Canadians, Are all GICs secured?

[K-ice]

I feel like this is a bit of a dumb question.

But are all GICs secured?

I want to put some money away for 2 years in a secure spot and would like to make as much as possible.  Through my online brooker I can get products I know of like:

ROYAL BANK OF CANADA 2.5%
RBC MORTGAGE CORP 2.5%
LAURENTIAN BANK 2.6%

But the best are places I haven't heard of like:

EQUITABLE BANK 2.81%
ICICI BANK CANADA 2.81%

Should I just go for the highest return?


These would be under $100K.  I think they would be covered if they are a CDIC member.

http://www.cdic.ca/en/about-di/what-we-cover/Pages/list-members.aspx

Both ICICI and Equitable bank are on this list so.... I think I'm OK but I just wanted to check with you smart Folks!

Thanks,

[oneyearfromnow]

Mostly yes.

In my days working for a major chartered, GICs were secured up to 60K per insurer under CDIC.

TD bank had many insurers (TD Pacific, TD Central, TD Eastern, etc).

You could also investigate a high end (read dollar value per initial deposit) no load Money Market Mutual fund.  Not as locked in, a little more flexibility.

[RichMoose]

Right now EQ Bank (part of Equitable) has a 2 year GIC at 3.05% on the retail side. It's CDIC covered up to $100,000 per person, per account type.

I think this is the highest rate available right now, but as you point out ICICI is not bad either.