Education Centre

How the products on our boards actually work: GICs, savings accounts, the registered lanes and the insurance behind them — in plain language, with the current numbers always one click away on the rate boards.

GIC Basics

What is a GIC?

A plain-language guide to guaranteed investment certificates.

An open padlock over one coin and a closed padlock over three beside the words Cashable or locked in?

GIC Basics

Cashable, redeemable and non-redeemable GICs: what each really means

What separates cashable, redeemable and non-redeemable GICs: the rate premium for locking in, how early redemption actually works, what interest you keep or forfeit, and a decision table for choosing between rate and flexibility.

A humped rate curve over one-to-five-year ticks with its peak marked beside the words Short or long term?

GIC Basics

Choosing a GIC term: what short terms are for, and what long terms pay you for

How to pick a GIC term: what 30-to-364-day GICs do well, the risk trade inside every 1-to-5-year decision, how to read a humped or inverted term curve, and how to match the term to the date the money is needed.

An open book with one term highlighted and a bookmark beside the words GIC glossary

GIC Basics

GIC glossary: every term on a rate board, in plain English

Plain-English definitions of the working GIC vocabulary: term, maturity, redeemable and cashable, posted and Promo rates, registered accounts, nominee vs client-name, deposit insurance, compounding, escalators, renewal, grace periods, and more.

Three coin stacks of rising height against a dashed threshold line beside the words GIC minimums

GIC Basics

GIC minimum deposits and balance bands: how much you need to start

Typical GIC minimums by channel, why some institutions pay higher rates above balance thresholds, whether large deposits can negotiate a better rate, and how deposit insurance limits shape big purchases.

A timeline with small coins at every month and one large coin at the end beside the words How GIC interest is paid

GIC Basics

How GIC interest is paid and compounded

Monthly, semi-annual, annual, or compounded to maturity: how GIC payout options work, why monthly-pay GICs quote lower rates, and how compounding turns a quoted rate into a slightly bigger effective yield.

Three paths converging on a single certificate beside the words How to buy a GIC

GIC Basics

How to buy a GIC in Canada: direct, brokerage, or deposit broker

The three ways to buy a GIC in Canada: directly from a bank or credit union, through an investment brokerage, or with a deposit broker. What you need to open an account, how funding works, and what to check before the rate locks.

A tree growing from a coin into four leaves, one filled beside the words Types of GICs

GIC Basics

Types of GICs: the full family tree, from fixed-rate to market-linked

The four main GIC varieties (fixed-rate, market-linked, step-up and US-dollar) and how each decides your interest: participation rates and caps, what the guarantee actually covers, how to compare a step schedule to a flat rate, and where registered accounts fit.

A calendar with the maturity day circled and an arrow leading out to a coin beside the words When your GIC matures

GIC Basics

What happens when your GIC matures

Maturity instructions, the auto-renewal default, grace periods, and moving money between institutions, including what transfer vs withdrawal means inside a TFSA, RRSP, or FHSA. Plus a maturity-week checklist.

Two accounts feeding a house, one with a dashed repayment arrow flowing back beside the words FHSA vs the HBP

Registered

FHSA vs the Home Buyers' Plan: two ways to pull a down payment from a registered account

An FHSA qualifying withdrawal is tax-free and never repaid; the Home Buyers' Plan is a loan from your own RRSP. How each works, how the two stack on one purchase, the 90-day rule, and the order-of-funding logic when you can't fill both.

Registered

How GICs work inside registered accounts (TFSA, RRSP, FHSA)

A GIC inside a TFSA, RRSP or FHSA is the same product with different tax treatment. How registered GICs are bought, what happens at maturity, how to move one between institutions without a tax bill, and why registered lanes post their own rates.

Money flowing out of an account with a wedge diverted off the top beside the words Taking money from an RRSP

Registered

Taking money out of an RRSP: withholding tax, income, and the room you don't get back

How RRSP withdrawals work: the withholding tax tiers, why the full amount counts as income, why the contribution room never comes back, and the two federal programs that let you borrow from your own RRSP without a tax bill.

A jar with a coin leaving it and a calendar with the first day marked beside the words TFSA withdrawals

Registered

TFSA withdrawal rules: taking money out without losing your room

TFSA withdrawals are always tax-free, but the contribution room doesn't come back until January. The same-year re-contribution trap, direct transfers that preserve room, and what redeemability means for a TFSA GIC before maturity.

Insurance

Deposit insurance in Canada

CDIC vs provincial funds — who covers what, and where it's unlimited.

Three umbrellas each sheltering its own stack of coins beside the words Past $100,000

Insurance

Keeping more than $100,000 fully protected: how CDIC categories work

CDIC's $100,000 limit applies per insured category at each member institution, not once per customer. How one institution can cover a saver several times over, when to split across institutions or use a brokerage shelf, and what deposit insurance does not reach.