How to Save on Home Renovations With Credit Cards

Choosing the Right Credit Cards

Here are our suggestions for the best credit cards for home renovation projects. First, there are a few questions to ask:

• Does the business accept American Express, Visa and/or Mastercard?
• Are you looking for points to save on hotels? On airline tickets? Cash back? Or for Disney?

Here are the credit cards accepted at various home improvement, garden centers and hardware stores:

• Visa, Mastercard and American Express: Home Depot, RONA, Canadian Tire, Patrick Morin, Potvin Bouchard, BMR (online and in some stores), Home Hardware, Pépinière Locas, Jardins Zeillinger, Canac (which recently accepted it).

If you have an RBC credit card, check your RBC offers. A few times a year, there are credits offered of up to 10% on purchases at RONA. You just need to activate it, like this one:

This way you can earn account credits for purchases made at Réno-Dépôt or RONA.

All this happens automatically.

A Credit Card With Cash Back

It’s the best way to avoid headaches with home improvements! And in our experience, it even works for purchases from garden centers.

Choose the “Home Improvements” category to get 2% cash back quickly and easily on all purchases at hardware and home improvement stores, such as Canadian Tire and Patrick Morin in this example:

This also applies to :

• RONA
• Reno Depot
• Home Depot
• Home Hardware
• Lowe’s
• For painting: Dulux, Benjamin Moore, and Sherwin-Williams
• Blinds to Go

We also tried a transaction for a container rental for renovation waste, but it wasn’t classified as being in the renovation category. So we didn’t get the 2% cashback on this transaction, unfortunately. Sometimes it’s trial and error.

Tangerine Money-Back Credit Card

The Tangerine Money-Back Credit Card has no annual fee and offers cash back.

With this limited-time welcome offer, you can earn an extra 10% cash back (up to $100) when you spend up to $1,000 on everyday purchases in the first 2 months.

You can choose two or three purchase categories that suit you (groceries, gas, furniture, home improvement, recurring bills, drugstore, etc.) to earn 2% cash back, with no annual cap on the cash back you can earn. It’s also one of the best credit cards for renovations.

In addition, the Tangerine Money-Back Credit Card offers several types of purchase insurance:

• 90-day purchase protection
• One-year extended warranty

Finally, within the first 30 days of having the card, you can transfer credit card balances and pay only 1.95% interest on those balances for the first 6 months.

Fuel savings at Shell

All Tangerine cardholders can get fuel discounts and rewards at Shell and with Scene+^™ by linking their cards to their Shell Go+ account. Get up to 8¢/L in value with a linked Tangerine Money-Back World Mastercard or Money-Back Credit Card:

• Instant discount of 3¢ per litre on all grades of Shell fuel.
• Up to 3¢ per litre in cash back when gas is selected as a 2% category.
• 1¢ per litre in Scene+^™ points value on all grades of Shell fuel, or 2¢ per litre in Scene+^™ points value on Shell V-Power^® fuel when your Scene+^™ account is linked to Shell Go+.

Scotiabank Passport^™ Visa Infinite+* Card

With this welcome offer for the Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite^+* Card^™, you get a welcome bonus of 25,000 Scene+ points after you spend $2,000 on your account in the first three months.

Plus, every year, get an annual bonus of at least 10,000 Scene+ points when you spend at least $40,000 on your account. In total, the offer is worth up to 35,000 Scene+ points and a value of up to $1,250 in the first year, including rewards, savings on foreign transaction fees and airport lounge access.

With the Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite+* Card, you earn 3 points per dollar spent at Sobeys, IGA, Safeway, Foodland and participating Co-op grocery stores, and 2 points per dollar spent at other grocery stores, restaurants, and on eligible entertainment and eligible daily transit. You earn 1 point per dollar on all other everyday purchases.

These points can be redeemed for any travel purchase at a rate of 1,000 points = $10 (flights, hotels, all-inclusive packages and even Airbnb), or as cash back with Scene+ at the same rate.

The Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite+* Card also offers:

• No foreign transaction fees
• 6 free airport lounge visits
• Excellent travel and purchase insurance
• Visa Infinite* Concierge service

We named this card the Best Credit Card With No Foreign Transaction Fees in 2024, 2025 and 2026.

Marriott Bonvoy^® American Express^®* Card

The Marriott Bonvoy^® American Express^®* Card is the best credit card for free hotel nights.

With this welcome offer, you can earn up to 70,000 Marriott Bonvoy points :

• Earn 60,000 points after you spend a total of $3,000 on your Card in your first 3 months of Cardmembership.
• Plus, earn 10,000 points when you spend $500 on your Card in your 13th month of Cardmembership.

This is a card we recommend keeping, because every year on renewal you get an annual Free Night Award worth 35,000 points, as well as 15 Elite Night Credits per year toward your Marriott Bonvoy status.

With this Card, you earn 5 points per dollar on all your spending at Marriott Bonvoy hotels and 2 points per dollar on all other purchases.

Finally, this Card comes with extensive insurance coverage: baggage delay, lost or stolen baggage, $500,000 travel accident, flight delay, hotel/motel burglary, car rental theft and damage, Buyer’s Assurance Protection and Purchase Protection.

As with all American Express Canada Cards, there is no minimum income requirement.  

TD^® Aeroplan^® Visa Infinite* Card

With this offer for the TD^® Aeroplan^® Visa Infinite* Card, you can earn up to 40,000 Aeroplan points^† and a first-year annual fee rebate^†.

• Earn a welcome bonus of 10,000 Aeroplan points when you make your first purchase with your new card^†
• Earn 15,000 Aeroplan points when you spend $3,000 within 90 days of account opening^†
• Plus, earn a one-time anniversary bonus of 15,000 Aeroplan bonus points when you spend $12,000 within 12 months of account opening^†

This card also comes with travel benefits, such as a free first checked bag for you and up to 8 travel companions on the same reservation^†, as well as a NEXUS application fee rebate (up to CA$100) every 48 months^†.

With the TD^® Aeroplan^® Visa Infinite* Card, you earn 1.5 points^† per dollar on eligible purchases in these categories:

• Grocery purchases
• Gas and electric vehicle charging purchases
• Purchases made directly with Air Canada^® (including Air Canada Vacations^®)

You also earn 1 point^† per dollar on all other eligible purchases made with your card.

This can comes in handy when you need short-term liquidity, especially when renovations are unexpected (like a flood or major water damage, for example)!

A credit card promotional offer may allow you to borrow money through a balance transfer or cash advance for periods of 6 to 12 months, at no interest or at a low rate.

For example, see this balance transfer offer from CIBC (for the CIBC Select Visa* Card) or this other balance transfer offer from MBNA (for the MBNA True Line^® Mastercard^® credit card).

Then you use the money to finance your project. However, we warn you to be very careful, because you have to respect the conditions of use. If you don’t, the benefits you’re hoping for won’t be to your advantage.

For more information, please see our article on “Using Credit Card Cash Advances Wisely”.

CIBC Select Visa* Card

The CIBC Select Visa* Card is one of the best Visa balance transfer credit cards in Canada.

With this exclusive online offer for this CIBC credit card with a balance transfer offer, you get:

• a 0% interest rate on balance transfers of at least $100 for up to 10 months
• an annual fee rebate for two years^†

You’ll only pay a transfer fee of 1% when you transfer your credit card balance from another card (balance transfer fees don’t apply to Quebec residents). Once the promotional period ends, the card’s standard interest rate of 13.99% will apply to any remaining balance. That rate is lower than the rates charged by many other credit cards.

For example, you could pay for large purchases with another credit card (for renovations, furniture or appliances) and then transfer your credit card balance to the CIBC Select Visa Card to take advantage of its 0% interest rate on balance transfers for 10 months.

