Credit Card Rewards Calculator (Canada)
The hub for choosing a product is best credit cards in Canada. This page is the arithmetic after you have read the issuer’s earn table. How to price one point from a real booking, instead of borrowing a blog’s cents-per-point, is the points valuation guide. Aeroplan’s transfer ratios, which are not a value, are the Aeroplan points guide.
- You type the earn rate and the point value. The calculator does not store Cobalt, Aeroplan, Avion, or Scene+ rates.
- Points mode is spend × points per dollar × (cents per point ÷ 100). Cash-back mode is spend × the percent you type.
- Net value is gross rewards minus the annual fee. A welcome bonus is not in the formula.
- The loaded example is $12,000 at 5, $3,600 at 5, $2,400 at 2, $10,000 at 1, 1 cent a point, fee $120: gross $928, net $808.
- If the same earn rates are cash back percents, $8,000 at 4 percent and $12,000 at 1 percent is $440 gross. A $120 fee leaves $320.
What is this card worth on my spend?
Open the issuer page, copy the earn rate for each merchant you actually use, and paste it into the rate box. If the store will not take the card, the rate for that row is zero. Caps, merchant codes, and foreign-currency markups are not inside the tool. Subtract them yourself, or lower the spend that earns the bonus.
Rewards calculator
Type your own annual spend, earn rate, and what you think a point is worth. Nothing here is a card's published rate. Points mode multiplies spend by points per dollar by your cents-per-point. Cash-back mode treats the earn rate as a percent.
| Category | Annual spend | Points per $1 |
|---|---|---|
$808.00
Net value after the annual fee. Gross rewards $928.00 on $28,000.00 of spend. That is 2.89% of spend after the fee.
| Groceries | $600.00 |
|---|---|
| Dining | $180.00 |
| Gas | $48.00 |
| Everything else | $100.00 |
How is the loaded example calculated?
Groceries $12,000 × 5 points = 60,000 points × $0.01 = $600. Dining $3,600 × 5 = 18,000 points = $180. Gas $2,400 × 2 = 4,800 points = $48. Everything else $10,000 × 1 = 10,000 points = $100. Gross $928. Net $928 − $120 = $808. Net divided by $28,000 is 2.8857 percent, which the tool shows as 2.89 percent. None of those rates is copied from an issuer.
| Row | Spend | Rate you type | Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Groceries | $8,000 | 4 percent | $320 |
| Everything else | $12,000 | 1 percent | $120 |
| Gross, then net of a $120 fee | $20,000 | $440 gross, $320 net |
Switch the reward type to cash back and replace the rows before you trust that second table. A 5 in points mode is five points. A 5 in cash-back mode is 5 percent. They are not the same input.
What does the calculator leave out?
- Welcome bonuses. Price those with the welcome-bonus worksheet, then come back here for year two, when the bonus is gone.
- Category caps. If the 5-point rate dies after a monthly maximum, put only the capped dollars in that row and the overflow in the base-rate row.
- Foreign transaction fees. A 2.5 percent markup on a trip can erase a rich earn rate. The no-foreign-fee comparison is no foreign transaction fee cards.
- Interest. Carrying a balance at a purchase rate near 20 percent wipes out $808 of rewards on a few thousand dollars of debt. Pay the statement in full or the net value is the wrong number.
- A point’s resale value. One cent is a placeholder. If your last Aeroplan booking was worth less, type less. The valuation guide is the method.
Frequently asked questions
Should I enter the earn rate from a review, or from the issuer?
From the issuer, the day you calculate. Reviews, including this site’s card posts, go stale. The boxes start with round numbers so the page is not empty. They are not a recommendation and they are not a current earn table.
Is 1 cent per point a Canadian standard?
No. It is the default in the box so the first result is easy to check: 92,800 points at 1 cent is $928. A cash-price redemption can be worth more or less. Type the cents you got on a trip you would have paid for. Do not type a leaderboard number you cannot book.
How do I compare two cards?
Run the first card, write down the net, then change the earn rates and the fee and run it again. The tool keeps one set of boxes so you cannot accidentally mix two cards’ rates in one total. The annual-fee test, against a no-fee card, is annual fee versus no fee.
Does the result include the annual fee rebate in year one?
Only if you type the fee you will actually pay. If the first year is rebated, type zero for that year and the real fee for the next year. A rebate you have to call and ask for is not zero until it posts.
Why is my statement lower than this?
The tool multiplies annual spend by the rate you typed. Issuers pay the bonus only when the merchant code matches, and only up to a cap. Returns, annual fees, and cash advances usually earn nothing. If the store coded as something else, the row is wrong. The grocery-code problem is the grocery cards guide.
Are the rewards taxable?
Personal points and cash back on your own household spending are generally a discount on what you bought, not a line you invent income for. Business spending is a bookkeeping question. This calculator does not do tax. The business-card guide is sole prop and corporation cards.
Sources
The fee is a few hundred dollars. The tax return is larger.
Once the plastic is chosen, contribution room moves more money. The 2026 tax guide is the filing companion, not a card offer.
Get the 2026 Tax Guide — $49 CAD
