Best Credit Cards to Build Credit History

Building a good credit history is important to your financial success in Canada.

Whether you’re a younger person just starting out on your credit journey or a newcomer to Canada, it’s a good idea to learn about how the Canadian financial system works and the best ways to build a good financial foundation for your life.

In this article, we share the best credit cards to help you build your credit history and get yourself going on your credit journey.

The first credit card on our list that can help you build credit history is the Neo Secured Credit Card.

This card has no annual fee, no minimum income requirements, and offers credit limits of up to $10,000. It also earns 1% cash back on gas and groceries, and up to 15% cash back with Neo’s partnered merchants.

As a secured credit card, you will need to provide a security deposit to get started, and this deposit determines what credit limit you’re able to access.

This card is great for building credit history since its accessible to anyone who lives in Canada, has a Canadian ID, and is the age of majority in their province. This means that it is accessible even if you don’t currently have foreign worker, international student, or permanent residency status.

The next card on our list is one of our absolute favourites: the American Express Cobalt^® Card.

This credit card comes with a monthly fee is $12.99, and stands as one of the most popular credit cards in Canada thanks to its ability to earn up to 5 American Express Membership Rewards points per $1 spent.

These valuable and flexible points are not only redeemable for travel, merchandise, and more, but you can choose to transfer your points to airline and hotel loyalty programs like Aeroplan and Marriott Bonvoy, giving you the opportunity to maximize the value of your points and enjoy free travel.

What makes the American Express Cobalt^® Card a good choice for those looking to build credit history is that American Express cards issued directly by American Express Canada have no minimum income requirements, and they often have require a lower credit score than Mastercard or Visa.

These factors combined with the relatively low monthly fee makes the American Express Cobalt^® Card accessible to many people, and for this reason we’ve highlighted it on our list.

Alternatively, if you’re looking for a credit card with no annual or monthly fee, consider the American Express^® Green Card.

The Scotiabank Gold American Express^® Card is another great option to build credit history.

With a low minimum income requirement of only $15,000 and an annual fee of $120, this card is stands out for multiple reasons.

It’s one of the few credit cards in Canada that doesn’t charge a foreign transaction fee, which makes it great for when you’re spending abroad. It also earns up to 6 Scene+ points per $1 spent. These points can redeemed for free groceries, meals out, entertainment, travel, and more, making the card very good at saving you money.

As a mid-range credit card, you will likely need to have a reasonable credit score already in order to qualify, but if that’s not available to you the Scotiabank StartRight program can be another way to access this card.

This program is designed to support newcomers to Canada in the first steps of setting up their financial portfolio, so if you don’t qualify for the Scotiabank Gold American Express^® Card on your own, a program representative can certainly help you find an option that suits your situation.

If you’d prefer to build credit history using a credit card that has no annual fee, there’s many excellent no-annual fee credit card choices.

The one we’ll highlight here is the CIBC Aventura^® Visa* Card since it comes with a $0 annual fee, a low minimum income requirement of $15,000, and earns CIBC Aventura travel points.

CIBC also has special offers for international students, people who are new to Canada, and others looking to build their credit history, so if the CIBC Aventura^® Visa* Card doesn’t feel quite right, the bank may still have a card that fits your credit priorities.

The Capital One Smart Rewards™ Mastercard^® is quite a unique option on this list as this is the only card that rewards you for making payments to your card balance rather than for making purchases.

This card earns 5 points for every $1 you pay towards your credit card balance, incentivizing you to make consistent payments and helping you build good financial habits.

This card also comes with no annual fee and no minimum income requirement, making it incredibly accessible. In fact, the Capital One Smart Rewards™ Mastercard^® lets you check online to see if you’ll be approved prior to applying, so you don’t have to go through the full application process and credit check for nothing.

Plus, as an added bonus, this card also offers common carrier travel accident insurance, baggage delay insurance, and car rental collission/damage waiver insurance to make travelling a little more affordable.

The next card on our list is another from the Capital One family: the Capital One Guaranteed Mastercard.

This card, like the Capital One Smart Rewards™ Mastercard^® above, has no annual fee and no minimum income requirement; however, this card also provides prospective cardholders tremendous peace of mind thanks to the fact that it offers guaranteed approval.

As long as you meet some basic conditions, you’re guaranteed a credit card that can help you build your credit history and solidify your financial path forward.

Additionally, if you don’t qualify for the Capital One Guaranteed Mastercard for some reason, you’ll still likely qualify for the Capital One Guaranteed Secured Mastercard, which is essentially identical except that it requires a security deposit prior to getting started.

It’s also worth noting that this card doesn’t offer anything in terms of loyalty rewards; however, it does give you some travel insurance and purchase protection coverage to help make sure you and your purchases are well looked after.

The last card on our list is the KOHO Mastercard Prepaid Card, which won the Milesopedia award for best card for newcomers. However, it’s important to immediately note that the card itself will not help you build your credit history.

This is because the KOHO Mastercard Prepaid Card is a prepaid credit card, so you actually load money onto the card and can then spend up to this amount. This style of card can be very helpful for budgeting and for having an accessible way to make online purchases and spend in situations where a credit card is needed.

This card comes with a low annual fee of $48, no minimum income requirement, and it earns up to 2% cash back on purchases. Additionally, you can get the KOHO Mastercard Prepaid Card even if you don’t currently have foreign worker or permanent residency status.

Now, although Koho’s credit card can’t help you build your credit history, Koho’s whole product range is excellent for newcomers and those starting out on their credit journey.

In particular, the product that will help you build your credit history is Koho’s 6-month Credit Enhancement Program. This program gives you access to a special no-fee, no-interest line of credit. When you make payments to this account each month, Koho will report this positive credit building activity to the credit bureaus, helping you get financially established faster.

Whether you’re brand new to Canada and just starting your credit journey or looking for the best way build up a lower credit score, there’s lots of great cards to choose from.

With so many fantastic credit card rewards options in Canada, as long you make sure you pay off your balance each month and spend within your means, a strong credit history and credit score can literally help take you around the world.

To explore even more options, check out guides to the best no-annual fee credit cards in Canada and the best credit cards for beginners.