Points per dollar only compare once you turn them into a percentage.

30 points per dollar sounds like five times 6. In one program a point is a tenth of a cent, and in the other it is a full cent, so the 30 returns half as much.

Both programs say this on their own pages.

Scene+ says, on its help page for grocery stores: “simply scanning your Scene+ card at checkout doesn’t earn base points per dollar. To earn base points on grocery purchases, you need to pay with a qualifying Scotiabank credit card.”

PC Optimum publishes a table of its program benefits. It lists a base earning rate of 15 points per $1 at Shoppers Drug Mart and Pharmaprix. In the column for its grocery stores, such as Loblaw, No Frills, Real Canadian Superstore, Maxi and Provigo, the base earning row is empty.

Scanning is not worth nothing. Both programs pay points on offers. Scene+ says you can earn on specially marked items, flyer coupons, seasonal promotions and personalized weekly offers you load in your grocery store’s app. PC Optimum’s table marks product bonus points, bonus points events and personalized offers at its grocery stores.

An offer is different from a rate. A rate pays on every dollar you spend. An offer pays on the items and the weeks the program chooses.

Each program sets what its points are worth when you redeem them at the store.

PC Optimum: “Minimum redemption is 10,000 PC Optimum points (worth $10 in free rewards)”. So one point is worth one tenth of a cent.

Scene+: “You can redeem Scene+ points on groceries by using 1,000 points for $10 off your purchase.” So one point is worth one cent.

The same word, “point”, is ten times the money in one program as in the other.

To compare two offers of points, multiply the points per dollar by what one point is worth. The result is how many cents you get back on each dollar, which is a percentage.

30 points against 6 points. Example earn rates, redeemed at the store values each program publishes.

The bigger number of points returns half as much. Until you convert, you are comparing two numbers in different units, and the bigger one looks better whether it is or not.

The same points can be worth less when you redeem them another way. The Office of Consumer Affairs at Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada says to “compare the value of the item to the number of points you’re trading in”, and that “you may find that you can get better value from your points on different rewards.”

Each program shows this on its own pages.

PC Financial says you can “Redeem 10,000 points for a $7 statement credit” on its credit card. That is 0.07 cents a point, against 0.1 cents at the store.

Scotiabank lists “3,000 points” for a “$20 account credit on eligible accounts”. That is about 0.67 cents a point, against 1 cent at the grocery store.

So use the value for the way you will actually redeem. At those lower values, the figure’s 3% becomes 2.1% and its 6% becomes 4%.

A card with a fee only buys the difference over a card without one, on the same spending. So compare the two cards at the same store: what each one returns there, as a percentage.

The figure cannot be used for this. Each program pays its higher rate at a different group of stores, so its two columns are not the same spending.

An example with labelled numbers. At one store, a card with a $120 fee returns 6% and a card with no fee returns 3%. The gap is 3%. $120 divided by 3% is $4,000. That is how much you would need to spend a year at that store for the fee to be paid back. At a store where the two cards return the same, the fee buys nothing. The same method is worked through in full on Is a Credit Card Annual Fee Worth It?

Find the points per dollar your card or program pays, and at which stores. Read it on the issuer’s or program’s own page.

Find what one point is worth the way you will redeem it. Divide the dollars you get by the points you trade in.

Multiply the two. That is the cents back on each dollar.

If a card has a fee, find what it and a card with no fee each return at the same store. Divide the fee by the gap, and compare it with what you spend there in a year.

Should I stop scanning the card?

This page does not say that. Offers still pay when you scan, whether or not you pay with the program’s credit card. What changes is knowing that the offers, not a base rate, are what the scan earns at these grocery stores.

What about bonus events, like 20 times the points?

PC Optimum’s table marks “20x the Points Events” at Shoppers Drug Mart and not at its grocery stores. An event multiplies the points, not the value of a point, so convert the result the same way: points per dollar times what one point is worth.

What if I carry a balance?

The Office of Consumer Affairs says that if you carry a balance, increased interest charges associated with a credit card may outweigh the benefits of a reward program. Every sum on this page assumes you pay in full.

Do other programs work the same way?

This page reads two programs’ own pages. Another program has its own terms, so read its pages before applying anything here to it.

Every claim on this page was checked against these documents on 28 September 2026.

• Scene+: How do I earn and redeem at Scene+ points at grocery, convenience, and pharmacy?
• Scotiabank: Scotiabank Gold American Express Card
• PC Optimum: PC Optimum Program Benefits
• PC Financial: PC World Elite Mastercard
• Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada, Office of Consumer Affairs: Reward and customer loyalty programs

Watch · 10:33

PC Optimum vs Scene+ Points: Math Nobody Shows You. Published 12 August 2026. Loads on click. Nothing is requested from YouTube until you ask.

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