How to Build a GIC Ladder in Canada
Cash that might be needed sooner belongs in the cash management guide, not in a locked term. The deposit rates that are not locked are high-interest savings accounts. A fund you can sell is CASH versus PSA versus CBIL. Insurance on the rungs is CDIC coverage, and it does not multiply because you bought five certificates.
- Split the amount you can lock into rungs of one through five years. Each year, the maturing rung is spent or rolled into a new five-year GIC at whatever rate is posted then.
- EQ’s non-registered table on 27 September 2026: 1 year 3.70%, 15 months 3.75%, 2 years 3.85%, 27 months 4.00%, 3 years 4.10%, 4 years 4.15%, 5 years 4.25%. Short terms on the same page: 3 months 2.55%, 6 months 2.75%, 9 months 3.25%.
- The same page listed 6-year, 7-year, and 10-year rates at 2.35%. A longer lock was not a higher rate. Confirm the tab, registered or not, before you buy.
- EQ’s minimum is $100. The maximum is $100,000 per GIC. Non-registered accounts are limited to 20 active GICs. Joint GICs are on EQ’s “not right for you” list.
- CDIC counts principal and interest together, up to $100,000 per category per member. Five GICs in one name at one member share one category with your other deposits there.
How does a ladder actually work?
You pick a horizon you can live with, usually five years, and you divide the money into equal rungs. Year one you buy a one-year, a two-year, a three-year, a four-year, and a five-year. A year later the one-year matures. You spend it or you buy a new five-year. The old two-year now has one year left. From then on, something matures every year and the long rate, whatever it is that day, is the rate you roll into. You are never locked out of the whole balance, and you are never forced to reprice the whole balance on a single afternoon.
That is the entire mechanism. It does not raise the rate. It spreads the date. If rates fall, the rungs you already bought keep the rate on the contract. If rates rise, the maturing rung is the piece you can reprice, and the rest of the ladder waits. People who want every dollar at the new higher rate will hate a ladder in a rising year. People who locked everything for five years will hate a ladder less, because at least one fifth comes free each year.
What rates were on EQ Bank’s page?
One issuer is enough to show the shape. It is not a survey of the highest GIC in Canada. Oaken’s rate page did not load for this review. Another bank’s table can be higher or lower the same morning. Use EQ’s numbers as a worked card you can check, then open a second issuer before you fund anything.
| Term | Rate on the page |
|---|---|
| 3 months | 2.55% |
| 6 months | 2.75% |
| 9 months | 3.25% |
| 1 year | 3.70% |
| 15 months | 3.75% |
| 2 years | 3.85% |
| 27 months | 4.00% |
| 3 years | 4.10% |
| 4 years | 4.15% |
| 5 years | 4.25% |
| 6, 7, and 10 years | 2.35% on a further table on the same page |
Table as of 27 September 2026. The drop from 4.25% at five years to 2.35% at six years is what the page showed. Do not assume a longer term pays more. Do not assume your registered tab matches the non-registered column. EQ also says RRSP GICs are not available to Quebec customers, while its other GICs are.
Five slices of $10,000. Using only the one- through five-year rates above, one year of simple interest is $370, $385, $410, $415, and $425. The sum is $2,005. Divided by $50,000, that is 4.01%. That 4.01% is the average of the five posted rates. It is not cash that lands in your account in year one, because EQ’s page, in the section reviewed, does not say whether interest is paid out annually or compounded to maturity. Interest on a non-registered GIC is still reported on a T5. The illustration ignores the cancellation window, ignores a second issuer, and dies the day EQ changes the card. The one-year rung is the only slice you can reprice twelve months from now. The five-year rung keeps 4.25% only for the term you actually bought.
What happens on maturity, and what if you need the money?
EQ says that at maturity the funds go back to the Personal Account the GIC was bought from, and that you get an email or a text. There is no paper certificate. You then buy the next rung, or you do not. If you do nothing, the money sits in the Personal Account at whatever rate that account is paying, which on 16 September 2026 was 1.00% unless the direct-deposit bonus applied. A ladder you do not roll is just a set of GICs that end.
Before maturity, EQ’s answer is that you cannot redeem once the cancellation period has passed. The page tells you to read the GIC agreement for that window. This article will not invent how many days the window is. If the dollar might be the emergency fund, it does not belong on the ladder. The first layer stays in a deposit you can move, which is the test in the emergency-fund guide. A ladder is a second or third layer for a date you can name: a tuition year, a roof, a property-tax bill you refuse to float on a card.
