what is a canadian guaranteed investment certificate gic 
a guaranteed investment certificate gic is an investment sold by canadian banks and trust companies that provides a fixed rate of return to investors gics are often purchased as retirement savings vehicles plans because they provide a low risk fixed rate of return gics are insured by the canadian government for up to 100 000 canadian per account 12they are marketed in canada in much the same way u s banks market certificates of deposit to their customers in the u s gics are created and promoted by insurance companies and have a slightly different client focus understanding canadian guaranteed investment certificates gics a gic works much like a certificate of deposit in the u s you deposit money in the bank and earn interest on that money the money must be deposited for a fixed length of time and interest rates vary with the length of the commitment 