On 31 July 2026, Bremo verified six consumer account welcome bonuses across three big banks, one direct bank, and two fintechs, checking each figure against the provider's own live page that day. Added up at their headline maximums, they come to $2,945. That figure is a ceiling, not a cheque. It is the sum of every offer at its top tier, and no single person collects all of it at once. This report explains what the number really means, what a disciplined switcher can realistically stack in a year, and the caveats that shrink the total in practice.
Each amount below was checked against the provider's own page on the date above, with the KOHO and Neo figures drawn from Bremo's bank bonus tracker and open data. Offers we could not confirm on a provider's own page that day were left out rather than printed from an unverified figure. Offers change without notice, so treat the amounts as a point-in-time reading and confirm the current terms on each provider's own page before you apply.
The offers cluster at two ends. Three large big-bank bundle promotions carry most of the dollars, and a short tail of a direct bank and two fintechs fills out the bottom. The chart shows every verified offer at its headline maximum, sorted high to low.
Three of the six offers come from the big banks and account for $2,600 of the $2,945 total. The direct-bank and two fintech offers add the remaining $345. In plain terms: the big money is concentrated in bundle offers, it is the hardest to earn, and it is where the fine print bites.
Sorted by headline value, largest first. Each amount was checked against the provider's own page on 31 July 2026, except KOHO and Neo, which come from Bremo's tracker.
| Institution | Headline bonus | Category | Key requirement |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scotiabank | Up to $1,000 | Big-bank bundle | Bundle an eligible chequing package, a savings account, and a credit card, and set up direct deposit. The chequing package alone is worth $700 of the total. Offer runs to 29 October 2026. |
| CIBC | Up to $850 | Big-bank bundle | Open an eligible CIBC Smart Account and bundle qualifying products. Conditions and qualifying actions apply. |
| TD | Up to $750 | Big-bank bundle | Open a TD All-Inclusive or Unlimited Chequing account and complete two qualifying activities. The chequing bonus alone is $500. Offer runs to 1 October 2026. |
| Simplii Financial | $300 | Direct bank, no fee | Open the No Fee Chequing account and set up eligible direct deposit. Offer ends 30 September 2026. |
| Neo Financial | $25 | Fintech, spending | Fund or make a qualifying purchase, no monthly fee. |
| KOHO | $20 cash | Fintech, spending | Use code BREMO2026 and complete the qualifying step. Comes with three months of KOHO Extra free, a $36 value. Details at our KOHO page. |
Amounts are maximum promotional values in Canadian dollars, verified against each provider's own live page on 31 July 2026, except KOHO and Neo, which come from Bremo's tracker and All Bonuses pages. The three big-bank figures are bundle maximums that generally require a monthly-fee plan, extra products, and direct deposit held for a set period, so the standalone chequing bonus is lower.
The $2,945 total assumes you claim every offer at its maximum. You cannot, at least not at once, and the reason is direct deposit. Most of the larger bonuses require you to route a recurring direct deposit, usually payroll, into the new account and hold it for a set period. Most people have one payroll to route. That single constraint splits the market cleanly in two.
Four offers (Scotiabank, CIBC, TD, Simplii) hinge on routing direct deposit or qualifying activity. With one payroll to move, these are realistically claimed one at a time and sequenced across the year as each holding period ends. Most are new-client-only, so once per bank.
Two offers (KOHO and Neo) turn on signing up or funding rather than moving payroll, so they can be pursued in parallel. Together they come to up to $45, and each carries its own small qualifying step. KOHO's reward is $20 in cash plus a value bundle rather than all cash.
A disciplined switcher works both halves at once: open the two fintech accounts in parallel, then move payroll from one big-bank promo to the next as each clears. A realistic first year might capture two of the chequing offers at their standalone tiers, say Scotiabank ($700) and TD ($500), alongside the two fintech bonuses ($45). That path reaches about $1,245, well under the $2,945 ceiling, and even that assumes you hit each tier and clear every requirement. The honest takeaway: the total measures what the market is advertising, not what one household takes home.
Every big-bank figure is a maximum. The advertised amount usually stacks several conditions (direct deposit, pre-authorized payments, a minimum balance, an eStatement). Miss one rung and you earn a smaller tier, or nothing.
Most offers require a recurring direct deposit or a held balance for a set period. With one payroll to route, you cannot satisfy the direct-deposit offers simultaneously, which is why the realistic stack is smaller than the total.
The largest chequing bonuses generally require a monthly-fee plan. The fee is often waived for a promo window, then charged. Unless you downgrade or close in time, the fee reduces what you actually keep.
In Canada, cash sign-up and referral bonuses are generally treated as taxable income and may be reported on a tax slip. This is general information, not tax advice. Confirm your own situation with a tax professional.
Scotiabank, CIBC, and TD reach their headline maximums only when you also open a savings account or credit card and hold a direct deposit. Open the chequing account alone and the bonus is smaller: about $700 at Scotiabank and $500 at TD. Read what the top tier actually requires before you compare banks dollar for dollar.
KOHO's welcome offer is $20 in cash plus three months of its paid tier free, a $36 value rather than deposited money. Weigh cash and bundled value separately when you compare offers.
Most promotions are for new clients only, so each institution is usually a once-per-lifetime claim. That caps how far a single person can stack, no matter how many offers exist.
This is a snapshot verified 31 July 2026. Amounts, eligibility, and deadlines move, and some differ by province. Always verify the current offer on the provider's own page before you apply.
Cite this report as: Voss, Allastair. "The State of Canadian Bank Bonuses, 2026." Bremo, published 18 July 2026, verified 31 July 2026, bremo.io/state-of-canadian-bank-bonuses-2026. The underlying dataset is published as open data at bremo.io/open-data.
bremo.io is an independent Canadian personal finance site. We may earn a referral fee when you open an account through some of our links, which never affects our rankings or the figures in this report. Bonus amounts, eligibility, and terms change without notice and vary by province, so always verify the current offer directly with the provider.