Article by:Nathan Villania
Nathan is an experienced gamer that enjoys testing and reviewing casinos. He always seeks out the best deals, and guides players on all the benefits and advantages of hundreds of casinos across the world.
Read MoreDespite being pretty highly sought after by Canadian players, no deposit bonuses are one of the less common kinds of bonuses being offered by casinos. While the reason for this seems simple enough, there is actually a bit more to it than that, and we will learn exactly why in this guide.
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While finding no deposit bonuses on your own can get pretty difficult, there is no need to do it yourself in the first place. We at InsideCasino have already scoured the web for the best no deposit bonus casinos in Canada, using our extensive experience in reviewing casinos, to weed out the sites that may not be following through on their advertised offers.
The no-deposit bonus is a casino bonus allows you to play with free funds or spins without needing to deposit real money into the casino account first. The way it works is mostly like the opposite to a deposit bonus and it is effectively giving away free cash.
No deposit Canadian casinos are actually fairly rare, mostly owing to the fact that operators generally aren’t very keen on just giving away free casino money. There are also a few more nuances to this bonus that players should be aware of before they claim one.
No deposit bonuses work almost exactly like deposit bonuses with very few differences. This is also seen in the types of no deposit bonuses you can claim, of which there are mainly two kinds, which offer bonus cash or free spins.
Free no deposit bonus cash is exactly as you expect: it is casino credit that is treated like real money and can be used to wager on a casino game. It is the same as the casino cashback bonus, but without needing to make a deposit first. Since they are treated by games like real money, free cash casinos allow players the chance of winning real money jackpots (although whether any of your winnings are cashable is another matter). Of the two kinds, free cash bonus no deposit casinos are more popular among Canadian players but they are also less comm. A couple examples of casinos offering free cash bonuses to new players are:
Compared to bonus cash, no deposit free spins are not quite as valuable to Canadian players as they can only be used on slot games and nothing else. That said, it is still a free bonus and cheaper for casino operators to implement, which is why they are more common. We have a dedicated page for casinos with free spins bonus. Some examples include:
It’s always hard to declare which kind of no deposit bonus is better becaue different players will have different ideas of “better” based on their play style and preferences. With that said, there is a benefit to choosing either.
The main draw of no deposit free cash lies in its versatility. Since this bonus is cashable, it is treated the same way as your real money balance. This means it can be used on a wider range of casino games online with few restrictions (at least, before we consider wagering requirements).
The only caveat of bonus cash is that it is a lot harder to find, hence why some players might find the free spin option more appealing. Since the later is also more common, Canadian players can find more casinos to choose from. This is important as the quality of the casino site itself should be the first priority when looking for a site to play on.
We’ll give you the short answer: because it’s free money.
Even if you aren’t a huge fan of spins or casino games, claiming a no deposit bonus still gives a bit of extra game time that you can use if you ever feel like it. Given that these bonuses are generally hard to come by, any no deposit bonus is worth grabbing if the casino you play on is offering them.
While it seems like offering no deposit bonuses would make casinos bleed out money, this is never the case in practice. In fact, a good NDB can even end up helping the casino make more money in the end.
Attracting players to a new casino website is one of the ways that this works, but the real magic of no deposit casinos ca actually be found in their terms and conditions, which we will get to later.
The way a no deposit bonus works mostly depends on what is being offered. If the bonus gives free casino cash, that bonus is credited to your casino account as a separate balance. If the bonus gives spins, those are linked to your account and activated when you open the games they are associated with.
Finding no-deposit bonuses is actually fairly easy. All you need to do is review our list of no deposit bonus casinos above and find the casino you like the look of. If there aren’t any taking your fancy, you can check out some other types of bonuses that we have reviewed in Canada.
Our analysts at InsideCasino keep track of all of the best casino bonuses in Canada as well as other promotions that are offered. Just look through the bonuses to find the offer that works best for you, then check out the site for yourself.
Because of their value to new players, you are most likely to get a no deposit bonus on signup. The no deposit sign up bonus is either on its own or as part of a larger package that players can claim, as soon as they complete the registration process.
