Geez, I wish my school let me pay by credit card! You might want to consider the low-fee Choice Rewards Mastercard offered by Credit Unions or separately at www.choicerewards.ca. They do have a no fee version, but I'd splurge for the $24/year low fee card which offers double the points. 1 point per $, travel rewards starting at 10K (10K = $100) which is basically a gift certificate to use at their in house travel agency. Unfortunately I don't know of any sign up bonuses.

Regardless, this card will put you ahead by at least $76 a year as long as you can reach the 10K annual spend.

Having a look at some of the other options, that same 10K spend would net you a whole 250 Airmiles on a fee free BMO Mosaik card which you couldn't even redeem for a can opener.

The CIBC aero Classic Visa is 1 aeroplan point/ $2 spend so 5000 aeroplan points for $10K (no initial annual fee, $29/year thereafter and an initial bonus of 2500 miles).

A CIBC no-fee cash back card would give you at most 1% back, which on the surface looks better than the Choice Rewards card, but is tiered so that you earn significantly less than 1% on your first $5000 of purchases.