Low-cost and no-cost bank accounts in Canada
A low-cost account and a no-cost account are names from a public commitment, not a brand one bank owns. The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada says every person in Canada can get an account with a monthly fee of $4 or less. The package prices the big banks print on their own sites are a separate table. This page is the commitment. It does not invent which debit types a bank counts.
Last updated: October 19, 2026
Last checked: Oct 2026
What low-cost means
The FCAC page on low-cost and no-cost accounts, opened 19 October 2026, says all Canadians can get a bank account with a monthly fee of $4 or less. Some institutions offer these accounts as part of a commitment to provide modern, affordable banking essentials. They call those accounts low-cost accounts. The institution must include specific services, and it cannot require you to keep a minimum balance in the account.
A bank may also offer an account at $4 or less that does not qualify as a low-cost account under that commitment. The price alone is not the label. Read the name the bank uses, then ask whether that product is the commitment account. The dollars the large banks print for their everyday packages are already collected on monthly chequing fees by bank. Use that page for RBC, TD, Scotiabank, BMO, CIBC, and the other rows. Use this page for the rules the commitment adds.
The commitment page says to contact the institution to see which debit transactions it includes. It also says to read the commitment for the types of debit transactions that must be included, and for the features included at no additional cost. Those lists were not copied here, because the summary page tells you to open the commitment and to ask the bank. Guessing a debit type would be wrong if your bank counts a different set.
Who can get a no-cost account
No-cost accounts have the same features and services as low-cost accounts, with no monthly fee. The FCAC says you are eligible if you are 18 or younger, a student, a senior who receives the Guaranteed Income Supplement, a Registered Disability Savings Plan beneficiary, or a newcomer to Canada in the first year in Canada.
The same page says you may also qualify if you are Indigenous, a recipient of the Disability Tax Credit, or a recipient of social assistance payments from select provincial or territorial programs. The page points to a further explanation of those requirements. This guide does not add a province that the FCAC page did not name in the summary. Ask the bank which proof it wants, and keep a copy of what you sent.
Low-cost and no-cost accounts include at least 18 debit transactions per month. That is the floor the FCAC prints. A bank can include more. Extra transactions beyond the included count can still have a charge. The FCAC says the institution must specify features and extra service charges in a way that is clear, simple, and not misleading. A monthly fee of $0 does not promise that every extra service is $0.
What the bank has to show you
Institutions that offer these accounts must display information, in branches and online, about the availability of low-cost and no-cost accounts. They must also display how to access the Account Comparison Tool. That information is in addition to what you must receive when you open a regular bank account. If a branch cannot point you to the account, ask for the posted notice and the tool.
The Account Comparison Tool is the FCAC's way to look up a no-cost account. Use it before you open a package that charges more than $4 and then try to argue later that it was the commitment product. The tool result and the account agreement are the documents to keep. A screenshot of a comparison ad is weaker than the agreement.
A fee that still posts is a line on the statement. Write the date, the name, and the amount, then ask the bank which product you have. How fees show on a Canadian statement keeps the plan fee apart from an NSF line or an extra transaction. Upload the statement on Expenvo. The PDF stays on your device. Expenvo lists the lines. It does not sign in to the bank or the company, and it does not cancel a plan. How to read a statement PDF is one file per period.
Questions
- Is every account under $4 a low-cost account?
- No. The FCAC says a bank may offer an account at $4 or less that does not qualify as a low-cost account. The commitment product has required services and cannot require a minimum balance.
- Who gets the no-cost version?
- The FCAC lists people 18 or younger, students, seniors who receive the Guaranteed Income Supplement, RDSP beneficiaries, and newcomers in their first year in Canada. Indigenous people, Disability Tax Credit recipients, and some social assistance recipients may also qualify.
- How many debit transactions are included?
- At least 18 per month. Ask the bank which transaction types count. Extra services can still have a charge.
Sources
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