Monogamy is a pleasant concept in theory. But can we really expect any one credit card to satisfy all our needs? Rather than committing to one card only, cash back and rewards gurus carefully combine two or more complementary cards to fill in the others’ weaknesses.

We created hypothetical spending profiles for different types of Canadian consumers and ran the numbers to select the best credit card combinations for earning optimal cash back and rewards, without sacrificing the essential card features you need.

When reviewing the below, keep in mind that we’re focusing on long-term, multi-year value, so we didn’t factor the cards’ welcome offers into our calculations. Some of the spending profiles we created are for couples or families; others are for singles (we noted which is which). Because some credit cards are exceptionally strong for different types of spenders, they may appear in multiple categories. Now, without further ado: