The Short Answer
Canadian credit card income requirements fall into a handful of fixed tiers, and the tier is set mostly by the card's network level, not by the bank or the annual fee.
Of the 122 cards in our catalogue, 65 publish a minimum income. Only 8 cards ask for six figures of personal income. If you earn $60,000, you already qualify for most of the travel and cash back cards.
How Income Tiers Work
Majority of the income tiers are not set card by card. They come with the network tier the card is issued on — Visa Infinite, World Elite Mastercard, Visa Infinite Privilege — and every bank issuing at that tier uses the same numbers.
That is why the requirement is so predictable once you know the card's full name:
| Tier | Personal income | Household income | Cards in our catalogue |
|---|---|---|---|
| Visa Infinite Privilege | $150,000 | $200,000 | 8 |
| World Elite Mastercard | $80,000 | $150,000 | 18 |
| Visa Infinite | $60,000 | $100,000 | 12 |
| World Mastercard | $50,000 | $80,000 | 6 |
| Entry-level cards | $12,000–$15,000 | — | 21 |
| No published minimum | — | — | 57 |
Verified against our catalogue on 7 October 2026. One card breaks the pattern: the RBC Avion Visa Infinite Privilege asks for $200,000 personal or household, higher than every other Privilege card.
Personal or Household — You Only Need One
Where a card lists both numbers, you need to meet either of them, not both. Personal income is what you earn yourself. Household income is the combined income of the people you live with.
This matters more than people expect. A couple earning $55,000 each does not qualify for a World Elite card on personal income, but at $110,000 combined they clear the Visa Infinite household bar of $100,000 comfortably. The household figure is often the easier route in, and is often the most looked over.
The Six-Figure Cards
These are the 8 cards that ask for $150,000 or more in personal income:
| Card | Annual fee | Personal | Household |
|---|---|---|---|
| RBC Avion Visa Infinite Privilege | $399 | $200,000 | $200,000 |
| CIBC Aeroplan Visa Infinite Privilege | $599 | $150,000 | $200,000 |
| BMO eclipse Visa Infinite Privilege | $599 | $150,000 | $200,000 |
| Scotia Passport Visa Infinite Privilege | $599 | $150,000 | $200,000 |
| TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Privilege | $599 | $150,000 | $200,000 |
| CIBC Aventura Visa Infinite Privilege | $499 | $150,000 | $200,000 |
| Desjardins Odyssey Visa Infinite Privilege | $395 | $150,000 | $200,000 |
| Wealthsimple Visa Infinite Privilege | $240 | $150,000 | $200,000 |
The Wealthsimple card is the exception worth knowing about. Income is not the only way in: Wealthsimple also accepts $50,000 in annual card spending or $400,000 in assets held with them. Its $240 fee is billed as $20 a month and is waived for clients with $100,000+ in assets or $4,000+ a month in direct deposits. Wealthsimple also issues a lower Visa Infinite + tier, and you only need to meet one of these criteria for either card:
| Criteria | Visa Infinite Privilege | Visa Infinite + |
|---|---|---|
| Personal income | $150,000 | $80,000 |
| Household income | $200,000 | $150,000 |
| Annual spend | $50,000 | $25,000 |
| Assets with Wealthsimple | $400,000 | $300,000 |
The World Elite Tier: $80,000
Eighteen cards sit at $80,000 personal or $150,000 household. This is the tier with the widest range of annual fees, from $199 down to $0.
Three World Elite cards in our catalogue charge no annual fee at all:
Nothing about a $0 fee makes these easier to get. They carry the same $80,000 bar as the $199 BMO VIPorter World Elite. If you earn below $80,000, the fee is not what decides whether these are open to you.
The Visa Infinite Tier: $60,000
Twelve cards ask for $60,000 personal or $100,000 household. This tier holds most of the mainstream mid-fee travel and cash back cards from the big banks, including the TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite, CIBC Aventura Visa Infinite, Scotia Passport Visa Infinite +, RBC Avion Visa Infinite and BMO eclipse Visa Infinite.
One card here charges nothing: the More Rewards RBC Visa Infinite has no annual fee and the same $60,000 bar.
The World Mastercard Tier: $50,000
Six cards ask for $50,000 personal or $80,000 household. Four of them have no annual fee — the Tangerine Money-Back World Mastercard, PC World Mastercard, Neo World Mastercard and Rogers Red World Mastercard. The other two are the MBNA Smart Cash World Mastercard at $39 and the National Bank World Mastercard at $115.
The Entry Tier: $12,000 to $15,000
Twenty-one cards publish a bar this low, and almost all of them come from two banking groups. Scotiabank and Tangerine use $12,000 across ten cards. CIBC uses $15,000 across most of its non-Infinite range, including its Costco and Simplii cards.
The surprise is what sits in this tier. The Scotiabank Platinum Amex carries a $399 annual fee and asks for only $12,000 in income. The CIBC Aventura Gold Visa, at $139, asks for $15,000. A high annual fee does not mean a high income bar.
The Cards That Publish No Minimum
Fifty-seven cards in our catalogue publish no income requirement. Most are what you would expect — no-fee cards, student cards and secured cards. But the list also includes some of the most expensive cards in the country:
| Card | Annual fee |
|---|---|
| Amex Platinum Card | $799 |
| Amex Aeroplan Reserve | $599 |
| Amex Gold Rewards | $250 |
| Amex Cobalt | $191.88 |
| Amex SimplyCash Preferred | $119.88 |
American Express cards run on Amex's own network rather than Visa or Mastercard, so none of the tiers above apply to them. None of the cards Amex issues itself in our catalogue publishes an income minimum.
The same caution from our caps post applies here: "no published minimum" is not the same as "no minimum." It means the issuer does not state a number. Approval still depends on your income, your credit history and your existing debt. What it does mean is that a $799 card is not automatically closed to someone earning $55,000 — while a $0 World Elite card is, unless their household clears $150,000.
Meeting the Bar Is Not Approval
An income minimum is a floor, not a promise. Clearing it gets your application considered. The decision still comes down to your credit score, your payment history, how much credit you already have and how much of it you are using.
A few things worth knowing before you apply:
- Use your gross income. The bars are pre-tax annual income, not take-home pay.
- Expect to be asked for proof. Issuers can request pay stubs, a T4 or a notice of assessment, especially for the higher tiers. State the number you can document.
- Use household income if it helps. If your own income falls short but your combined household income clears the bar, the household route is there for exactly that reason.
How to Use This
Start from your income, not from the card. Find the highest tier you clear on either personal or household income, and compare the cards within it — and every tier below it, since a lower-tier card is still available to you and sometimes earns more for your spending.
If you are short of a tier, look at the cards with no published minimum before settling, and remember that a high fee is not a signal of a high bar. The rewards calculator ranks cards on what they would actually earn you, and our best no-fee credit cards and best travel credit cards pages are ordered on merit, not on who pays us.