AltaRed said
What I said was ~5 year terms (meaning approximately 5 years). I have bought at lesser terms as well but anything below 2-3 years likely wouldn't make sense with the commission and Bid/Ask spread. I felt the higher yield at ~5 years was a reasonable trade off for the likely ~5 year commitment and potential exposure to interest rates.

I am not so sure that would be what I would do today due to more 'volatility' in the bond yield curve, due primarily I believe to the absurdity and unpredictability of the nut job in the White House these days. I would likely be going shorter rather than longer albeit the bond yield curve is steepening making longer term bonds more attractive again just because of the antics of the White House.

FWIW, I never purchased a bond with a likely intention of needing to sell it before maturity due to being at the mercy of the dealer's Ask spread and thankfully never had to do that.

FWIW2, I was a buyer of BBB/BBB+ credit rated corporate bonds from the likes of 'cash flow predictable' firms like pipeline and utility companies, least likely to go insolvent in that credit rated space. Going 'long' in that credit rated space gets more uncomfortable.  

I have never done a GIC for more than 2 years. And currently it looks like being short is the right thing to do.
I did a 2 year GIC just 1 week back at 3.82% and today I can get a 2 year GIC for 4.06%.
I am little bit surprised how the market is still not panicking. Might be it takes a little while for it to digest.

$1,000 minimum for Equitable Bank GIC's. $5,000 minimum for Concentra Bank ones.

Equitable Bank family longer-term GIC rates are better there than via EQ Bank, Equitable Bank's digital channel.

Concentra rates should be the same as Equitable Bank rates through Scotia iTrade, given Equitable owns Concentra now.

Norman1 said
I suspect there aren't many Concentra Bank GIC's issued through that channel.

I never saw a credit union offer GIC's of another issuer. A credit union would more likely issue its own 5-year GIC at maybe 3.5% to the member and then quietly put the money into a Concentra Bank 5-year 4.34% GIC in its own name!  

Isn't there part of a slogan that goes, " ... and bank the rest " ?

I never saw a credit union offer GIC's of another issuer. A credit union would more likely issue its own 5-year GIC at maybe 3.5% to the member and then quietly put the money into a Concentra Bank 5-year 4.34% GIC in its own name!

Concentra Bank GIC long term

Non-redeemable GICs purchased directly from Concentra Bank, without the assistance of one of our referring agents, are no longer available. …

GICs, acquired with the assistance of one of our referring credit union agents, will continue to maturity and the financial terms honoured. If your Concentra Bank GIC is set to automatically renew, it will be done at the following rates:
…

Concentra Bank no longer offers retail deposits directly. They closed their digital channel Wyth Financial in 2023.

I am not so sure that would be what I would do today due to more 'volatility' in the bond yield curve, due primarily I believe to the absurdity and unpredictability of the nut job in the White House these days. I would likely be going shorter rather than longer albeit the bond yield curve is steepening making longer term bonds more attractive again just because of the antics of the White House.

FWIW, I never purchased a bond with a likely intention of needing to sell it before maturity due to being at the mercy of the dealer's Ask spread and thankfully never had to do that.

FWIW2, I was a buyer of BBB/BBB+ credit rated corporate bonds from the likes of 'cash flow predictable' firms like pipeline and utility companies, least likely to go insolvent in that credit rated space. Going 'long' in that credit rated space gets more uncomfortable.

AltaRed said
As an FYI, when I used to buy bonds at Scotia iTrade, I always bought face value of $25k or more, so my rule of thumb would be a 0.1% drop in posted Ask yield due to the $1/1000 commission, and effectively nothing as I would almost always buy ~5 year terms.

Bonds are one area where the discount brokerages have not 'given in' yet on reduced, i.e. $0-10 commissions, perhaps because there is little to zero fintech competition. It is a bit of a PITA because I assume they make something off the Bid-Ask spread.  

Thanks AltaRed.
Why would you buy only 5 year term bonds? Is it just because of yield?
What I was reading on chatgpt is that a shorter duration is better, if we intend to sell before maturity. Less interest rate sensitivity.

Norman1 said
When the site shows 200 shares of stock X and a $100,000 ABC Bank GIC, it means one is owed those by Scotia Capital Inc. Hopefully, Scotia Capital has 200 shares of stock X in their CDS account and ABC Bank has issued a matching $100,000 GIC to Scotia Capital.

CIPF insures one will somehow receive 200 shares of stock X and a $100,000 ABC Bank GIC or some equivalent current value of both in cash, should Scotia Capital fail as a brokerage.  

One clarification. 'Equivalent current value of both in cash' means as of the date of solvency. For the stock, it would be value of the 200 shares on date of insolvency and I presume for the GIC it would be principal amount plus accrued interest.

From https://www.cipf.ca/cipf-cover.....ragelimits

If securities, cash or other property (excluding property not eligible for coverage such as crypto assets) in client accounts are missing, CIPF will provide compensation for the value of the missing property as at the date of the member firm’s insolvency, up to the limits prescribed in the CIPF Coverage Policy.

When the site shows 200 shares of stock X and a $100,000 ABC Bank GIC, it means one is owed those by Scotia Capital Inc. Hopefully, Scotia Capital has 200 shares of stock X in their CDS account and ABC Bank has issued a matching $100,000 GIC to Scotia Capital.

CIPF insures one will somehow receive 200 shares of stock X and a $100,000 ABC Bank GIC or some equivalent current value of both in cash, should Scotia Capital fail as a brokerage.

CDIC insures that the holder, Scotia Capital or the client, will receive $100,000 for the GIC should ABC Bank fail.

There is multiplication of CDIC coverage because the actual GIC for the GIC shown in the Scotia iTRADE account is issued to Scotia Capital and not to the iTRADE account holder.

What CIPF does is insure against the partial or entire loss of the GIC holding itself from the account, e.g. the brokerage going insolvent and the asset itself disappearing, and/or malfeasance such as theft of the GIC from the account. It does not insure the 'value' of the GIC, just as CIPF does not insure the 'value' of a stock holding.

Example of a stock holding: Say you hold 200 shares of stock X in your brokerage account, the value of which varies daily in the stock market. What CIPF does insure your holding of those 200 shares in event some insider stole some, or all, of them or they had been inappropriately used as collateral for the brokerage's debt in insolvency.