The average household savings rate in Canada is around 5.7%, which means that the average Canadian saves $5.70 for every $100 they earn.

There’s just one problem – many Canadians are using big bank savings accounts that have extremely low-interest rates.

Some of Canada’s best high-interest savings accounts allow you to earn over 100 times what the big banks are giving you.

Here are some of the best high-interest savings accounts in Canada (updated January 02, 2024):

Banking Institution	HISA Account Name	Average Interest Rate
Neo Financial	Neo Money	4.00%
EQ Bank	Savings Plus	2.50%
Alterna Bank	High Interest eSavings	2.25%
Oaken Financial	Oaken Savings	4.00%
Wealth One Bank of Canada	High Interest Savings	3.65%
Achieva Financial	Achieva Savings	3.60%
Hubert Financial	Happy Savings	3.60%
Peoples Trust	e-Savings	3.40%
Motive Financial	Motive Savvy Savings	4.10%
Canadian Tire Bank	High Interest Savings	3.70%
AcceleRate Financial	AcceleRate Savings	3.60%
Outlook Financial	High Interest Savings	3.60%
MAXA Financial	MAXA Savings	3.55%
motusbank	High interest savings	2.50%

I’ll go into a bit more detail about each of these Canadian HISA programs below, so you can decide which one best fits your needs.

High-Interest Savings Accounts vs. Traditional Savings Accounts

Here’s what you need to know before you sign up for any HISA program.

Interest Rates

You may have already guessed this, but the biggest difference between a traditional savings account and a high-interest savings account is that a HISA offers far higher interest rates on your savings balance.

For instance, in the past many traditional savings accounts at banks like RBC or TD offered around 0.01% APY interest on your savings balance.

At this rate, with $10,000 saved, you’d earn only $1 in interest at the end of the year.

Now, contrast this with a high-interest savings account that offers 2.00% interest. With $10,000 saved, you would be able to earn $200 in interest after one year. It’s not even close in comparison, and the big banks should be ashamed of themselves for offering such a lower amount.

Understanding Fees and Charges

Here are some common fees and charges you should be aware of:

• Monthly Fees: Some savings accounts charge a monthly fee for account maintenance. These fees can range from a few dollars to several dollars per month.
• Transaction Fees: Some accounts charge a fee for each transaction you make, such as a withdrawal or transfer. These fees can add up quickly, especially if you make frequent transactions.
• Service Charges: Some accounts charge a fee for various services, such as paper statements or ATM withdrawals.

Fortunately, there are many high-interest savings accounts available that don’t charge any monthly fees or transaction fees.

Minimum Balance and Deposit Requirements

Some accounts may have a minimum balance requirement, which means you need to maintain a certain amount of money in your account to avoid fees or qualify for the high-interest rate. Others may require a minimum deposit to open the account.

Fortunately, there are many high-interest savings accounts in Canada that don’t have any minimum balance or deposit requirements. For example, EQ Bank’s Savings Plus Account has no minimum balance or deposit requirements.

However, some accounts may require a minimum balance or deposit. For example, Tangerine’s Savings Account sometimes has a minimum balance requirement of $1000 to earn its promotional interest rate. If your balance falls below this amount, you’ll earn their standard interest rate.

Withdrawals and Deposits

Luckily, most banks and financial institutions in Canada offer a variety of options to make deposits and withdrawals convenient for you.

Deposits

To make a deposit into your high-interest savings account, you can use any of the following methods:

• Direct deposit: You can have your paycheck, pension, or government benefits directly deposited into your account.
• Online transfer: You can transfer funds from another account you have with the same bank or a different bank.
• Interac e-Transfer: You can send money to your account using Interac e-Transfer. Some banks may charge a fee for this service.
• Mobile deposit: You can use your bank’s mobile app to deposit a check by taking a picture of it.
• In-branch deposit: You can also deposit cash or checks in person at a branch of your bank.

Withdrawals

When it’s time to withdraw your money, you can use any of the following methods:

• Online transfer: You can transfer funds from your high-interest savings account to another account you have with the same bank or a different bank.
• Interac e-Transfer: You can send money from your high-interest savings account to another person’s account using Interac e-Transfer. Some banks may charge a fee for this service.
• In-branch withdrawal: You can withdraw cash or request a cashier’s check in person at a branch of your bank.
• ATM withdrawal: You can withdraw cash from an ATM using your debit card. Some banks may charge a fee for using an ATM that belongs to another bank.

