How we’ll evaluate credit cards

Affiliate compensation disclosure

At launch, certain card listings on TopRates.ca will include affiliate links. If a visitor applies for and is approved for a card through one of our links, the issuer may pay TopRates.ca (operated by Webhub4u Inc.) a referral commission. We disclose this arrangement clearly and conspicuously on every page that contains affiliate links, per the Competition Bureau’s 2024 Influencer Marketing Guidance.

Our commitment: Affiliate compensation does not influence our rankings or ratings. Cards are evaluated on the criteria below, and the list of cards we feature is broader than the list of cards that pay us — we will list a card we don’t earn commission on if it’s the best fit for a category.

Evaluation criteria

Each card we feature will be scored on a transparent rubric. The criteria we plan to use:

• Effective rewards rate by spending category, net of annual fee, for representative Canadian household spend profiles
• Annual fee value — what perks (lounge access, travel insurance, free authorized users) need to be redeemed to break even on the fee
• Sign-up bonus value — bonus net of any spend-requirement gating, in the first cardholder year
• Insurance coverage — purchase protection, extended warranty, travel medical, trip cancellation, rental car
• Fees beyond the annual — foreign-transaction fees, cash advance, balance transfer, late payment, over-limit
• Approval requirements — minimum income, minimum credit score, who the card is realistically accessible to

Refresh schedule

Card terms (rates, fees, sign-up bonuses, insurance coverage) change frequently. At launch we’ll commit to a quarterly refresh of every featured card with a clear “last reviewed” date on each listing. We’ll also push out a same-day update if an issuer announces a major change (e.g. removing a category bonus).

What we won’t do

• List a card under a fake or generic name (“Major Canadian Bank Cash Back Plus”). All listings will be real, named, current cards from real issuers.
• Hide affiliate compensation in fine print or footer-only disclosures.
• Rank a card higher because it pays us more. Methodology is published; if a ranking looks suspicious, the math is the math.
• Sell your application data to lead-buyers. Affiliate links go directly from your click to the issuer’s site.

Who’s evaluating?

Today, TopRates.ca has no live card listings. When evaluations go live, they will be authored and reviewed by the editorial team at TopRates.ca (Webhub4u Inc.). Each listing will carry the standard editorial byline plus an affiliate-disclosure tag.