When you shop at any major grocery store, you’ll likely be asked if you’re a loyalty member at checkout. If so, you scan your membership and collect points, which can later be redeemed for free groceries and merchandise. Sounds simple, but like any loyalty program, it’s never that easy.
With grocery loyalty programs, there are typically three ways to earn points: on every purchase, on the dollar amount you spend with a minimum threshold, or through personalized or weekly offers. That means you could be shopping at the same store for years and not get anything meaningful in return, given how the program awards points.
To earn more points, many grocery loyalty programs now have co-branded credit cards. These cards can be highly lucrative since you’ll be able to rack up the rewards quicker, but the return you get from those cards may not be better than what you’d get from traditional cards that have high earning rates at grocery stores or offer strong cash back, such as the American Express Cobalt Card, Rogers Red World Elite Mastercard and Wealthsimple credit card.
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I’ve been covering credit cards and loyalty programs for more than a decade and have followed their evolution from basic rewards into full-fledged loyalty coalitions. To rank the programs, I factored in the value of points, how many banner stores they have, non-grocery-store partners, co-branded credit card offerings and what you can redeem your points for.
Unsurprisingly, national grocery chains that have established their loyalty programs through larger coalitions rank higher than stores with only a regional presence.
If two grocery stores are an equal distance from where you live, it might make sense to switch where you shop based on the points you can earn. However, in the end, choosing the store that has the lowest prices will likely save you the most money, regardless of what points you can earn.
Longo’s is a specialty grocery store that’s mostly found in the Greater Toronto Area. Its loyalty program, Thank You Rewards, is as basic as it gets. You earn 10 points for every $25 you spend each week, plus extra points from weekly app offers.
Once you hit 2,000 points, you can redeem them for $10 off groceries. That means you’d need to spend $5,000 at the base rate just to get any savings. Even with bonus offers, the value isn’t great.
Longo’s has member pricing on select items each week, so you should join to ensure you’re getting the lowest advertised prices.
The program falls short because there’s no co‑branded credit card to help you earn points faster.
In Ontario, Metro shoppers earn one point for every three dollars spent. But in Quebec and New Brunswick, it jumps to one point per dollar. Jean Coutu store purchases also earn you one point per dollar in all three provinces.
No matter where you live, you won’t earn points at Food Basics, Super C or Première Moisson. However, all stores allow you to earn bonus points through targeted and in‑store offers.
For shoppers in Quebec or New Brunswick, Moi Rewards becomes more valuable if you bank with RBC. The Moi RBC Visa earns you one point per dollar spent everywhere, which stacks with the base earn-rate at Metro and Jean Coutu.
That means you’re earning two points per dollar in Quebec and New Brunswick, or 1.33 points per dollar at participating stores in Ontario.
Alternatively, if you link an eligible RBC debit or credit card, you’ll earn one extra point for every two dollars spent as long as you hit the minimum purchase of $60 at Metro, Food Basics and Super C; $40 at Jean Coutu and Brunet; and $10 at Première Moisson.
To redeem your points in all three provinces, you need 125 points to get one dollar off.
Even though Moi Rewards has a credit card that earns you points on every purchase, the overall value isn’t great. However, if you shop for groceries at Metro or Jean Coutu, you should definitely be collecting points.
More Rewards is popular in Alberta and British Columbia since you can earn points on groceries, pharmacy, vehicles, travel, pizza and more. It ranks a bit higher than Moi simply because it has so many partners where you can earn and redeem your points.
The base earn rate is one More Rewards point per dollar spent, with weekly and personalized offers that can boost your total.
To boost your earning rate, you can get the More Rewards RBC Visa Infinite card, which gives you eight points per dollar at More Rewards partner locations, gas stations and restaurants. All other purchases earn four points per dollar.
However, the card requires a personal income of $60,000. If you don’t meet that requirement, the regular More Rewards RBC Visa is available, but its earn rates are lower.
