WealthONE offers Canada's highest five-year GIC rate at 4.55 percent

WealthONE now offers Canada's highest five-year guaranteed investment certificate rate at 4.55 percent, up from a market-leading 4.00 percent six months ago.

The financial institution also offers the best two-, three- and four-year GIC rates at 4.30 percent, 4.40 percent and 4.45 percent, respectively.

The best two- and three-year rates are both up from 3.80 percent in April.

READ MORE: Canadian savers can now find GICs paying 4 percent or more

READ MORE: Fixed mortgage rates rise as bond yields climb despite steady Bank of Canada rate

Haventree Bank leads one-year GICs at 4.00 percent.

Meanwhile, the best standard savings account rates have remained stable.

WealthONE offers 3.00 percent on its RRSP savings account regardless of balance.

Its nonregistered savings account offers tiered rates: 2.60 percent on balances below $10,000, 2.75 percent on balances from $10,000 to $24,999, and 3.00 percent on balances of $25,000 or more.

Manulife also offers 3.00 percent for two years on up to $500,000 in net new deposits to newly opened nonregistered accounts.

BMO continues to offer the leading promotional savings rate of 5.00 percent for 120 days.

Alberta's Servus Credit Union matches the 5.00 percent rate, but only for 90 days on at least $5,000 in new funds.

Its offer requires opening an account by Oct. 31.

Other regional credit unions are competing aggressively.

Manitoba's Steinbach offers 4.60 percent for four months to new members across Canada who open an account by Nov. 2.

Ontario's WFCU offers 4.56 percent for four months.

Unlike GICs, these accounts offer greater flexibility, although promotional rates typically expire after a few months and can carry eligibility restrictions.

Canada's inflation rate rose to 3.1 percent in September, from 3.0 percent in August, largely driven by a 27.8 percent increase in gasoline prices.

However, underlying inflation softened, with the Bank of Canada's CPI-trim and CPI-median measures declining to 1.8 and 1.9 percent, respectively.

Higher inflation is also eroding savers' returns.

At 3.1 percent inflation, a savings account paying 3.00 percent loses purchasing power even before taxes.

A five-year GIC yielding 4.55 percent exceeds the current inflation rate by just 1.45 percentage points before taxes.

Meanwhile, financial markets are betting on a Bank of Canada rate hike at its Oct. 28 meeting.

Persistent inflation could push short-term GICs higher, while five-year GIC and fixed mortgage rates depend more on bond yields, which may already reflect expected hikes.

Yadude Books reported in October that fixed mortgage rates have risen as bond yields climb despite a steady Bank of Canada rate.

For savers, locking in today's rates provides certainty, but waiting could pay off if inflation persists and GIC rates climb further.

Interest rates are provided by WOWA.ca, which gathers, aggregates and freely disseminates data on mortgage rates, savings accounts, and GIC rates from more than 50 Canadian financial institutions.

With files from The Globe and Mail