Ranking · institutions · method published

Best banks in Canada: a data-driven review

Weighing cost, access, savings rates, app ratings and complaints, EQ Bank scores highest nationwide (86.4/100), ahead of PC Financial (79.6) and Wealthsimple (76). The score blends what an account costs you with how you can reach the bank, what it pays on savings, how its app is rated and how often complaints reach the ombudsman.

Fee data retrieved November 1, 2026

Mitey the Yeti peeking out from behind the institutions ranking cards

#1EQ Bankscore 86.4 / 100

#2PC Financialscore 79.6 / 100

#3Wealthsimplescore 76 / 100

Where you live

Our verdict

EQ Bank is the strongest all-round choice on our evidence (86.4/100): its cheapest account costs $0 a year for everyday use, and it posts 2.75% on savings, but there are no branches.

If you want a branch network, National Bank of Canada scores highest among institutions with 100 or more branches (64.7/100).

Among the Big Six, RBC Royal Bank has the cheapest everyday banking ($155 a year). Big Six fees fall to $0 once your balance meets the waiver — check the finder with your own balance.

The highest-rated app in this review is Neo Financial’s (4.78★ on the App Store in Canada).

13 institutions reviewed with chequing accounts offered in all ten provinces. Score out of 100 from five components (Cost 35% · Access 15% · Savings 15% · App 15% · Complaints 20%); a component without data is left out and the others scaled up. Data read November 1, 2026.
#	Institution	Score	Cost	Access	Savings	App	Complaints
1	EQ Bank CDIC Strongest on everyday cost and savings rate. Trails on branch and ATM access. Cheapest account for everyday use: $0 a year. No branches; ATM fee refunds on the Personal Account.	86.4	100	40	100	88	—
2	PC Financial CDIC Strongest on everyday cost and app rating. Trails on branch and ATM access. Cheapest account for everyday use: $18 a year. No branches; 600+ PC Financial ATMs.	79.6	94	40	—	86	—
3	Wealthsimple Partner-held Strongest on everyday cost and savings rate. Trails on branch and ATM access. Cheapest account for everyday use: $0 a year. No branches.	76	100	0	91	81	—
4	Neo Financial Partner-held Strongest on everyday cost and app rating. Trails on branch and ATM access. Cheapest account for everyday use: $0 a year. No branches.	74.1	100	0	73	89	—
5	Tangerine CDIC Strongest on everyday cost and app rating. Trails on savings rate and branch and ATM access. Cheapest account for everyday use: $18 a year. No branches; Scotiabank ATMs.	65.9	94	40	11	87	62
6	Alterna Bank CDIC Strongest on everyday cost. Trails on savings rate and branch and ATM access. Cheapest account for everyday use: $23 a year. No branches; THE EXCHANGE and partner networks.	65.1	92	40	38	54	—
7	National Bank of Canada CDIC Strongest on app rating and branch and ATM access. Trails on everyday cost. Cheapest account for everyday use: $215 a year.	64.7	41	86	—	88	73
8	RBC Royal Bank CDIC Strongest on branch and ATM access and app rating. Trails on complaints per client and savings rate. Cheapest account for everyday use: $155 a year.	49.8	54	100	20	87	0
9	TD Canada Trust CDIC Strongest on branch and ATM access and app rating. Trails on savings rate and complaints per client. Cheapest account for everyday use: $215 a year.	47.3	36	100	16	86	21
10	Scotiabank CDIC Strongest on branch and ATM access and app rating. Trails on complaints per client and savings rate. Cheapest account for everyday use: $203 a year.	46.5	44	98	15	85	7
11	CIBC CDIC Trails on savings rate and everyday cost. Cheapest account for everyday use: $203 a year.	40	44	—	11	61	—
12	BMO Bank of Montreal CDIC Strongest on app rating. Trails on savings rate and everyday cost. Cheapest account for everyday use: $215 a year.	39.4	32	—	16	79	—
13	Manulife Bank CDIC Strongest on app rating. Trails on everyday cost and branch and ATM access. Cheapest account for everyday use: $504 a year. No branches; THE EXCHANGE network.	38.1	9	40	55	89	—