Where should the ladder live, and how is it insured?
Interest on a non-registered GIC is taxable as interest. Inside a TFSA it is not, and it uses room. EQ says each TFSA, RRSP, or FHSA GIC still has a $100 minimum and a $100,000 maximum, and that you have to track contribution room yourself. The room rules are the limits table and the TFSA contribution guide. A GIC inside an FHSA matches a home date. It does not match a vague wish to “earn more than a savings account” on money you might need for something else. The home sequence is the FHSA guide.
CDIC insures eligible deposits, including GICs, up to $100,000 per depositor, per member, per category, principal and interest combined. EQ’s $100,000 maximum per GIC can already sit on the line, and accrued interest counts toward the cap. A $50,000 ladder plus a $60,000 Personal Account in the same name at Equitable Bank is one pile for the “one name” category, not six. EQ and Equitable Bank are one member on EQ’s own FAQ. Joint GICs are not offered, so you cannot use EQ’s joint category for this product. The ways coverage does stack are the CDIC guide.
When is a ladder the wrong tool?
- You might need the capital. Non-redeemable means non-redeemable. A HISA or a cash ETF you can sell is the alternative, with the yield and the insurance differences in the other posts.
- You are comparing the ladder with a debt. A five-year lock at 4.25% is not a reason to carry a credit-card balance. The fair comparison is debt payoff versus investing.
- You wanted the savings-account bonus and also a lock. EQ’s 2.75% Personal Account bonus is not the GIC rate. The five-year GIC was 4.25% on the day reviewed, and you cannot spend it. Pick the contract that matches the date.
- The long end of the table is lower. On this page, ten years at 2.35% lost to one year at 3.70%. Stretching the term to feel serious would have cut the rate. Read the row you are buying.
Frequently asked questions
How many rungs should a Canadian GIC ladder have?
Five is the usual shape: one through five years, then roll each maturity into a new five-year. Four or three also works if your date is shorter. EQ’s page happens to offer 15-month and 27-month terms. You do not need those for a plain annual ladder. What you need is a maturity every year so you are never fully locked and never fully floating.
Are the EQ rates the best GIC rates in Canada?
This page does not know. They are the rates EQ displayed on 27 September 2026, under the non-registered heading, and they are high enough to be worth writing down. A second issuer can beat any line tomorrow. Compare the same term, the same registration, the same redeemability, and the same CDIC member. Do not compare a cashable GIC at one bank with a non-redeemable five-year at another and call it a rate win.
Is GIC interest taxed?
Yes, outside a registered account. EQ says the interest is included on a T5. Inside a TFSA, RRSP, or FHSA the account rules replace that T5, and the contribution room is the cost. Compounded interest you cannot spend yet can still be taxable annually on a non-registered GIC. The T5, not the maturity date, is the filing clue. The tax character of interest is tax-efficient investing.
Can I build the ladder inside one CDIC member?
Yes, and you should know what that means. The rungs share the category. If the total of deposits in that category, plus interest, goes over $100,000, the excess is uninsured. Use a second member, or a second category you actually qualify for, when the pile is larger. EQ will not sell you a joint GIC, so the joint category is not available for this product at this bank.
What if rates rise after I lock?
The rungs you already bought keep their contract rate. Only the maturing slice can be reinvested at the new rate. That is the point of the ladder and the cost of it. Selling early is not a feature EQ offers after the cancellation period. If you need the option to chase a higher rate every month, you wanted a savings account, and you wanted its lower certainty.
Does a GIC ladder replace bonds in a portfolio?
Not by itself. A GIC is a term deposit with a known end value if you hold it and the issuer pays. A bond ETF can fall when yields rise, and it can be sold. The portfolio decision, once the cash has a long horizon, is asset location and how to invest. Do not call a ladder a bond allocation because both feel safe.
Sources
- EQ Bank: GICs, reviewed 27 September 2026
- EQ Bank: rates and accounts
- CDIC: what’s covered
- CDIC: for depositors, including what happens to a GIC if a member fails
The contract rate is guaranteed. The tax on a non-registered GIC is not optional.
A T5 changes the after-tax yield. The 2026 tax guide is how interest is reported.
Get the 2026 Tax Guide — $49 CAD