Some high-interest savings accounts may have restrictions on the number of withdrawals you can make per month.

Insurance and Safety of Savings

The Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation (CDIC) is a federal Crown corporation that provides deposit insurance to protect eligible deposits in case of a bank failure. CDIC insurance covers up to $100,000 per depositor per insured category at each member institution. This means that if your bank fails, your deposits are insured up to $100,000 per account type, such as savings, chequing, or GICs.

Not all financial institutions are CDIC insured. Make sure to check if your bank or credit union is a member of CDIC or another deposit insurer to ensure that your deposits are protected.

In addition to deposit insurance, take other safety measures to protect your savings. Here are a few tips to keep in mind:

• Keep track of your account balances and transactions regularly.
• Use strong passwords and two-factor authentication to secure your online banking accounts.
• Avoid sharing your banking information or passwords with anyone.
• Be cautious of phishing scams and fraudulent emails or phone calls.

Restrictions and Limitations

Lock-in Periods

Some high-interest savings accounts may come with a lock-in period, which means you won’t be able to withdraw your funds for a certain period of time without incurring penalties. Make sure to read the terms and conditions carefully before opening an account to avoid any surprises.

Regular Interest Rate

While high-interest savings accounts offer attractive interest rates, keep in mind that these rates may only be applicable for a limited time. After the introductory period ends, the regular interest rate may be significantly lower.

Monthly Maintenance Fees

Some high-interest savings accounts may come with monthly maintenance fees. These fees can eat into your savings, so make sure to compare different accounts and choose one with minimal or no monthly fees.

Transaction Limits

High-interest savings accounts may also come with transaction limits. This means you may be limited in the number of transactions you can make each month, such as withdrawals or transfers.

ATMs and Debit Cards

Having easy access to your money is important, especially if you need to withdraw cash or make purchases on a regular basis.

Many high-interest savings accounts come with a debit card that you can use to withdraw cash from ATMs and make purchases at merchants that accept debit cards. Some accounts may even offer unlimited free ATM withdrawals, while others may charge a fee for each transaction.

When choosing an account, be sure to check the ATM network that the bank belongs to. If the bank is part of a larger ATM network, you may be able to withdraw cash for free from a wider range of ATMs.

It’s also important to consider the security features of your debit card. Look for accounts that offer fraud protection and zero-liability policies, which can help protect you from unauthorized transactions.

Taxes and Inflation

While high-interest rates can help grow your savings, taxes and inflation can eat away at your returns.

In Canada, interest income is taxable, meaning you’ll need to pay taxes on the interest earned from your savings account. The amount of tax you’ll pay depends on your marginal tax rate, which is based on your income. It’s important to factor in taxes when comparing savings accounts, as a higher interest rate may not necessarily mean a higher after-tax return.

Inflation is another factor to consider when choosing a savings account. Inflation is the rate at which the general level of prices for goods and services is rising, and it can erode the purchasing power of your savings over time. If the interest rate on your savings account is lower than the inflation rate, your savings will effectively be losing value.

To combat the effects of inflation, it’s important to choose a savings account with an interest rate that is higher than the current inflation rate. This will help ensure that your savings maintain their purchasing power over time.

The Best High-Interest Savings Accounts In Canada

Now that you know a little bit more about how HISAs work and what makes them different from a traditional savings account, it’s time to take a look at some of the best high-interest savings accounts in Canada.

I’ll give you a brief overview of my favourites and a link to each so that you can read more about their HISA program.

1. EQ Bank Savings Plus

• Site: Learn More
• Monthly Fees: None

EQ Bank is one of the top online banking platforms in Canada, and their Savings Plus high-interest savings account is one of their top products.

It currently offers a 2.50% interest rate per year with its everyday savings account, which is an excellent rate.

Here are some additional great features:

• Free bill payments
• Free and easy transfers to other EQ Bank accounts
• Unlimited, free Interac e-transfers
• No monthly maintenance fees
• No minimum balance required

EQ Bank also offers a good chequing account as well. As an EQ Bank member, you’ll be able to access your Savings Plus and chequing account from the same account, which makes managing your money very simple.

