Secured credit cards are the most reliable path to building or rebuilding credit in Canada. Unlike unsecured cards, which rely on creditworthiness, secured cards require a cash deposit that reduces the lender's risk — making approval accessible even for people with damaged or no credit history.
But not all secured cards are equal. They differ significantly in deposit requirements, annual fees, interest rates, whether they report to both credit bureaus, and whether they offer a path to graduating to an unsecured product. This guide covers every major secured card available to Canadians in 2025.
When you open a secured card, you deposit a set amount of money — typically between $200 and $100 — with the card issuer. This deposit becomes your credit limit. If you default (stop paying), the issuer uses your deposit to cover the balance. Because the lender has no risk, approval is straightforward.
The card then works like any regular credit card: you make purchases up to your limit, receive a monthly statement, and pay it off. The issuer reports your payment history to Equifax and TransUnion each month. After consistent on-time payments over 12 to 24 months, you can typically graduate to an unsecured card and get your deposit back.
The Home Trust Secured Visa is the most popular secured card in Canada and widely regarded as the best option for most credit rebuilders. The no-fee version charges 0% annual fee with a 19.99% purchase rate. A low-interest version costs $59 annually and charges 14.99% interest — useful if you might occasionally carry a balance.
Minimum deposit is $500, maximum is $100. Home Trust reports to both Equifax and TransUnion, which is critical — if a card only reports to one bureau, you are building credit history only for that bureau's records. Employers and lenders who check both bureaus will see a limited history at one of them.
Home Trust has been issuing secured cards for decades and has a well-established graduation process. After 12 to 18 months of responsible use, many holders are offered an unsecured product with their deposit returned.
Capital One's secured card is explicitly marketed as guaranteed approval for Canadians 18 and older with a valid deposit. There is no credit check and no minimum income requirement. The $59 annual fee is higher than some competitors, but the accessibility makes it the go-to choice for people who have been declined multiple times elsewhere.
The initial credit limit is $300 minimum, with deposit matching the limit. Capital One also offers a potential credit limit increase after five on-time payments, without requiring an additional deposit — this can meaningfully improve your credit utilization ratio and accelerate score recovery.
Refresh Financial focuses specifically on credit rebuilding and offers some of the best educational resources in the secured card space. The $12.95 annual fee is very low, and the minimum deposit is just $200, making it accessible for people with limited savings.
Refresh reports to both bureaus monthly and provides credit score monitoring directly in their app. They also have an automatic credit limit review process — without requiring additional deposits, they assess your account every six months and can increase your limit based on payment history, which helps reduce utilization over time.
Strictly speaking, KOHO is not a secured credit card — it is a prepaid Mastercard. But KOHO's credit-building subscription makes it worth including in this comparison. For a monthly fee, KOHO reports a simulated credit account to Equifax, helping you establish a credit history without any risk of overspending or interest charges.
KOHO is particularly well-suited to people recovering from problematic debt behaviour. Because it is prepaid, it is impossible to spend more than you have loaded. The credit-building feature provides bureau reporting without the mechanics of a credit card — no credit limit, no interest rate, no risk of late payments if you forgot to pay a bill.
When comparing secured cards, prioritize these factors in order:
The most damaging mistake is treating the credit limit as if it were your spending target. Maxing out a $500 secured card every month puts you at 100% utilization — which actively hurts your score rather than helping it. Keep balances below 30% of your limit at statement close. If your limit is $500, aim to have less than $150 reported as your balance when the statement generates.
Paying only the minimum is another trap. It satisfies the payment requirement (so no late payment is recorded) but means you are accruing 19.99% to 24.99% interest on the remaining balance. Pay the full statement balance every month — this is the entire point of a secured card for credit building. If you cannot pay in full, you have over-spent on the card.
After 12 to 18 months of consistent on-time full payments, check your credit score through Borrowell, Credit Karma, or your bank's free monitoring service. If your score has reached 640 or above, you are likely eligible for entry-level unsecured cards. Apply for one modest unsecured card — not multiple — and keep the secured card open for several more months to preserve the credit history length before closing it.
KOHO's free prepaid Mastercard lets you spend without going into debt — and their paid plans help you build your credit score. No annual fee, works everywhere Mastercard is accepted. Use code 45ET55JSYA to get a bonus when you sign up.
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