Cash back vs points in Canada: which earns you more?

Cash back cards and points cards are both paying you a slice of what the store pays the card company. The difference is what the slice looks like when it lands. Cash back is a dollar amount. Points are a currency with an exchange rate, and that rate depends on you.

Cash back: what you see is what you get

A 2% cash back card gives you two cents for every dollar. It shows up as a statement credit or a deposit. There is nothing to learn and nothing to optimize. A no-fee card like the CIBC Dividend Visa pays 2% on groceries and 0.5% on everything else, as of October 2026.

Points: worth more, if you do the work

A point is only worth what you can get for it. Redeem Scene+ points for a statement credit and they are worth about 0.7¢ each. Use them for travel or groceries and the same points are worth about 1¢. Aeroplan points redeemed for a cheap economy seat can be worth around 1.1¢; the same points on a business class flight can be closer to 2¢.

Independent sites publish estimates for each program. These are the Prince of Travel figures from May 2026, in cents per point:

How to compare them

Multiply the earn rate by the point value. A card earning 5 Aeroplan points per dollar at 2¢ each is paying about 10% back on that purchase. A card earning 5 TD Rewards points at 0.5¢ is paying 2.5%. Same "5 points", four times the difference.

• Cash back suits you if you don't travel much, don't want to think about it, or would rather have $300 now than a flight later.
• Points suit you if you fly at least once or twice a year, are happy to learn one program, and can wait to redeem for something good.
• Either way, the card has to be one your usual stores accept, and the annual fee has to be covered by what you actually earn.

New to all of this? Start with Points 101, which explains rewards from scratch.