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I carry three American Express cards. The Cobalt is my everyday personal card — 5x on every coffee, grocery run, and restaurant meal. The Business Platinum handles purchasing for my retail businesses, where I run close to $1 million a year in product orders. And the Business Gold covers my audio visual company’s expenses.

One note upfront: the American Amex Platinum is genuinely better than the Canadian version. The US card stacks $200 Uber Cash, $200 airline credits, Centurion Lounge access, and more credits that can offset most of its fee. The Canadian Platinum can’t match that. What it does have — Priority Pass, $200 travel credit, flat 1.25x on everything, no preset limit — is still solid value at the right spend level. Just set accurate expectations going in.

Quick Comparison: All Canadian Amex Cards

Card	Annual Fee	Best For	Earn Rate
Cobalt	$155.88/yr	Everyday food & dining	5x food, 3x streaming, 2x travel, 1x other
Business Platinum	$799/yr	High-volume business purchasing	1.25x everything, no cap
Business Gold	$199/yr	Business with concentrated spend	2x on top 2 categories, 1x other
SimplyCash Preferred	$99/yr	Maximum cash back	4% groceries, 2% everything else
SimplyCash	$0	No-fee cash back	2% groceries/gas, 1.25% other
Green	$0	Entry-level Amex + MR access	1x everything

The Cards Worth Your Attention

1. Amex Cobalt — Best Everyday Card in Canada

The Cobalt earns 5 MR points per dollar on food, drinks, cafes, grocery stores, and delivery. A household spending $1,000–$1,500/month on food easily clears 80,000–90,000 MR points per year. Transferred to Aeroplan, that’s $1,200–$1,350 in flight value against a $155.88 annual fee. It’s the card I use every single day.

Read the full Cobalt review →

2. Amex Business Platinum — Best for High-Spend Business Owners

The Business Platinum earns 1.25 MR points on every dollar with no caps. At $1,000,000/year in business purchasing, that’s 1,250,000 points — roughly $18,750 in Aeroplan value. The $799 annual fee is recovered many times over. Priority Pass lounge access and the $200 travel credit are real benefits if you travel for business.

Read the full Business Platinum review →

3. Amex Business Gold — Good Card With a Caveat

The Business Gold earns 2x MR on your top two spending categories at $199/year. The honest take from someone who carries both the Gold and Platinum: the Gold makes sense when your business spending is concentrated in one or two bonus categories. For a business with varied expenses across many suppliers, the Platinum’s flat 1.25x with no caps usually earns more total points — and the travel benefits justify the higher fee above $200,000 in annual spend.

4. SimplyCash Preferred — Best Amex for Cash Back

If you want cash back rather than travel points, the SimplyCash Preferred earns 4% on groceries (up to a spend cap) and 2% on everything else, for a $99 annual fee. A household spending $500/month on groceries earns $240/year on that category before the 2% on other spending even counts.

The Amex Acceptance Reality

Every Amex card in Canada comes with the same caveat: not every merchant accepts it. Costco Canada uses Mastercard exclusively. Some smaller retailers and B2B suppliers don’t take Amex. The practical fix: carry Amex as your primary rewards card and keep a no-fee Visa or Mastercard backup for merchants that don’t accept it.

How to Get Maximum Value from MR Points

Transfer to Aeroplan at 1:1 and book Air Canada flights. Domestic redemptions typically give 1.5–1.8 cents per point. International business class can exceed 2 cents per point. Never redeem for statement credits or merchandise — you’ll get 0.8–1 cent per point at best. Points sitting idle don’t earn anything. Transfer and book.

Which Card Is Right For You?

• You eat out and buy groceries regularly → Cobalt
• You run a high-volume business ($100K+ on cards) → Business Platinum
• You want cash back, not travel points → SimplyCash Preferred
• You want no annual fee → SimplyCash or Green

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See also: Best Credit Cards in Canada (all issuers)

True North Money is general educational content, not personalized financial advice. We are not registered financial advisors. | Affiliate Disclosure