BMO chequing bonus: up to $1,100 until March 1, 2027


The BMO chequing bonus pays up to $1,100 in cash, plus up to 12 months of Walmart+, to new clients who open an account between November 3, 2026 and March 1, 2027. The money comes in three steps, and each step has its own conditions. This guide lists them, adds up what the account costs, and shows which total fits your situation. It sits in our banking hub, and it replaces the smaller $900 figure we published in our monthly list of bank account welcome offers.
All figures were read on November 3, 2026 from our account catalogue and from the official BMO offer page. BMO can change the terms, so confirm them there before you apply.
The offer is called Winter Everyday Banking. It runs from November 3, 2026 to March 1, 2027 and applies to two accounts: the BMO Performance Chequing Account ($17.95 a month) and the BMO Premium Chequing Account ($30.95 a month). Both waive the monthly fee when you keep a minimum balance. BMO also advertises a smaller offer on its Practical account, which we do not cover here.
Every amount is a maximum. You earn each part only when you meet its conditions, and you must finish Step 1 before Step 2 counts. The table below sums up the three steps.
| Step | Bonus | Key condition | Deadline |
|---|---|---|---|
| Step 1 | Up to $800 | Direct deposit of $500 or more, plus 2 bill payments or 2 pre-authorized debits of $50 or more | Account by March 1, 2027; conditions by April 30, 2027 |
| Step 2 | Up to $200 | Complete Step 1, then deposit $10,000 or more in a Savings Amplifier Account and keep it for several months | Account by March 1, 2027; deposit within 30 days |
| Step 3 | Up to $100 | Savings account deposit and an eligible credit card approved within 30 days of opening the chequing account | Account by March 1, 2027 |
Open and fund a Performance or Premium account by March 1, 2027. Then set up a recurring direct deposit of at least $500 from your employer, the government or a pension. The first deposit must arrive by April 30, 2027.
By the same April 30 date, you must also do one of two things:
Step 1 asks for no minimum balance, no savings account and no credit card. For many people with a regular pay cheque, this is the easy part, and it is where most of the money sits.
You must complete Step 1 first. Then open a BMO Savings Amplifier Account by March 1, 2027 and deposit $10,000 or more within the first 30 calendar days. You then keep a balance of $10,000 or more for several months, under the conditions BMO sets in its terms. We do not state a number of days here, because the length of the holding period is set in BMO's terms and you should read it there before you commit.
The Savings Amplifier Account also carries a 5.00% promotional rate on balances up to $1,000,000, for the promotional period BMO indicates. Its regular rate is 0.45% (account catalogue, October 26, 2026). The account has no monthly fee.
BMO describes Step 3 as separate from Step 2. You open a Performance, Premium or Practical account and make a deposit by March 1, 2027. You open a Savings Amplifier Account and make a deposit of any amount within 30 days of opening the chequing account. And you get an eligible BMO credit card approved within 30 calendar days of opening the chequing account, as primary cardholder.
BMO also advertises no annual fee in the first year on some eligible cards, subject to its terms. That is not true of all of them: the BMO eclipse Visa Infinite Privilege keeps an annual fee of $599 in the first year. According to the BMO Private Banking brochure dated November 2, 2026, BMO applies a $300 credit (50% of the fee), which leaves about $299 to pay. Do not treat it as a free card: read the terms of the card you pick for the exact fee.
The official terms list these cards as eligible:
Accounts in the Student, Medical and Dental Student, Recent Graduate and Canadian Defence Community programs are excluded from the $100 card offer. Our card pages are the place to compare these cards. Start with our ranking of the best BMO credit cards.
To get Walmart+, open and fund a new Performance, Premium, Practical or Plus account by March 1, 2027. Then sign up or update your membership on Walmart.ca by April 30, 2027, choosing Debit Mastercard as the payment option.
Because Step 3 does not require Step 1, the totals are not a single ladder. Each row below is a maximum, and the $100 row still needs a chequing account, a savings account and an approved card.
| Total | What you do | Steps counted |
|---|---|---|
| Up to $100 | Open chequing and savings accounts and get an eligible card approved | Step 3 only |
| Up to $800 | Direct deposit of $500 or more plus 2 bill payments or 2 pre-authorized debits | Step 1 |
| Up to $900 | Step 1 plus the card and savings account | Steps 1 and 3 |
| Up to $1,000 | Step 1 plus $10,000 in the Savings Amplifier Account | Steps 1 and 2 |
| Up to $1,100 | All three steps | Steps 1, 2 and 3 |
A bonus is only worth what is left after fees. The monthly fee drops to zero when you keep the minimum balance, but that balance sits in your account instead of earning interest elsewhere.
