Buying Gold and Silver at a Canadian Bank or Costco vs. a Bullion Dealer

Last reviewed: 9 November 2026 by The Gold in Canada desk. Sources are linked in the text.

Canadians who want to hold physical gold or silver usually choose between three kinds of seller: a chartered bank, Costco.ca, or a dealer that specializes only in bullion. Each sells some of the same Royal Canadian Mint products, but the rules on buying, storing, selling back and paying tax differ. We checked each bank’s own current page, Costco’s own listings and policy pages, and the Canada Revenue Agency’s own guidance directly for this guide, rather than relying on older summaries. Every figure below is dated to the day we checked it, since prices and terms can change.

Which big banks still sell physical bullion

The Royal Canadian Mint, which has no reason to steer business toward one seller over another, publishes its own summary of which of Canada’s five largest banks sell physical bullion (mint.ca, published 24 October 2024, checked 9 November 2026). As of that page, BMO, CIBC, RBC and TD all sell it; Scotiabank does not. We checked each bank’s own current website on 9 November 2026 and found the same picture, with details below.

• BMO: sold only through BMO Nesbitt Burns, BMO InvestorLine or BMO Private Bank, not a branch counter. Its Gold Deposit Program stores allocated gold in the Mint’s vault at no annual fee, one ounce minimum, with buy-and-hold, cash-settled sale, or physical delivery options, per a Disclosure Statement dated 30 June 2022 (capitalmarkets.bmo.com, checked 9 November 2026). A parallel program covers vaulted silver. BMO InvestorLine’s fee schedule (September 2026) separately lists gold and silver certificate commissions, with 10oz and 100oz minimums (bmoinvestorline.com, checked 9 November 2026).
• CIBC: sold in branch or via CIBC’s own Precious Metals site and online banking, with free home delivery or branch pickup. CIBC’s current page shows no minimum purchase, a $9,500 CAD maximum per 24 hours online (a Banking Centre handles more), no purchase fees beyond provincial tax, and confirmed orders as final. CIBC will consider buying back gold and silver at a Banking Centre with the original receipt and pristine condition, if it still sells that product; it will not buy back collector coins (cibc.com, checked 9 November 2026).
• RBC: sold through any RBC branch. RBC calls itself “a dealer of Royal Canadian Mint (RCM) bullion products,” listing gold (1oz bar, kilo bar, and 1oz, 1/2oz, 1/4oz, 1/10oz and 1/20oz Maple Leaf coins, 99.99% purity) and silver (1oz Maple Leaf coin, 100oz bar). RBC will only buy back bullion it originally sold to that client, with proof of purchase (rbccm.com, checked 9 November 2026).
• TD: sold online, in branches, and at TD Foreign Exchange Centres. TD customers get preferred pricing from a TD account; TD’s site also lists a lower online limit for non-customers, confirming they can buy too. Orders ship home (signature required) or go to a branch for pickup. TD Secure Storage, open only to TD banking customers, holds metal in an insured Brinks vault in Toronto from $9.95 a month plus a per-ounce charge. TD buys bullion back at any branch at current rates (preciousmetals.td.com, checked 9 November 2026, page timestamped the same day).

Scotiabank’s exit followed the wind down of its metals trading business, ScotiaMocatta; Reuters reported the bank told staff in April 2020 it would close that business by the start of 2021, while under US regulatory scrutiny over its metals trading, and later paid more than US$127 million in 2020 to resolve related US charges (Reuters, checked 9 November 2026). Scotiabank does not sell or buy back physical bullion today.

Costco.ca: what it sells, limits and the no returns rule

Costco.ca lists Mint gold and silver bullion as “Member Only” items, pricing hidden behind “Sign In For Price” until you log in. On 9 November 2026 the listings we found included a 1oz 24 karat (.9999 fine) Maple Leaf gold coin, a 50 gram RCM gold bar, multi-coin packs of 1/4oz and 1/2oz gold Maple Leafs, and 1oz .9999 fine silver Maple Leaf coins sold individually and in packs, including one listing bundling 500oz of silver coins (costco.ca, checked 9 November 2026). Costco’s catalogue changes with availability, so the exact items on sale will vary by the time you look.

Every bullion listing we checked carried the same limit: one transaction per four days (96 hours) per individual, with a maximum unit count that varies by product. The 1oz gold coin and 50 gram gold bar were each capped at two units, a 25 x 1oz silver coin listing at five units, and the 500oz bulk silver listing at one unit (costco.ca product pages, checked 9 November 2026).

Costco’s official Canadian return policy, published by Costco Customer Service and dated 10 October 2025, excepts bullion from its usual money back guarantee: “Gold bullion, gold bars, silver coins and silver bars are non-refundable” (customerservice.costco.ca, checked 9 November 2026). Listings repeat this, adding the item is “not eligible for cancellation, price adjustments and/or promotions.” We found no published buyback program on Costco’s site. Unlike the banks above, Costco appears to be a one way seller of bullion, so a later sale would need to go elsewhere, such as a bank that still buys back its own stock, or a bullion dealer.