EQ Bank GIC rates are also high, with the 1-year GIC rate at 5.35%.

2. Neo Money by Neo Finance

• Site: Learn More
• Monthly Fees: None

Neo Finance is one of the newest fin-tech companies in Canada and they offer a variety of everyday financial solutions. Their Neo Money high-interest savings account really captured my attention, though.

Although there are other banks that offer a slightly higher interest rate (see the chart above), Neo Money has, by far, one of the best user interfaces I’ve seen. The app makes it easy to keep track of your savings and pays interest on a monthly basis.

Neo Money is a solid choice for young people as well since they don’t require members to keep a minimum balance and they don’t charge any monthly maintenance fees.

They also offer a useful “bill-pay” feature that allows you to set aside money for immediate bills so that it can be automatically withdrawn when it’s time to pay your balance.

3. Alterna Bank High-Interest eSavings

• Site: Learn More
• Monthly Fees: None

Alterna Bank’s High-Interest eSavings account is a reliable savings account that offers a decent interest rate and doesn’t require members to maintain a minimum balance.

This, combined with the fact that they don’t charge any monthly fees makes Alterna’s eSavings account a simple and easy solution.

They also offer free Interac e-transfers and fee-free transfers for bill payments.

The only real disadvantage of Alterna’s eSavings program is that they don’t offer cheque clearing, which may be a deal-breaker for some people.

Also, Alterna’s smartphone app isn’t quite as sophisticated as some of the other online banking apps I’ve seen.

Other than those two drawbacks, though, Alterna’s high-interest eSavings gets high ratings from consumers.

4. Oaken Financial Savings Account

• Site: Learn More
• Monthly Fees: None

Oaken Financial claims to offer one of the highest-interest savings accounts in Canada. To back up their claim, they even have a chart comparing their interest rates to all of their competitors. Based on the numbers, their claim is true.

Like some of the other HISA programs I’ve mentioned, the Oaken savings account doesn’t require members to pay any monthly fees and doesn’t charge any transfer fees. This means you can transfer your savings to your everyday chequing account or pay your bills without any hassle.

Oaken Financial also offers GIC (Guaranteed Investment Certificates) investments. If you’re enrolled in the Oaken savings account, you can transfer your savings directly into a GIC, allowing you to earn even more interest on your money if you’re willing to hold it long-term.

5. WealthONE High-Interest Savings Account

• Site: Learn More
• Monthly Fees: None

WealthONE’s high-interest savings account doesn’t require members to keep a minimum balance, so you can save as little (or as much) as you want. You also won’t have to worry about any maintenance or transfer fees.

You can also link your WealthONE HISA to an existing WealthONE bank account or another bank. Once the account is linked, you’ll be able to make as many transfers as you want, allowing you to easily manage your money and access your funds.

WealthONE’s online banking platform is intuitive and easy to use, and they also offer a smartphone app for easy account management.

6. Achieva Financial High-Interest Savings Account

• Site: Learn More
• Monthly Fees: None

Achieva Financial has a fairly standard high-interest savings account that offers generous interest rates and doesn’t come with any hidden fees.

In addition to their straightforward HISA program, Achieva allows members to divert their savings into one or five-year GICs to maximize your savings growth.

Unfortunately, Achieva isn’t quite as user-friendly as other HISA programs. While you don’t have to pay monthly maintenance fees, you’re only allowed one free monthly transfer. After that, you’ll be charged a percentage of your transfer amount.

So, while it’s a good savings account for long-term saving, you can’t set it up for bill payments and transferring money out of your savings is a bit tedious.

7. Hubert Financial High-Interest “Happy” Savings Account

• Site: Learn More
• Monthly Fees: None

Hubert Financial’s “Happy” high-interest savings account is a simple solution for anybody who wants to see their savings grow on a monthly basis.

From your app or the online banking platform, your interest will be calculated on a daily basis, allowing you to see how much your savings account is growing every day and encouraging you to save more.

Your interest payments will be deposited into your account every month, depending on your final amount.

This HISA doesn’t come with maintenance fees, and you don’t need to keep a minimum balance on your account.

