CDIC (Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation)
SADC (Société d'assurance-dépôts du Canada) in French
Quick definition
CDIC (Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation) is the federal Crown corporation that automatically insures eligible deposits at member banks and trust companies, up to $100,000 per depositor, per insured category, per institution, if the institution fails.
A safety net you already have
CDIC was created by Parliament in 1967 to answer one question: what happens to your money if your bank fails? The answer is that CDIC reimburses you, automatically, up to the insured limits. You do not sign up, you do not pay a premium, and you do not fill out a form when a failure happens. If your money is in an eligible deposit at a member institution, it is covered the moment you deposit it.
Despite being a federal Crown corporation, CDIC is not funded by your taxes. Member institutions pay premiums to fund it, the same way any insurer collects premiums, and those members include the big banks, most smaller banks, federally regulated trust and loan companies, and federal credit unions.
The $100,000 rule: per depositor, per category, per institution
The headline number is $100,000 of eligible deposits per depositor, per insured category, per member institution (as of July 2026), covering both principal and interest. The part most people miss is "per category". Each of the following categories gets its own separate $100,000 of coverage at the same institution:
What counts as an eligible deposit
Eligible deposits include savings accounts, chequing accounts, GICs and other term deposits, money orders and bank drafts. Two older restrictions disappeared in 2020: GICs and term deposits of any length are now covered (the old rule excluded terms over 5 years), and foreign currency deposits, such as a US dollar savings account, are covered too.
What CDIC does not cover: investments are not deposits
CDIC insures deposits, full stop. Mutual funds, ETFs, stocks, bonds and cryptocurrency are not deposits and are never covered, even if you bought them at a CDIC member bank, and even if the account they sit in is at that bank. Their value depends on markets, and no insurance in Canada protects you from a market loss.
There is a different protection for investment accounts, but it guards against a different risk: CIPF covers your cash and securities if your investment dealer becomes insolvent and cannot return your property. It does not cover market losses either. The rule of thumb: CDIC protects deposits against bank failure, CIPF protects your property against brokerage failure, Assuris protects insurance policies against a life insurer's failure, and nothing protects anyone against an investment simply losing value.
Credit unions: a different safety net, not a missing one
Provincial credit unions and caisses populaires are not CDIC members. They are covered by provincial deposit insurers instead, and in several provinces the protection is actually broader than CDIC's. For example (as of July 2026), Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia offer unlimited coverage on credit union deposits. Ontario's regulator, FSRA, insures credit union deposits up to $250,000. In Québec, deposits with Desjardins are covered by the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF) up to $100,000.
So a credit union GIC is not less safe than a bank GIC; it is insured by a different body under different limits. The practical habit is simply to check who insures the institution, and up to how much, before you deposit a large sum.
How a payout actually works
If a member institution fails, you do not file a claim. CDIC identifies insured depositors from the institution's own records and reimburses them automatically, aiming to make most insured funds available within days. For registered accounts the money is handled so that tax shelter status is preserved.
The track record is the strongest part of the story: since 1967, CDIC has handled the failure of more than 40 member institutions, and no depositor has ever lost a single dollar of insured deposits. Bank failures are rare in Canada, and insured depositors have been made whole in every one.
Stretching your coverage
Because the limit applies per category and per institution, coverage multiplies quickly. A couple using individual, joint and registered categories can insure well over half a million dollars at a single bank, and opening an account at a second member institution resets every limit again. If you hold more than $100,000 in one category at one institution, moving the excess to another category or another member is free insurance.
In Canada
CDIC's French name is the SADC (Société d'assurance-dépôts du Canada); you will see both acronyms on bank doors and websites. The design differs from the American system: the US FDIC insures up to US$250,000 per depositor per ownership category, a higher headline number, but Canada's long list of registered account categories means a Canadian saver who uses them can insure comparable or larger totals at one institution.
One quiet detail worth knowing: some banking brands that look like one institution are actually several CDIC members under one roof, each with its own coverage, while others are divisions of a single member that share one set of limits. CDIC's website lists every member, and the distinction matters once your deposits pass $100,000.
Worked example
Miguel sells a rental property and has $400,000 to park safely while he decides what comes next. At his main bank, he keeps $100,000 in a savings account in his own name, $100,000 in a joint account with his spouse, and $100,000 in a GIC inside his RRSP. Those are three separate insured categories, so all $300,000 is covered at that one institution (as of July 2026).
The final $100,000 would push his individual category over the limit, so he buys a GIC at a second CDIC member bank instead, where his individual coverage starts fresh. All $400,000 is now fully insured, at the cost of one extra account opening.
Reviewed by Alexandre Bernier, CFP®, CIM®, PFP®·Updated July 2026