CDIC Deposit Insurance: What's Covered in Canada (2026)

If a Canadian bank ever failed, would you lose your savings? For eligible deposits at a CDIC member, no. CDIC deposit insurance protects your money up to $100,000 per category at each member institution, automatically and for free. You don’t apply for it, you don’t pay for it, and it applies the moment you open an eligible account. Here’s exactly what CDIC covers, what it doesn’t, and how to insure well over $100,000 without leaving the bank you already use.

What is CDIC deposit insurance, and what does it cover?

CDIC is the Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation, a federal Crown corporation that protects your deposits if one of its member banks fails. It covers everyday deposit products like chequing accounts, savings accounts, and GICs, up to $100,000 per category. It doesn’t cover investments like stocks, mutual funds, or crypto, because those aren’t deposits.

Founded in 1967, CDIC is backed by the federal government and funded by premiums its members pay, not by taxpayers. Its members include Canada’s big banks, most online banks, and many trust and loan companies. When you see “CDIC member” on a bank’s website or door, your eligible deposits there are insured from the day you open the account.

The dividing line is simple: CDIC insures deposits, not investments. A GIC is a deposit, so it’s covered. A mutual fund or a stock you bought at the same bank is an investment, so it isn’t, even though you bought it at a CDIC member. One more trap worth knowing: coverage only exists at member institutions, so a deposit-like product sold by a company that isn’t a CDIC member carries no CDIC protection at all. You can confirm any institution’s status on the CDIC website (opens in a new tab).

How much does CDIC insure? The $100,000 limit, explained

CDIC insures up to $100,000 per depositor, per category, per member bank, including both principal and interest. The part most people miss is “per category.” There are nine separate coverage categories, each with its own $100,000 limit, so one person can insure far more than $100,000 at a single bank.

The $100,000 figure has stood since 2005.

Add them up and the theoretical maximum at a single CDIC member is $900,000 for one person, though almost no one fills every category (an FHSA, for example, caps out at $40,000 in lifetime contributions). A more realistic example: a couple can hold $100,000 each in their own names, another $100,000 in a joint account, and $100,000 each in their TFSAs. That’s $500,000 insured at one bank, with no special setup. And since the limit applies separately at each member institution, spreading a larger balance across two or three banks multiplies your protection again. For more on where to park cash so it earns a competitive rate, see our roundup of the best high-interest savings accounts in Canada.

Are online banks and money apps CDIC insured?

Most are, but the details differ. Some online banks are CDIC members in their own right, so their deposits are insured directly. Others aren’t banks at all and instead hold your money in trust at a partner bank that’s a member. And a few share their parent bank’s coverage, which changes how much you’re actually insured for.

Two nuances are worth calling out. First, Tangerine is insured separately from its parent Scotiabank, but Simplii is a division of CIBC, so money at Simplii and money at CIBC share a single $100,000-per-category limit. If you keep large balances at both, you may be less insured than you assume. Second, apps like Wealthsimple and KOHO aren’t banks, so they place your cash in trust at CDIC member institutions, and your coverage comes from those partner banks. That’s why it pays to know who actually holds your money. Wealthsimple’s chequing account, for instance, spreads balances across several member banks to extend coverage up to $1,000,000. For the bigger picture on this shift, see why young adults are choosing online banks.

What about credit unions? Are they insured too?

Yes, but not by CDIC. Credit unions and caisses populaires are provincially regulated, so their deposits are covered by a provincial insurer instead. In several provinces that coverage is actually more generous than CDIC’s, and in some it has no dollar limit at all.

CDIC only covers federally regulated banks. Credit unions answer to their province, and each province runs its own deposit insurer. A few examples as of 2026:

• Ontario: the Financial Services Regulatory Authority insures $250,000 per non-registered category, and registered accounts like RRSPs and TFSAs have no limit at all.
• Quebec: the Autorité des marchés financiers insures deposits at Desjardins caisses up to $100,000 per category, mirroring CDIC (AMF (opens in a new tab)).
• Manitoba, Saskatchewan, British Columbia, and Alberta: the provincial guarantee corporations back 100% of deposits, with no cap.

So a credit union isn’t a step down on safety. It’s a different insurer, often with a higher ceiling. Check your province’s insurer for the exact terms, which the Canadian Credit Union Association (opens in a new tab) lists by region.

Is CDIC’s $100,000 limit going up?

Possibly. In July 2025 the federal government launched a review of deposit insurance and proposed raising the limit to $150,000 per category, which is roughly what $100,000 would be worth today after two decades of inflation. As of mid-2026 it’s still a proposal, not law, so the current limit remains $100,000.

The $100,000 cap hasn’t moved since 2005, and the Department of Finance’s consultation floated several changes at once: the $150,000 limit, a higher $500,000 tier for businesses and other non-retail depositors, and temporary coverage of up to $1,000,000 for people holding a large balance for a short time after a major life event, like selling a home. The comment period closed in September 2025 and the government is weighing the feedback (Department of Finance Canada (opens in a new tab)). Nothing has changed yet, so plan around today’s $100,000 per category.

How Lodavo fits in

Deposit insurance protects the money sitting in your bank, and Lodavo doesn’t change that, because Lodavo never holds your money. It connects to your existing bank account with read-only access, so you can track your savings each week and earn free tickets in the weekly draw. Your savings keep whatever CDIC or provincial coverage they already had.

That’s the part people find surprising. You don’t move your savings to a new account or hand them to a new company to hold. You keep saving in the bank you already use, and the more you set aside, the more tickets you earn toward a weekly draw with prizes up to $10,000, plus a guaranteed prize of at least $100 that goes to a user every single week. Even a small week of saving puts you in the draw. If you want the full trust rundown, we wrote a separate honest look at whether Lodavo is safe and legit.

The bottom line

Deposit insurance is one of the reasons the Canadian banking system feels boring, in the best way. Know which category your money sits in, keep each balance under the limit or spread it across members, and your eligible savings are protected no matter what happens to the bank. Then you can get on with the more interesting part: actually building the savings, and having a bit of fun doing it.

Ready to make saving something to look forward to? Download Lodavo free on the Apple App Store (opens in a new tab) or Google Play Store (opens in a new tab) and start earning tickets for the weekly draw.

Terms and conditions apply. No purchase necessary (alternate method of entry available). Skill-testing question required. Open to legal residents of Canada who are the age of majority. Odds depend on the number of eligible entries received. Full rules and odds at our contest rules.