8. Peoples Trust eSavings Account

• Site: Learn More
• Monthly Fees: None

Opening an eSavings high-interest savings account with Peoples Trust doesn’t require you to make a minimum deposit, which makes it a good choice for those who are just starting out and can’t afford to make a large initial deposit.

This HISA comes with perks, such as:

• Free transfers to other Peoples Trust accounts
• No monthly fees
• Interest is paid monthly (and calculated daily)

9. Wyth Financial Savings Account

• Site: Learn More
• Monthly Fees: None

Wyth Financial offers a flexible high-interest savings account that makes it easy to deposit, withdraw, and transfer your funds.

You can set up bill payments and recurring transfers to an external linked bank account, and you’re allowed one free Interac e-transfer per month. /

The main disadvantage is that this HISA has a maximum deposit limit of $150,000. Anything above that, and you won’t earn any interest.

10. Motive Financial “Savvy” Savings Account

• Site: Learn More
• Monthly Fees: None

Motive Financial’s “Savvy” high-interest savings account offers one of the higher interest rates in Canada and has a maximum deposit of $5 million, making it a good choice for long-term account growth.

As a member, you’ll be able to take advantage of unlimited deposits between other Motive accounts and two monthly withdrawals to external linked bank accounts.

After this, you’ll have to pay a $5 transfer fee for each withdrawal. All deposits are free, though, and Interac e-transfers only cost $1.

11. Canadian Tire High-Interest Savings Account

• Site: Learn More
• Monthly Fees: None

Once you’re enrolled in Canadian Tire’s high-interest savings account, you’ll earn a competitive interest rate on your savings and aren’t required to maintain a minimum balance. There also aren’t any bothersome monthly fees.

The drawback of Canadian Tire Bank is that they don’t have a banking app, which means that all transfers to and from your savings account must be handled on the desktop online banking platform or over the phone, which can take a while.

12. AcceleRate High-Interest Savings Account

• Site: Learn More
• Monthly Fees: None

AcceleRate’s high-interest savings account has low transfer fees, provides you with a debit card to make cash deposits easy, calculates your interest at the end of each business day and pays your interest on a monthly basis.

They have an easy-to-use online banking app, which makes it easy to manage your savings, pay bills, and make transfers.

Transfers to other AcceleRate Financial accounts are free, while bill payment or external transfers range between $1 and $2 per transfer.

13. Outlook Financial High-Interest Savings Account

• Site: Learn More
• Monthly Fees: None

While Outlook Financial doesn’t offer an app, its online banking platform is straightforward and easy to use.

Although they offer good rates on savings, they encourage their members to save up to at least $1,000 so that they can take advantage of one to five-year GICs that offer anywhere between 4.0% and 5.0%, depending on the term length.

Outlook Financial’s HISA doesn’t have any monthly fees or require you to keep a minimum deposit amount.

Interest is paid every month, and members are entitled to one free external debit per month. After this, a service fee will be assessed for each transfer.

All in all, this is a good account for long-term savings but not the best for everyday use.

14. MAXA Financial High-Interest Savings Account

• Site: Learn More
• Monthly Fees: None

MAXA Financial is a division of Westoba Credit Union and offers a fairly standard high-interest savings account. They don’t charge monthly fees, and you don’t need to maintain a minimum account balance.

They also provide you with a debit card to make depositing funds to your account easy at any approved ABM.

15. Motusbank High-Interest Savings Account

• Site: Learn More
• Monthly Fees: None

Motusbank offers a high introductory interest rate for new members and a competitive monthly rate after that. As a member, you can make unlimited debit purchases and withdrawals, giving you great flexibility with your money.

You’ll also be able to access over 43,000 ABMs without having to worry about any fees.

One of the more unique features of Motusbank’s high-interest savings account is that they have a “Price Drop” feature that you can use while shopping online.

After making a purchase, submit your receipts through the Motusbank app, and you’ll be refunded cashback if they find an applicable coupon or deal from one of their 40+ associated retailers.

Final Thoughts

If you’re tired of earning a measly 0.01% on your money, then I recommend checking out a high-interest savings account that will allow you to earn much more.

The better you are at saving money, the more you’ll be able to earn, which can be used towards other investments.

Once you start earning money in your savings account, I recommend diversifying your portfolio and investing in stocks, ETFs, and more.

To get started, be sure to check out my guide on how to start investing in Canada next.