Every credit card on this site gets scored the same way, using the same five categories, before I write a single word of the review. This page is that scoring system, laid out in full — what I weigh, why I weigh it that way, and what the different badges you see around the site (like “Ms Miles Top Pick”) actually mean.
I’m publishing this for two reasons. First, because “trust me” isn’t good enough — if I’m telling you a card is worth an annual fee, you should be able to see exactly how I got there. Second, because most Canadian card comparison sites score for a solo, high-income, luxury traveller. I don’t. Every category below is weighted for what actually changes a real Canadian family’s finances: groceries, gas, kids’ activities, and whether the flights you earn actually get booked.
The Five Categories
Every card is scored 1–5 in each category below, then combined into a weighted overall score out of 5. The weighting is fixed across every card I review — I don’t quietly shift the formula to make a favourite card look better.
1. Welcome Bonus Value — 25%
Not the headline point number. I convert the bonus to a real dollar value at a conservative, realistic redemption rate for that program (not the best-case “if you redeem for first class to Tokyo” number most sites use), then weigh that against how much you actually have to spend and how long you have to wait to get the whole thing. A 100,000-point bonus split into three tranches over 18 months scores lower here than an 80,000-point bonus you get in one shot after $3,000 in spend — even though the headline number is smaller.
2. Everyday Earning Power — 25%
How the card performs on the spending a Canadian family is already doing — groceries, gas, kids’ activities, bill payments — not just on flights and hotels. This is where I dock points that other sites don’t: a card that earns 5x on groceries but isn’t accepted at Sobeys, Safeway, or IGA loses real points here, because “5x if your store takes this card” isn’t the same as 5x.
3. Fees & Real Cost — 20%
The annual fee weighed against what you actually get back — free-night certificates, lounge access you’ll use, insurance you’d otherwise pay for separately — plus foreign transaction fees, since those quietly erode a lot of the value families think they’re earning on cross-border spend.
4. Family-Specific Value — 15%
This category doesn’t exist on most comparison sites, and it’s the one I care about most. Free or low-cost supplementary cards for a spouse, insurance that actually covers dependents, companion vouchers, and whether the points you earn are realistically enough to cover more than one seat. A card built for a solo business traveller can still score well overall and score low here — that’s the point.
5. Redemption Flexibility & Longevity — 15%
Blackout dates, transfer partners, whether points expire, and whether the card is still worth carrying in year two once the welcome bonus is long spent. A card that’s incredible for 12 months and mediocre after that scores lower here than one that keeps paying off.
What the Badges Mean
Ms Miles Top Pick — my personal shortlist, not a pure score cutoff. The five-category score above is never adjusted to justify a badge — a card’s score is what it is, published as-is — but the badge itself is a separate, curated call layered on top of that honest number. It marks the handful of cards I’d actually put in my own wallet and recommend most often when a Canadian family asks me where to start, which sometimes means a slightly lower-scoring card makes the list because it’s the better starting point for most families, while a higher-scoring but more niche card doesn’t.
No FX Fees — a factual tag, not a score. It means exactly what it says: no foreign transaction fee on purchases made outside Canada, confirmed against the issuer’s current disclosure.
A card without either badge isn’t a card I’m warning you away from — most cards on this site are genuinely good for the right household. The badges just mark the shortlist.
How Independence Works
Ms Miles earns a commission on some of the cards reviewed on this site if you apply through a link here — that’s disclosed in full on the Affiliate & Advertising Disclosure page. The scoring above is run the same way regardless of whether a card pays a commission, and a card’s score is set before I check what it pays. If a high-paying card scores a 2.8, I publish 2.8.
Keeping Scores Current
Welcome bonuses and fees change — sometimes month to month. Every review on this site carries a “reflects the offer as of [date]” line, and I re-check the numbers behind a card’s score whenever I update that post. If you ever see a number on this site that doesn’t match what you find on the issuer’s page, tell me and I’ll fix it.
This page covers scoring. For how I source the underlying numbers, how often I recheck them, and how corrections work, see my Editorial Policy.