CASH.TO vs CBIL vs PSA: Best HISA ETFs in Canada (2026)

If you are holding more than a few thousand dollars in your brokerage cash account earning 0.05%, you are leaving real money on the table. HISA ETFs like CASH.TO, CBIL and PSA pay 4%+ on idle cash with daily liquidity - here is exactly how they work and which one fits your portfolio.

What is a HISA ETF?

A high-interest savings ETF (HISA ETF) is a TSX-listed fund that pools investor money into deposit accounts at Canada's big banks - or, in CBIL's case, into short-dated Government of Canada T-bills - and pays out the interest as a monthly distribution. The unit price is engineered to stay close to a fixed value (typically $50 or $100), so virtually all of your return comes from cash interest rather than price movement.

You buy and sell HISA ETFs like any other stock on the TSX. They settle T+2, distribute monthly, and let you earn institutional-grade savings rates - usually within 25 basis points of the Bank of Canada overnight rate - inside the same brokerage account where you hold your equities. That convenience is why Canadian HISA ETFs grew from under $2B in 2020 to over $30B by 2024.

Meet the big three: CASH.TO, CBIL and PSA

CASH.TO (Global X High Interest Savings ETF) is the original and by far the largest, with roughly $5 billion in assets. It holds pooled deposits across multiple Schedule 1 Canadian banks (RBC, TD, BMO, Scotiabank, CIBC and National). It is the default choice for most Canadians who simply want the highest yield on bank deposits in a one-ticker package.

CBIL (Global X 0-3 Month T-Bill ETF) does the same job but with Government of Canada Treasury bills instead of bank deposits. Credit risk is therefore sovereign, not bank-deposit - functionally the safest cash instrument available to a Canadian retail investor. Yields are usually a few basis points below CASH.TO because T-bills price below bank deposit rates.

PSA (Purpose High Interest Savings ETF) was the first HISA ETF in Canada, launched in 2013. It holds deposits at a slightly different mix of Schedule 1 banks than CASH.TO and is the second-largest HISA ETF, useful if you want credit diversification across two providers.

Side-by-side comparison

HISA ETF vs HISA account vs GIC

Are HISA ETFs safe? CDIC and credit risk

HISA ETFs are not directly CDIC insured - you own units of a fund, not a deposit. However, the underlying assets are: the cash in CASH.TO and PSA sits at multiple Schedule 1 banks, each of which is CDIC insured up to $100K per institution. Canada's Big Six banks have never failed in modern history, so the practical credit risk on a few-hundred-thousand-dollar position is extremely low. CBIL avoids bank credit risk entirely by holding government-issued T-bills.

Best account to hold a HISA ETF in Canada

HISA ETF distributions are taxed as interest income, which is the worst kind of investment income for Canadians - it is taxed at your full marginal rate. That makes the account choice unusually important.

In a TFSA, all interest is tax-free forever, so a HISA ETF is a great fit when you want a short-term cash sleeve without losing TFSA room to a low-growth holding. In a non-registered account, you will hand back 30-50% of the yield in tax - often making a GIC inside a TFSA or even a regular HISA a better option after tax. In an RRSP, the interest grows tax-deferred but you generally want long-duration growth assets there, not cash.

When to use a HISA ETF (and when not to)

• Emergency fund parked at your broker - earn 4%+ instead of 0.05% on idle cash.
• Down-payment savings - 6-24 month horizon where you cannot afford a market drawdown.
• Cash sleeve while deploying capital - hold incoming contributions for 1-3 months while you DCA into equities.
• Conservative bond alternative - for retirees who want pure capital preservation without interest-rate duration risk.
• Not great for: long-term growth (inflation eats it), or non-registered accounts at high marginal rates.

How to pick the right HISA ETF

How to buy CASH.TO, CBIL and PSA

All three trade on the TSX and are available at every Canadian broker. Wealthsimple Trade and TD Easy Trade offer commission-free ETF purchases, which matters if you DCA monthly - paying $9.99 to buy $500 of CASH.TO wipes out a year of yield. Questrade charges $0 to buy ETFs but $4.95-$9.95 to sell. Interactive Brokers charges standard ETF commissions. Distributions are paid monthly in cash - you can DRIP them at most brokers if the unit price allows it, but the price-stable nature of HISA ETFs makes that less effective than for equity ETFs.

Tracking your cash sleeve alongside your equities

A HISA ETF is great in isolation, but in a real portfolio it is one slice of a target allocation. If your plan is 80% equities and 20% cash + bonds, that 20% sleeve will drift down when equities surge and creep up when they crash. Wealth Rebalancer tracks every position - including CASH.TO, CBIL or PSA - against your target weights, alerts you when any sleeve drifts past your threshold, and tells you exactly which holding to top up with your next contribution so you stay on plan without selling.

Frequently asked questions