needs either more foreign spend or Scene+ value and lounge visits he would have paid for. The foreign spend that covers $150 at 2.5 percent is $150 divided by 0.025, which is $6,000. At $8,000 of foreign spend, the waiver saves $200 against a $150 fee, or $50 before any earn-rate difference. If his current card's markup is not 2.5 percent, this arithmetic changes. Read that card's foreign-currency section. And if a merchant offers to charge him in Canadian dollars at the shop's rate, he should refuse. That is dynamic currency conversion, and it is not the card's exchange rate.
Passport's published everyday travel earn is 1 Scene+ point per dollar. Cobalt's 5x food rate is a better domestic food card where Amex works, and it is a worse foreign card if Cobalt adds a markup the benefits page does not waive. Split the jobs. The grocery decision is separate from the border.
What about cards that earn more in US dollars but still charge the markup?
Rogers Bank's current marketing says the Rogers Red World Elite Mastercard has no annual fee, needs $80,000 personal or $150,000 household income, and earns 3 percent cash back on US-dollar purchases, with "up to 3 percent" cash back value for Rogers customers. The Rogers Bank disclosure summary still converts foreign currency at the Mastercard rate plus 2.5 percent. A 3 percent US-dollar earn rate and a 2.5 percent markup can net a small rebate on US-dollar spend. It is not the same product as a card that charges no markup on euros, pounds, and pesos. Confirm the Canadian-dollar base rate and any annual cap on rogersbank.com before you make it your only card. It is a Mastercard, which matters at Costco, and that question is the Costco guide.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best no-foreign-transaction-fee credit card in Canada?
As of September 2026, Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite is the Visa card that states the waiver at a $150 fee, with six complimentary lounge visits. Scotiabank Gold American Express states the same waiver at $120 and earns more at Empire-banner grocers, but only where Amex is accepted. Choose on acceptance and on whether $6,000 or so of foreign spend, at the 2.5 percent figure Scotiabank uses, covers the fee you will actually pay.
Does "no foreign transaction fee" mean no exchange rate?
No. Scotiabank says you still pay the exchange rate. The waiver is the extra percentage, which Scotiabank describes as typically 2.5 percent. You can still lose money by accepting the merchant's offer to convert the charge into Canadian dollars at a rate the merchant sets.
Is the Scotiabank annual fee waived with a bank account?
Scotiabank's Ultimate Package page says an eligible chequing account rebates up to $150 a year on one eligible card, including Passport Visa Infinite, Gold American Express, and Momentum Visa Infinite. If the card's fee is higher than $150, you pay the difference. The rebate cannot be combined with another fee waiver. Price the account's own monthly fee before you call the card free.
Do I need a no-foreign-fee card if I only cross the border once?
Run the dollars. One weekend of a few hundred dollars is not $150 of markup. At 2.5 percent, $400 of spend is $10. Keep the card you already have, decline dynamic currency conversion, and do not open a $150 card for a $10 problem. The fee test is the whole decision.
Will Cobalt's 5x beat a 2.5 percent markup on a foreign meal?
Cobalt's published 5-point categories are in Canada. A foreign meal is not that footnote. This page does not claim Cobalt waives a currency markup, because the benefits page reviewed did not say that. Use a card whose agreement states the waiver.
Are prepaid travel cards included?
Not with a made-up rate. Some prepaid and fintech cards advertise no foreign fee and then add a different spread or an ATM charge. If it is not in the agreement you can open, it is not in this table. Credit-card insurance on a prepaid card is a separate gap. Read what you are giving up before you travel on a prepaid balance.
