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If you carry a credit card balance in Canada, use our calculator to see how much you owe and how long it will take you to pay off the debt.
If you don’t pay off your credit card balance in full each month, your credit card provider will charge interest on what you owe, at an annual rate of 12% to 22%, depending on the card. Use our credit card interest calculator to figure out how much interest you’ll owe, and how long it will take you to repay the debt.
Fill out the balance and interest rate prompts, select how you want to calculate the debt interest (by monthly payment of number of months), and finally the time or payment prompts. The interest owed will automatically appear. For more info, keep reading below the calculator.
Here’s what each part of the calculator means:
If you don’t pay off your full balance before the payment due date shown on your credit card statement each month, you’ll pay interest on what you owe. Every credit card has an annual percentage rate (APR), ranging from 12% to around 20% (sometimes even more) for purchases. The APR is an annual rate, but credit card interest is calculated daily and charged monthly.
To find out the daily interest rate, divide the APR by 365 (number of days in a year). For example, for a card with an APR of 20%, the daily rate is 0.0548%. To calculate monthly interest charges, credit card multiply a cardholder’s average daily balance during each billing cycle (a fixed period of 28 to 31 days) by the daily rate.
Let’s say you’re carrying a balance of $1,000 on a card with a 20% APR. At a daily interest rate of 0.0548%, the daily charge will be about $0.55. Multiply that by the number of days in the billing cycle to see your monthly interest. For 30 days, the interest would add up to $16.50.
Note that credit card providers charge higher interest rates for cash advances (borrowing cash from a credit card) and cash-like transactions, with APRs ranging from 23% to 28%. Plus, interest starts accumulating from the date you take out the cash—there’s no grace period, like the one you get when making purchases on your card (typically 21 days from the date your credit card statement is issued). Borrowing cash with a credit card is very expensive, so limit it to emergencies only.
The best way to avoid paying credit card interest is to repay not just the “minimum payment” shown on your credit card statement, but the full amount you borrowed, on time, every month. Yes, every month. If you can’t, make at least the minimum payment by the due date, to avoid late fees and any dings on your credit history. The minimum payment is either a flat rate (for example, $10) or a percentage of your outstanding balance (typically 3%), whichever is higher. (Note: In Quebec, the credit card minimum payment is 4.5%. As of Aug. 1, 2025, it will be 5%.)
If you don’t make the minimum payment by the due date, you will be charged a late fee ranging from $25 to $40, which will appear on your next statement. If you’re repeatedly late or stop making payments, you also risk harming your credit score, which could make it harder for you to get affordable credit in the future. Your credit card provider may also raise your interest rate. If you’re receiving a promotional interest rate, you may lose it and have to pay the regular APR. Eventually, the card provider could even cancel your credit card and transfer your debt to a debt collection agency.
Scotiabank Passport™ Visa Infinite Card
SimplyCash Preferred Card from American Express
MBNA True Line Mastercard credit card
If you carry a balance, these five strategies can help you pay less interest on credit card debt.
As a first step, call your bank or credit card provider and ask for a lower interest rate. It may agree to lower your rate, offer to switch you to a lower-interest card or perhaps agree to work with you on a repayment plan. But you’ll never know if you don’t ask.
Credit card interest rates are not all the same in Canada. Most credit cards have an annual percentage rate (APR) of around 20%, but low-interest credit cards have an APR around 11% to 13%. For new cardholders, some providers offer an even lower, limited-time promotional rate and/or a reduced interest rate for balance transfers (when you transfer your debt from a higher-interest card).
So, why doesn’t everyone choose a low-interest card? The trade-off is that these cards have fewer perks, rewards and other benefits than premium cards. For example, a low-interest card might include travel insurance, but only for a few days rather than a few weeks, as a rewards card would. Note, too, that annual fees for low-interest cards range quite a bit, from no fee to hundreds of dollars per year. Read the fine print carefully before you apply.
See MoneySense’s list of the best low-interest credit cards in Canada.
Balance transfer cards are another category to consider, if you carry credit card debt. These cards charge a super-low introductory rate for balances transferred from other cards. The rate is temporary—lasting a few months to a year, depending on the credit card’s welcome offer terms—but it can give you the breathing room you need to catch up on payments. When the promotional period ends, the interest rate will go up, but it may still be lower than the 20% typical of regular credit cards.
Note that balance transfer cards may charge a fee for each balance transfer, and annual fees for the cards themselves can range from no fee to about $30. See MoneySense’s picks for the best balance transfer cards in Canada.
Another option is to take out a personal loan or borrow from a line of credit to pay down your credit card debt. This can make sense if the interest rate on the new loan is lower than the APR of the credit card, and in the case of a personal loan, you’re also confident you can make the payments on time.
Personal loans and lines of credit have different repayment terms and fees, and both have pros and cons. For details, read: Personal loan versus line of credit: Which should you choose?
In under 60 seconds, get matched with a personalized list of loan providers based on your needs and approval likelihood. No SIN required.
If you’re juggling multiple loans and credit card balances and having trouble paying them off, it may make sense to consolidate your debt. This means combining two or more debts into one, with just one payment to make each month.
Another option is a debt consolidation loan from a bank or other financial institution. Or you could work with a credit counselling agency to negotiate a debt consolidation program (DCP) or consumer proposal (repaying only part of your debt) with your lenders.
Learn more about each of these options by reading “How to consolidate debt in Canada” and “Who should Canadians consult for debt advice?”
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