If you've been in Canada under three years, most "best card" lists won't accept you. We curate the 9 cards that will approve you with no Canadian credit history — and walk you through the next 12 months, step by step.
3 questions. We'll tell you how many cards will approve you today.
Top match: Scotiabank StartRight + Amex Cobalt newcomer path.
Four customized financial planners designed specifically to solve newcomer-specific settlement, card eligibility, FX, and credit-building paths.
Input your landed details below to reveal the precise credit cards that will approve you today.
Highly accelerated cash back category returns to offset grocery and settlement costs month one.
Highly accelerated cash back category returns to offset grocery and settlement costs month one.
Highly accelerated cash back category returns to offset grocery and settlement costs month one.
This is the exact path we'd walk through with our own newly-landed family. Take it slow. Skip nothing.
Service Canada will issue your SIN same-day if you walk in with your PR card or work permit. Then open a no-fee chequing account at one of the big banks — most have a newcomer package that waives fees for the first year and bundles in a no-credit-needed credit card.
Through the same bank, ask about their newcomer credit card — it's approved on landed-immigrant or work-permit status alone, with no credit history required. If you want to skip the branch visit, the Amex Cobalt has a newcomer online path that takes ~10 minutes.
Charge a small repeatable expense — your phone bill, a streaming subscription — to the card. Set up autopay for the full statement balance (not minimum). Use less than 30% of your credit limit. Don't apply for any other cards yet. That's it. You're building credit.
Free at Borrowell or Credit Karma — both pull from one of the two Canadian credit bureaus (Equifax, TransUnion). You're aiming for 660+. Most newcomers who follow steps 1–3 are at 690–730 by month six. That's a "good" score.
After 12 months of on-time payment, you qualify for the same cards everyone else does — BMO Ascend, Scotia Passport, premium travel cards, business cards. We have a separate "best cash back" guide for what to upgrade to. You did the hard part.
Sorted by approval-ease for newcomers in their first 6 months. All accept landed-immigrant or work-permit status alone — no Canadian credit history required.
All five big banks run dedicated newcomer banking + credit card bundles. They look similar on paper. They're not. Here's the honest side-by-side.
| Bank program | Credit card with no history | Fees waived | SIN required up front | In-branch only | Time to approve | Read more |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scotiabank StartRight | Yes — Passport VI | 12 months | No | No, online | 3–5 days | Open guide → |
| RBC Newcomer Advantage | Yes — Avion | 12 months | No | Yes | Same-day | Open guide → |
| BMO NewStart | Yes — CashBack WE | 12 months | Yes | Hybrid | 5–7 days | Open guide → |
| TD New to Canada | Yes — Cash Back VI | 6 months | Yes | Yes | 5–10 days | Open guide → |
| CIBC Welcome to Canada | Secured only | 6 months | Yes | Yes | 7–10 days | Open guide → |
We checked in with three readers who landed in Canada in 2024 — twelve months after they started using TopRates.
If you grew up outside Canada, the credit system here uses different vocabulary. Here's the cheat sheet.
Check our methodology →Everything on this page, plus the full 12-month plan, sample budget, and which cards we'd apply for in what order. PDF download — no spam, no upsell, unsubscribe anytime.