Without the minimum balance, the Performance account costs $215.40 a year ($17.95 × 12), and the Premium account costs $371.40 ($30.95 × 12). Both figures come from BMO's fees as of November 3, 2026. If you pay the fee for a full year, the $800 from Step 1 shrinks to about $585 on Performance and about $429 on Premium.
BMO also gives a rebate on the annual fee of an eligible BMO credit card: up to $40 on Performance and up to $150 on Premium.
| Account | Monthly fee | Fee per year | Balance that waives the fee | Credit card fee rebate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BMO Performance Chequing Account | $17.95 | $215.40 | $4,000 | Up to $40 |
| BMO Premium Chequing Account | $30.95 | $371.40 | $6,000 | Up to $150 |
Step 2 needs $10,000 in a savings account for several months. That money earns 5.00% during the promotional period and 0.45% afterward. Eligible deposits are insured by CDIC up to $100,000 per category, so the money is not at risk. The cost is that you cannot use the $10,000 elsewhere. We do not calculate the interest you would earn, because it depends on the holding period BMO sets in its terms.
Scotiabank also has a current offer. Its Cash Bonus Bundle runs from October 30, 2026 to March 4, 2027 and pays up to $1,000 ($700 + $200 + $100), so BMO's maximum of $1,100 is $100 higher. Scotiabank sets its own conditions for each part, so read them on its official page. Our catalogue listed the TD and RBC offers as ending on November 2, 2026, so check each bank's own page. The table shows the offers we confirmed on November 3, 2026.
| Account | Welcome offer | Monthly fee | Offer end date |
|---|---|---|---|
| BMO Performance Chequing Account | Up to $1,100 cash + Walmart+ | $17.95 ($0 with $4,000) | March 1, 2027 |
| BMO Premium Chequing Account | Up to $1,100 cash + Walmart+ | $30.95 ($0 with $6,000) | March 1, 2027 |
| Scotiabank Preferred Package | Up to $1,000 ($700 + $200 + $100) | $16.95 ($0 with $4,000) | March 4, 2027 |
| Scotiabank Ultimate Package | Up to $1,000 ($700 + $200 + $100) | $30.95 ($0 with $6,000) | March 4, 2027 |
| CIBC Smart Account | Up to $850 welcome bonus | $16.95 ($0 with $4,000) | No end date published |
| Tangerine No-Fee Daily Chequing Account | $250 for moving your pay 2 months | $0 | April 30, 2027 |
BMO pays $800 for conditions that most people with a pay cheque already meet: a direct deposit and two bill payments or pre-authorized debits.
The offer is for new BMO clients. You do not qualify if you already hold a BMO chequing account, a savings account or a primary credit card. You also do not qualify if you closed a BMO account between November 3, 2025 and March 1, 2027. Each client gets one bonus, even on a joint account, and the $100 card offer has a limit of one per client.
BMO can recover the $100 card bonus if the chequing account, the savings account or the card is closed before March 1, 2028. Plan to keep all three open at least that long.
BMO states that the cash bonuses for the chequing and savings steps are paid by October 30, 2027, and the card bonus by June 30, 2027. Treat these as outer limits from the terms and read the payment timing in the BMO documents before you plan around them.
New to Canada? BMO has a dedicated version, the BMO Performance Chequing Account for Newcomers. It carries the same offer of up to $1,100 plus Walmart+, and it adds no monthly plan fees for two years, which BMO says saves $430. See the account below.
Cash bonuses are generally treated as income, so you may need to report them on your tax return. Ask the CRA or a tax professional if your situation is unusual.
These are the BMO accounts that carry the new offer. Each card pulls its current terms from our catalogue.
The BMO chequing bonus is strong because the $800 in Step 1 asks for ordinary activity: a direct deposit and two small payments. The extra $300 costs more, since it ties up $10,000 for several months and requires an approved credit card. Count the monthly fee too, and only chase the full $1,100 if the numbers still work for you.
For a broader look at fees and features, use our chequing account comparison and our ranking of the best chequing accounts. The official terms are on BMO's offer page, in the chequing terms and conditions (PDF) and in the credit card offer terms (PDF).
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