How We Research

At Canadian Money Guide, every recommendation and comparison we publish is built on publicly available information. We don't test products ourselves, we don't hold accounts with every bank, and we never claim personal experience with a financial product. Instead, we follow a systematic research process.

Our Research Process

Step 1: Aggregate Official Data

We pull information directly from official sources:

• Rates and fees — from each financial institution's published rate sheets, fee schedules, and product disclosure documents
• Account features — from product pages (chequing features, savings account terms, credit card benefits, mortgage conditions)
• Regulatory filings — from the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada (FCAC), provincial regulators, and the Bank of Canada

Step 2: Cross-Reference Multiple Sources

No single source is definitive. For every claim we make, we cross-reference:

• The institution's own website and terms
• Third-party comparison platforms (Ratehub, NerdWallet Canada)
• Government resources (FCAC comparison tools, OSFI data)
• Independent financial literacy resources (provincial securities commissions)

Step 3: Incorporate User Sentiment

We review publicly available user feedback to identify patterns:

• Reddit communities (r/PersonalFinanceCanada, r/CanadianInvestor)
• Trustpilot and Google Reviews
• Better Business Bureau complaints
• Consumer advocacy group reports

Step 4: Fact-Check Before Publishing

Every article goes through a multi-point verification:

• All quoted rates and fees are checked against the source within 7 days of publication
• Numerical claims (APR, annual fees, minimum balances) are verified against at least two independent sources
• Government statistics and regulatory references link directly to the official source

Step 5: Update Regularly

• Savings account rates and GIC rates: reviewed every 90 days
• Credit card offers: reviewed every 6 months or when a major issuer announces changes
• Mortgage rates: reviewed monthly during Bank of Canada rate decision periods
• Educational guides: reviewed annually
• Every page shows its "last updated" date

What We Don't Do

• We don't accept payment to rank one product above another
• We don't write "reviews" based on a single person's experience
• We don't claim a product is "the best" without explaining exactly what criteria we used and for whom it might not be the best choice
• We don't publish information we can't verify from public sources

Our Team

Canadian Money Guide is a research team, not a single author. Our content is produced by researchers who specialise in aggregating and comparing Canadian financial products using public data. We don't have a public face — our work speaks for itself through transparent sourcing and clear methodology.

Author

Alex Chen — Lead Researcher. Alex has been analysing Canadian financial products since 2020 and maintains our rate tracking database.

Reviewer

Sarah Tremblay, CFP® — Sarah is a Certified Financial Planner with 12 years of experience in Canadian retail banking and wealth management. She reviews all commercial comparison pages for accuracy.

Have a question about our research process? Contact us.

Found an error? Let us know — we'll verify and correct it within 48 hours.