Cardholders of the CIBC Select Visa* Card can also save on gas through the card’s partnership with Journie Rewards, which lets them save up to 10 cents per litre at participating gas stations.

The CIBC Select Visa* Card has an annual fee of $29 (rebated for the first two years) and requires a minimum annual household income of $15,000. With mobile banking and CIBC banking services, you can easily keep track of your credit limit and balance transfers from your phone or by signing in online.

Home Improvement Store Gift Cards

You can earn more points or cash back by purchasing home improvement store gift cards at multiplier stores!

For example, you could use the American Express Cobalt^® Card to earn 5 points per dollar when buying gift cards at the grocery store. Points accumulate much faster this way, because otherwise you’ll only earn 1 point per dollar if you buy directly from the hardware store.

The following gift cards are available in grocery stores:

• Home Depot, Canadian Tire, and IKEA (Super C, IGA, Maxi, Adonis, etc.);
• Home Hardware (Maxi only) ;
• Amazon (everywhere!)

However, there are no Canac, RONA, BMR, Patrick Morin or Réno-Dépôt gift cards available in grocery stores.

By buying them there at the same time as your groceries, it’s as if you were also earning 5 points per dollar for your home improvement purchases.

For example, if you buy $500 worth of Home Depot gift cards at IGA with this Cobalt Card from American Express :

• 5 points/dollar x $500 gift cards = 2,500 Membership Rewards points

This 2,500 Membership Rewards points can be :

• Transferred into 2,500 Aeroplan points for a future dream trip or a sunny destination;
• Transferred into 3,000 Marriott Bonvoy points for future free nights at their hotels;
• Rebate on $25 credit card balance for travel, everyday purchases or home renovations.

Or, you could use your Scotiabank American Express^® Card Gold to earn 6 Scene+ points per dollar when you buy Home Depot or Canadian Tire gift cards at IGA.

Then use Scene+ points to reimburse your travel expenses, go to the movies for free and pay your grocery bill.

Consider the Welcome Bonuses!

Renovations are a major expense in the life of a household. It is also a time when these expenses happen over a few months (between 1 and 6 months generally).

You need to leverage this large expense by unlocking welcome bonuses. Especially for cards that you would not have targeted first due to the high level of spending required!

For example, if you have $5,000 to $10,000 to spend at a home improvement or hardware store, you could rack up points as fast as a pneumatic nail gun:

• 135,000 TD Rewards points after $5,000 in purchases (value of approximately $675);
• 85,000 points Aeroplan after $12,000 in purchases ($1,700 value);
• $350 cash back after $3,500 in purchases.

One example is all those business credit cards that require you to spend several thousand dollars in 3 months. Some that even individuals can apply for.

Ideas for Using All Your Reward Points

After all that effort, reward yourself with your well-earned points:

• Cash back: Pay off your credit card balance ;
• Aeroplan Points: Take to the skies with worldwide air travel;
• American Express Membership Rewards points: Keep them to pay off your card balance as cash back or transfer them to another program, for an inexpensive trip (Aeroplan, Marriott Bonvoy Hotels, Hilton Hotels, Flying Blue (Air France/KLM), Avios (British Airways), etc);
• NBC Rewards points, Scene+ points, BMO Rewards points, CIBC Aventura points, etc.: Flexible points for travel reimbursements, gift cards, investments, etc.

Bottom Line

There are several ways to take advantage of this important expense! Again, we remind you to pay your credit card in full each month. Otherwise, the interest paid will wipe out any points earned.

How Can I Save Money on Renovations?

Avoid the “While we’re at it…” to avoid extra costs!

• Do some small manual jobs according to your ability (painting, demolition, etc.);
• Use your credit card rewards points to amortize costs (see article above);
• Find out about government subsidies such as Rénoclimat ;
• Get 2 to 3 contractor quotes;
• Shop around for material prices at local hardware stores;
• Allow yourself to wait and be on the look out for sales periods (late spring, late summer…);
• Set a budget, stick to it and add 10% for unpleasant surprises.