How bank and Costco pricing compares with a dedicated dealer

None of the sellers here publish a running “premium over spot” figure, so the most reliable check is to compare the price on screen, or on your receipt, against spot at that same moment. On 9 November 2026 at 8:06 a.m. ET, TD’s site showed spot gold at $5,854.15 CAD an ounce and spot silver at $75.01 CAD, next to a TD 1oz gold bar at $5,978.41 CAD (about 2.1 percent over spot) and a 1oz 2026 Silver Maple Leaf coin at $79.98 CAD (about 6.6 percent over spot). That is one snapshot from one seller; prices move constantly, so the premium elsewhere, or on another day, will differ (preciousmetals.td.com, checked 9 November 2026).

The Mint’s own guidance, written for a general audience rather than to promote a channel, states that buying through a bank “often comes with higher price premiums than other bullion sources, especially for smaller coins,” and that bank staff are “generally not bullion specialists” (mint.ca, checked 9 November 2026). Costco does not publish a visible premium either, since its prices are hidden until you sign in. A dedicated bullion dealer typically prices against live spot with a published buy and sell side, usually easier to check in real time than a bank’s in-branch quote or a members only online price. The site’s own bullion premium calculator and gold and silver price calculator do that math for any seller’s price, rather than asking you to trust how it is framed.

Gold in Canada earns a commission if a reader buys through a Silver Gold Bull link elsewhere on this site. We are not paid by any bank named here and we are not paid by Costco. This guide does not rank banks, Costco or any dealer by what, if anything, they pay us; every comparison above comes only from each seller’s own published pages and from government sources.

The GST/HST exemption for investment grade metal

Under the Excise Tax Act, a “precious metal” for GST/HST purposes means a bar, ingot, coin or wafer made of gold, silver or platinum refined to at least 99.5 percent purity for gold and platinum, or 99.9 percent for silver. The CRA’s own memorandum adds that a qualifying coin must also be issued by a government authority and usable as currency, while bars, ingots and wafers must generally be recognized for trading on Canadian financial markets and carry markings showing purity and issuer or refiner. The current version, GST/HST Memorandum 17-1, is dated July 2026, replacing one from April 1999 (canada.ca, checked 9 November 2026).

A sale meeting that definition is treated as a supply of a financial service, generally exempt from GST/HST, regardless of whether the seller is a bank, Costco or a dealer. A sale below those purity levels, or not in bar, ingot, coin or wafer form, such as jewellery, chattel pieces or granular metal, is a taxable supply at the usual GST/HST rate (canada.ca, checked 9 November 2026). The Mint’s own Maple Leaf coins, sold by the banks and Costco in this guide, are struck at 99.99 percent purity, clearing both thresholds. If ever unsure whether a product qualifies, ask the seller to confirm its purity and form in writing before you buy.

Bank vs. Costco vs. dealer at a glance

	Big bank (BMO, CIBC, RBC, TD)	Costco.ca	Dedicated dealer*
Selection	Mostly Mint gold and silver bars and coins; TD also lists platinum and other refiners; BMO runs through its investment arms, not a branch counter.	Mint gold and silver coins and bars, in whatever weights are currently listed; stock changes often.	Generally the widest range across mints, metals and weights.
Who can buy	CIBC, RBC, TD: open to anyone. BMO: needs an account with Nesbitt Burns, InvestorLine or Private Bank.	Costco members only; price hidden until sign-in.	Open to anyone, no membership required.
Pricing	No published premium over spot; compare the quoted price to spot yourself.	Hidden until sign-in; compare to spot once visible.	Often published live against spot, with separate buy and sell prices.
Purchase limits	CIBC: $9,500 CAD/24 hrs online. TD: $24,999.99 CAD/24 hrs for TD customers, $2,999.99 CAD for others. RBC and BMO limits were not published on the pages we checked.	One transaction per 96 hours per individual, with a per-product unit cap (we saw 1 to 5 units).	Varies by dealer; not covered in this guide.
Storage options	TD Secure Storage (insured Brinks vault, Toronto, from $9.95/month) for TD customers. BMO stores gold at the Mint’s vault at no annual fee. CIBC and RBC offer delivery or branch pickup, not ongoing storage, on the pages we checked.	None; ships to your address only.	Varies by dealer; not covered in this guide.
Returns	TD and CIBC both treat a confirmed order as final.	Non-refundable; no cancellation, price adjustments or promotions.	Varies by dealer; not covered in this guide.
Buyback	CIBC and TD buy back at a branch under their own conditions. RBC only buys back what it originally sold to that client. BMO allows a cash-settled sale within its program.	No published buyback program found.	Typically yes, as an ongoing part of the business.