The evidence behind each score

Inputs, with sources. App ratings from Apple’s App Store (Canada) and Google Play, read November 1, 2026; branches and clients from annual reports and official pages; OBSI banking cases opened in fiscal 2025 (Nov 1, 2024 – Oct 31, 2025).
Institution	Everyday cost	Best savings rate	App Store / Google Play	Branches	OBSI cases	Cases per million clients
EQ Bank	$0	2.75%	4.8★ (62,426) · 4.3★	0 ATM fee refunds on the Personal Account	24	—
PC Financial	$18	—	4.7★ (358,212) · 3.7★	0 600+ PC Financial ATMs	38	—
Wealthsimple	$0	2.5%	4.6★ (130,001) · 4.1★	0	—	—
Neo Financial	$0	2%	4.8★ (55,788) · 4.8★	0	—	—
Tangerine	$18	0.3%	4.7★ (78,652) · 4.6★	0 Scotiabank ATMs	75	30
Alterna Bank	$23	1.05%	4.1★ (112) · 3.3★	0 THE EXCHANGE and partner networks	—	—
National Bank of Canada	$215	—	4.8★ (280,658) · 4.7★	382	66	21
RBC Royal Bank	$155	0.55%	4.7★ (212,149) · 3.7★	1,159	1,172	78
TD Canada Trust	$215	0.45%	4.7★ (250,000) · 4.8★	1,051	985	62
Scotiabank	$203	0.4%	4.7★ (1,098,388) · 4.7★	892	799	73
CIBC	$203	0.3%	4.2★ (27,929) · 3.2★	—	1,013	—
BMO Bank of Montreal	$215	0.45%	4.6★ (115,920) · 4.6★	—	617	—
Manulife Bank	$504	1.5%	4.8★ (22,182) · 4.4★	0 THE EXCHANGE network	11	—

“—” means no figure from an official source we could confirm: BMO and CIBC don’t publish Canada-only branch counts in the documents we read; client counts are used only where the institution states a comparable Canadian figure (RBC, TD, Scotiabank, National Bank, Tangerine). Scotiabank’s client count likely includes Tangerine’s. Google Play counts cover the whole listing, not only Canada.

No institution pays to be listed or ranked here. Order comes only from the published fees and your inputs — see the methodology.

How this ranking works

Each institution gets five component scores, 0–100, weighted Cost 35%, Access 15%, Savings 15%, App 15%, Complaints 20%:

Cost: its cheapest account that can serve each of the Light, Everyday and Heavy profiles, scored 100 − fees a year ÷ $3 and averaged.
Access: branches on a log scale (1,000 or more = 100). No branches but free use of a national ATM network or ATM fee refunds = 40.
Savings: best posted rate on a non-registered savings account at $10,000, relative to the best in the list.
App: App Store (Canada) rating, where 3.0 = 0 and 5.0 = 100.
Complaints: OBSI banking cases per million clients, where none = 100 and the highest rate in the list = 0. Only scored where a comparable official client count exists.

A missing component is left out and the remaining weights scaled up, so read the evidence table before comparing two close scores. Ties break on cost.

What the score leaves out

Mortgage and loan pricing, investment platforms, wait times and service you can only judge as a customer. App ratings are an imperfect proxy for service, and OBSI counts only complaints that reached the ombudsman.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best bank in Canada?

On cost, the institutions at the top of this ranking offer at least one account that is free or nearly free for everyday, light and heavy use, plus branch access. Survey-based awards measure satisfaction instead; we only score what can be checked in published fee data.

How are complaints counted?

We divide the banking cases OBSI opened about each firm in fiscal 2025 by the client count the institution itself reports, and only where that count is comparable. A bank with a lot of cases but many more clients can still score well.

Educational information only, not financial, legal or tax advice. CanadianBanks.ca is independent and is not affiliated with, endorsed by or paid by any institution listed. Confirm details with the institution and the official sources linked on each page before you act. Read the full disclaimer.

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