Log In
Register
Home
Topic RSS
Facebook
Twitter
Email this4:24 pm
May 15, 2007
Offline
I've just created a new GIC comparison table for a couple of reasons:
- It has been frequently requested over the years
- Other ones such as from RateHub or the Financial Post are very obviously skewed by sponsorship or are missing some of the financial institutions we track
It's still a work in progress but should get automatically updated every morning.
It has its limitations, including the following:
- It is limited to the financial institutions on the main comparison chart
- I'm only pulling the 1- through 5-year rates.
- It shows promo rates only if they're listed on a financial institution's main rates page
- I stuck with the non-redeemable, non-registered rates. The TFSA and RRSP GIC rates are usually the same, though.
4:46 pm
September 11, 2013
Offline
Awesome, Peter, thanks! You can see that in the last months there's been way more talk on here about GICs than on HISA rates (and if it wasn't for the promos there'd be not much talk at all about HISAs) so I can see this move broadening the appeal of the site.
5:10 pm
November 19, 2014
Offline
+1
What a great resource. Thanks very much.
Hope this makes your already great site even more popular.
Cheers.
5:16 pm
February 16, 2013
Offline
+1 Great job Peter!
You will also need to set up a link or tab on the main page.
6:49 pm
October 21, 2013
Offline
Great! You've made some judicious calls here.
3:37 am
April 7, 2016
Offline
Perfect, thanks Peter!
5:09 am
December 20, 2016
Offline
Thank you Peter! It's an area of particular interest for me, so I will be using it.
Would you consider including rates for terms that are out of the usual annual terms, such as Oaken's 18 month 3% term, or specific promos such as Meridian's 90 day 2.5% rate
Also perhaps place an asterisk on Hubert's 2.45% one year rate to explain that it's the average for a quarterly cashable rate.
Stephen
7:51 am
December 17, 2016
Offline
Good work, Peter. I think it's perfect the way it is - it would quickly spiral out of control if you were to include the special 64-day rate, the 9-month rate, the baker's dozen rate, the 33-month rate, the leap-year rate, etc, etc, etc. PLUS there would be absolutely no end to the maintenance of the chart.
Stick with what you've got there, Peter.
8:23 am
January 3, 2009
Offline
Thank you for your hard work Peter!
8:47 am
November 7, 2014
Offline
Again, great work and thanks for your efforts.
Do you have any desire to extend this list, with the help of our input, to include other financial institutions beyond those listed on the main comparison chart? There are numerous other financial institutions with other GIC options out there. Some are more obscure than others, but do have rates listed on their websites.
8:59 am
May 15, 2007
Offline
Thanks for the feedback so far.
Regarding promos for non-standard terms, I'd like to follow the convention of the main chart and leave those for the promos page. Since GIC rates are essentially locked in (in most cases) once you open them, promos on standard terms are included in the chart as long as they're displayed on the financial institutions' main rates pages. All of the possible exceptions are daunting, and I essentially wrote a crawler to avoid having to do manual checks all the time. (This still requires regular maintenance if URLs and page structures change.)
We could definitely consider other financial institutions, who might be nationally competitive with their GIC rates but not competitive with their regular and TFSA savings rates.
9:08 am
December 17, 2016
Offline
Peter said
... All of the possible exceptions are daunting ...
EXACTLY.
10:25 am
October 27, 2013
Offline
I agree. Members of this site can do their own heavy lifting re promos and post them as is done now.
9:35 am
February 16, 2016
Offline
I see that the comparison chart for GIC rates needs some updating. Hubert just lowered their rates, with 5 yr now being 3.40%. Also the rates listed for MAXA are not current at present. Just thought I'd mention this.
8:29 am
May 15, 2007
Offline
ritawije said
I see that the comparison chart for GIC rates needs some updating. Hubert just lowered their rates, with 5 yr now being 3.40%. Also the rates listed for MAXA are not current at present. Just thought I'd mention this.
Thanks for the heads up. The GIC rate update happens first thing in the morning, so if a financial institution updates their rates during the day, it doesn't show up on the chart until the next morning.
9:27 am
December 7, 2016
Offline
HI PETER,
GREAT CHART. I WAS USING RATE HUB BUT SINCE I COME TO YOUR SITE EVERY DAY I'LL START USING YOURS. I AM GRATEFUL FOR ALL THE HELPFUL TOPICS YOU INCLUDE.
P.S. SORRY FOR THE CAPS, I'M NOT YELLING.
10:35 am
January 12, 2019
Offline
CHUCK21 said
HI PETER,
GREAT CHART. I WAS USING RATE HUB BUT SINCE I COME TO YOUR SITE EVERY DAY I'LL START USING YOURS. I AM GRATEFUL FOR ALL THE HELPFUL TOPICS YOU INCLUDE.
P.S. SORRY FOR THE CAPS, I'M NOT YELLING.
Good move ^, Chuck. 
Compared to Peter's work, Rate Hub is a joke.
" Live Long, Healthy ... And Prosper! "
Please write your comments in the forum.