* General traits of dedicated bullion dealers as a category; not independently verified against one specific dealer’s current pages for this guide.

A few things to check before you buy

• The purity and form on the receipt or listing, confirming it meets the 99.5 percent (gold/platinum) or 99.9 percent (silver) GST/HST threshold above.
• The spot price at the moment of purchase, so you can work out the premium yourself rather than relying on a seller’s framing.
• The return and buyback terms in writing. “Non-refundable” and “no buyback” are not the same thing, and both differ by seller.
• Storage and delivery costs if you are not taking the item home yourself.
• Whether a limit or program applies only to that institution’s own customers, as with TD Secure Storage and BMO’s investment channel programs.

For a broader look at where to buy, including the Mint’s own boutique and independent dealers, see the site’s guide to where to buy gold in Canada.

FAQ

Does Costco.ca sell gold or silver in every province? Costco’s bullion listings run through its online store, so availability depends on online stock, not your province. The limits and terms here applied to the listings we checked on 9 November 2026; always read the specific product page first, since Costco can change stock and terms at any time.

Can I buy bullion from a bank if I am not already a customer there? TD’s page shows a lower online limit for non-TD customers, confirming it sells to people who bank elsewhere while giving its own customers preferred pricing. CIBC’s and RBC’s pages describe branch and online purchases without stating whether a non-customer can buy; BMO’s program runs through its investment arms, so you would need an account with Nesbitt Burns, InvestorLine or Private Bank first. Confirm directly with the bank before visiting a branch.

Is GST or HST charged on Mint coins bought at a bank or Costco? Not if the coin meets the CRA’s definition of a precious metal: government issued, refined to at least 99.9 percent purity for silver or 99.5 percent for gold, per GST/HST Memorandum 17-1. The Mint’s Maple Leaf coins clear that bar at 99.99 percent. A non-qualifying item, such as a numismatic piece below those purity levels, or jewellery, is taxed as an ordinary sale. If unsure about a specific product, ask the seller to confirm its purity in writing first.

Can I hold Costco or bank bullion in an RRSP or TFSA? This guide does not cover registered account eligibility. Those rules are separate from the GST/HST exemption above and depend on further conditions under the Income Tax Regulations. Confirm with your plan’s trustee or administrator before assuming a product qualifies.

Sources

• Royal Canadian Mint, “Can I Buy Physical Bullion From a Canadian Bank?” https://www.mint.ca/en/lets-talk-bullion/buying-gold-and-silver-from-a-bank, published 24 October 2024, accessed 9 November 2026.
• BMO Capital Markets, “BMO’s Gold Deposit Program,” https://capitalmarkets.bmo.com/en/bmobullion, accessed 9 November 2026.
• BMO InvestorLine, “Self-Directed Commission & Fee Schedule,” September 2026, https://bmoinvestorline.com/selfDirected/pdfs/SDFeeSchedule_EN.pdf, accessed 9 November 2026.
• CIBC, “Precious Metals Purchasing,” https://www.cibc.com/en/personal-banking/investments/precious-metals-purchasing.html, accessed 9 November 2026.
• RBC Capital Markets, “Metals,” https://www.rbccm.com/en/expertise/global-markets/commodities/metals, accessed 9 November 2026.
• TD, “TD Precious Metals,” https://preciousmetals.td.com/shop/en/tdmetals, accessed 9 November 2026 (page timestamped 9 November 2026, 8:06 a.m. ET).
• TD, “TD Precious Metals Terms and Conditions,” https://preciousmetals.td.com/wcsstore/TDMetalsTermsAndConditions/f802718.html, accessed 9 November 2026.
• Reuters, “Exclusive: Scotiabank to close its metals business,” accessed via Reuters.com, 9 November 2026.
• Reuters, reporting on Scotiabank’s 2020 US settlement of over US$127 million related to precious metals trading, accessed via Reuters.com, 9 November 2026.
• Costco.ca, “Bullion & Collectible Coins,” https://www.costco.ca/bullion-collectible-coins.html, accessed 9 November 2026.
• Costco.ca product listings, including a 25 x 1oz 2026 Canadian Maple Leaf silver coin listing and a 1oz Royal Canadian Mint Maple Leaf silver bullion coin 500-pack listing, accessed 9 November 2026.
• Costco Customer Service, Returns Policy FAQ, https://customerservice.costco.ca/app/answers/answer_view/a_id/1017249, published 10 October 2025, accessed 9 November 2026.
• Canada Revenue Agency, GST/HST Memorandum 17-1, “Definition of ‘Financial Instrument,'” https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/forms-publications/publications/17-1/definition-financial-instrument.html, dated July 2026, accessed 9 November 2026.