If a balance gets carried, the rate is the whole product: the gap between a standard card and the cheapest one is about $655 a year on a $5,000 balance. The lowest rate in Canada is a card most lists don't even mention.
Verified at the issuer · June 12, 2026
NBC · Mastercard
A variable-rate card: prime + 4% with an 8.90% floor — and at today's 4.45% prime, the floor binds. Carrying $5,000 here instead of at 21.99% saves about $655 a year.
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MBNA (TD) · Mastercard
12.99% on purchases at zero annual fee — note this rose from the 10.99% most sites still print — with a 0% / 12-month balance-transfer intro (3% fee) for arriving debt.
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BMO · Mastercard
The current BT king: 0% for 18 months at a 2% transfer fee — the cheapest big-bank runway out of card debt — on a 13.99% card whose fee is waived year one and rebated with BMO Performance chequing.
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Scotiabank · Visa
The rare card where 13.99% applies to purchases AND cash advances AND balance transfers — plus a 0.99% / 9-month BT intro (2% fee) running to October 31.
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Secured-card and credit-rebuilding options are a different problem — they're on the main table under secured & credit-building, with a dedicated page coming.
On a carried balance, more than any rewards card earns. $5,000 carried for a year costs about $1,100 at 21.99%, $650 at 12.99%, and $445 at Syncro's 8.90% — a $655 annual difference between the standard card and the cheapest one. The first rule of card debt: rewards cards are for people who pay in full; everyone else should be on this page's rates or a balance-transfer runway.
You pay the transfer fee up front and the promo rate for the window: moving $10,000 onto BMO's 0%/18-month offer costs $200 (2%) and freezes interest for a year and a half — versus roughly $2,750 of interest staying at 21.99%. The discipline that makes it work: divide the balance by the months (here ~$556/month clears it inside the window) and don't spend on the BT card — new purchases usually accrue at the full rate while payments chase the promo balance.
The remaining balance starts accruing at the card's standard rate — which is why the two-step matters: a BT promo for the runway, then either cleared debt or a permanently low rate (True Line's 12.99%, Syncro's 8.90%) for whatever remains. Scotia's 0.99%/9-month offer ends October 31, 2026; BMO's 18-month window has no published end date and could be withdrawn — both tracked on our main table.
If you qualify, often yes: unsecured lines price around prime + 2–5% (roughly 6.5–9.5% today) and a HELOC around prime + 0.5–1.5% — below every card here except Syncro. The cards win on accessibility (no fresh qualification at these limits) and on the 0% promo windows, which no line of credit offers. For consolidation at scale, run the line-of-credit numbers first.
Educational comparison, not credit or debt advice. Rates and promo terms verified at issuer pages on June 12, 2026 — several widely-published rates are stale (True Line is 12.99%, not 10.99%). Promo offers carry conditions and end dates; carrying revolving debt at any rate is expensive — the durable fix is the payoff plan, not the card.
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