When it’s time to redeem, 10,000 points get you $15 off your grocery bill, which sounds great, but the earning rate is still weak even with a co-branded credit card. Interestingly enough, if you redeem your points through More Rewards Travel, your points can be worth about three times more.
Costco doesn’t have a traditional loyalty program, but the Executive Membership is worth mentioning. It costs $130 per year and gives you 2-per-cent cash back on Costco purchases.
Since a regular membership costs $65 a year, the break-even point for upgrading is $3,250 per year. However, if your yearly cash back doesn’t exceed the $65 difference, Costco will refund the shortfall, so there’s no real risk.
Pairing it with the CIBC Costco Mastercard gives you an even higher return. You earn an additional 1-per-cent cash back at Costco warehouses and 2 per cent at Costco.ca, bringing your total to 3 per cent in‑store and 4 per cent online.
We’re down to the top two, and it’s no surprise that the national grocery loyalty programs take the lead. At this stage, it’s less about which one you choose and more about understanding how each program works so you can maximize your rewards.
PC Optimum is hugely popular because you can earn points at Loblaws‑owned grocery stores, Shoppers Drug Mart and Esso gas stations. Normally, you earn points through in‑store and personalized offers, but adding a PC Financial credit card boosts your earning rate significantly, and there are multiple cards to choose from.
The PC Financial World Elite Mastercard has no annual fee and gives you 3 per cent back in points when shopping at Loblaws-owned grocery stores, 4.5 per cent at Shoppers Drug Mart/Pharmaprix, 3 cents in points per litre at Esso/Mobil gas stations and 1 per cent on all other purchases.
You can also upgrade to the PC Insiders World Elite Mastercard for $120 a year. It boosts your points earning rate to 4 per cent at Loblaws-owned grocery stores, 5 per cent at Shoppers, up to 7 cents per litre in points at Esso/Mobil and 1 per cent everywhere else.
On top of that, you get an extra 2 per cent back and free PC Express delivery and pickup on $30-plus orders.
Both cards require you to have a $80,000 personal income or $150,000 household income to qualify. Lower‑tier cards are available with easier approval, but the earn rates are lower too.
Redemptions are where PC Optimum really shines. At Loblaws grocery stores, 10,000 points get you $10 off, which is solid, but partner redemptions can deliver even more.
For instance, an Esso car wash – worth up to $22 – costs 10,000 points, effectively doubling the value of your points. If you wait for a Shoppers Drug Mart bonus redemption event, the return gets even sweeter. A recent promo let members redeem 200,000 points for $300, giving you an extra $100 in value, which is a 50-per-cent boost.
From a pure value standpoint, PC Optimum ranks first. But it’s still not my personal top pick for grocery loyalty programs.
Scene+ ranks number one for me in the grocery loyalty space because of its diverse network of partners, strong credit card lineup and flexible points.
If you have the Scotiabank Gold American Express Card ($120 annual fee), you’ll earn six Scene+ points per dollar spent at Empire Co. Ltd. grocery stores (Sobeys, Safeway, Foodland and more) and five points at other grocery stores, restaurants and entertainment merchants; three points on gas, transit and streaming; and one point on everything else.
Scene+ recently announced Shell as a national partner. When you link your Scene+ credit card (Scotiabank or Tangerine) to your Shell Go+ account, you’ll get an instant three-cents-per-litre discount every time you pay with your linked card, and you’ll earn Scene+ points on the same fill‑up.
While Scene+ doesn’t have a national pharmacy program such as PC Optimum, it does include Cineplex, Home Hardware, and select entertainment and restaurant partners in its coalition.
Scene+ redemptions are simple since 1,000 points always equals $10 off whether you’re using them for groceries, redeeming with partners or applying them to any travel purchase charged to your Scene+ credit card. There aren’t any boosted redemption values, but the program makes up for it with far more flexibility than the other grocery loyalty programs.