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Since September 2, 2026, you can earn up to 5% in Canadian Tire Money on your Tim Hortons purchases, on top of your Tims Rewards points, provided you link your two accounts. The partnership between Triangle Rewards and Tims Rewards, announced a year earlier, is now live at participating restaurants.
Verified on September 3, 2026. The 5% is not a single rate: it stacks in three layers, and two of them require a Triangle credit card. Here is what you actually earn, and what stays excluded.
Your rate depends on how you pay. Three layers add up, and you need all three to reach 5%. Here is the breakdown, as documented by Triangle Rewards.
Two practical details matter here. You need to spend at least 10 cents pre-tax to earn anything. And the timing differs by layer: the linked loyalty portion and the Scan & Pay bonus post immediately, while the credit card portion shows up in your account within 5 to 7 days.
Nothing happens automatically. As long as your two accounts are not linked, you earn no CT Money at Tim Hortons. The process takes a few minutes.
This is the part nobody reads, and it is exactly what explains a smaller balance than expected. Some items do not count toward the pre-tax calculation of the 2% and 1% layers.
One useful nuance: these exclusions apply only to the pre-tax calculation. If you pay with a Triangle credit card, the 2% after-tax layer still applies to your full bill, excluded items included.
A percentage means nothing until you put it against real spending. Take a simple, common assumption: a 5 dollar Tims run every working day, which comes to 1,300 dollars pre-tax over a year.
The last two rows say “and a little more” for a precise reason: the 2% credit card layer is calculated on your total including sales tax, not on the pre-tax amount. That also means the layer is worth more in Ontario at 13% than in Alberta at 5%, so your province changes the final number.
The real lesson sits elsewhere. Without linking, the Triangle Mastercard pays 0.5% on everyday purchases outside the Canadian Tire banners, and the Triangle World Elite Mastercard pays 1%. Linking your accounts therefore multiplies your Tim Hortons earning by ten with the first card, and by five with the second.
Two of the three layers run through a Triangle credit card. Without one, you cap out at 2%. That is the tipping point of this whole partnership, and it deserves an honest calculation before you apply for a new card.
Neither Triangle card charges an annual fee. The Triangle Mastercard has no minimum income requirement, while the Triangle World Elite Mastercard asks for 80,000 dollars in personal income or 150,000 dollars in household income. On a Tim Hortons budget, both deliver exactly the same result: their rates only diverge elsewhere, at the grocery store in particular.
Click a card name to see its full terms. If your goal goes beyond the morning coffee, compare the wider market first on our best credit cards page: a general cash back card often pays more on a diversified budget.
This partnership connects two of the largest member bases in the country: more than 12 million on the Triangle Rewards side, close to 8 million on the Tims Rewards side. For Canadian Tire, the appeal is obvious, since the program settles into a daily habit no retailer can create on its own.
For you, the math is more nuanced. A free account link that takes a coffee from 0.5% to 2% is not something you turn down: it takes five minutes and costs nothing. Applying for a Triangle card purely for this perk, however, does not hold up on the numbers, unless you already shop regularly at Canadian Tire or its related banners.
The partnership also runs one way. You earn CT Money at Tim Hortons, but no Tims Rewards points are planned on your Canadian Tire purchases. Neither retailer has announced any opening in that direction.
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