Arcanebet casino is one example of a signup no deposit bonus, with 30 spins being made available as soon as registration is completed.
Claiming a no deposit bonus is really not that different from a normal deposit bonus, although it does save the whole “depositing money” step. Below is a short step-by-step process to do this if you need a more detailed walkthrough.
1. Find a no deposit casino from our casino list. Our constantly updated list of no deposit casinos is a great place to start if you are trying to find the best casino choice.
2. Register for a no deposit casino account. Once you find a casino site you are comfortable with, register for an account to start your path to claiming the casino’s no deposit bonus.
3. Verify your account and complete the requirements. To complete the requirements for the bonus, you will need to verify your account which sometimes includes providing additional details.
4. Claim your no deposit bonus. Once all the details have been sorted out, you can claim the no deposit bonus and use it to start playing without making any deposits.
In some cases, players will need to use a no deposit casino bonus code to redeem the offer. As seen, when you play at 888 casino, you need to use the bonus code “welcome1” for it to be credited to your account before you start playing.
Since the casino treats the bonus money from a no deposit bonus the same way as it would from a match bonus or real cash, you can actually win real money online also. That is, of course, if there is still money left over after making it through the bonus requirements, which you can find in the terms and conditions.
Before you start raising your eyebrows, no deposit casinos in Canada do make it possible for players to withdraw their winnings. This can be done just like any other real money withdrawal, through the appropriate “withdraw” page found in your casino account settings.
All casino bonuses come with a laundry list of terms and conditions attached. Yes, this even includes the no deposit bonus option, which is supposed to be extremely simple. While the kinds of T&Cs that no deposit bonuses have are just like any other bonus, casino sites tune these terms a bit differently when the no-deposit rule is factored in.
Some of the key terms and conditions you’ll find include:
All bonuses that don’t require a deposit, come with limited validity that fall within two forms. The first, is the availability of the bonus itself. For instance, a given NDB may only be available for a month.
The other case, is how long players are able to use the benefits of the no deposit bonus. Typically, players are expected to burn through the bonus cash or spins in about a week or two. These limits forfeit any unplayed cash or spins once the validity period ends.
On top of the already very limited amount of monetary value you get from a casino no deposit bonus, the size of the bets you can place with money from that bonus can also be limited (in the case of spins, the value of the spins are locked at a fixed value.) Casino operators in Canada typically do this to limit the amount of money players can potentially win, leaving this type of bonus and the opposite end of the spectrum to VIP casino bonuses.
Another method that Canadian casino operators use to limit player wins from no deposit free bonus, is by restricting the games that the bonus can be used on. The games that are typically blocked by this measure tend to have relatively high RTP rates, hence why most table games and a select set of slot games are often the first that make the ban list.
Last on the list but first, in importance, wagering requirements are the main way that online casinos with no deposit bonuses can recoup the costs of giving away free money. Wagering requirements need people to wager some amount of their bonus cash and/or winnings before they can withdraw said money.
The kicker? Wagering requirements are often several times the value of the bonus, typically in the range of 30x to 50x, but some bonuses have been found to have wagering requirements as high as 99x.
In some of the harsher no-deposit bonuses out there, the T&Cs can also put a cap on how much winnings a player can get from their bonus cash. Any winnings beyond the set limit will automatically be forfeited.
Even though players don’t need to deposit (and therefore provide banking details) for no deposit bonuses, they will still need to confirm at least one casino payment method if they want to withdraw it.
Of the no deposit casinos we’ve found in Canada, the best site is currently King Billy Casino. While its no deposit offer of just C$5 is not a lot, getting free cash instead of free spins gives players a broader range of games to play on.
We also consider this casino to be among the best casino sites in Canada, due to it’s huge game library and its many other promotions that help boost your money deposits when you decide to buy into the games.
If we are talking about the absolute ideal no deposit bonus we would like to see, we have a couple of ideas: a no deposit bonus worth C$10 or greater, or a no deposit bonus with no wagering requirement.
As you may have seen from our recommendations, the C$10 no deposit bonus is extremely rare to come by. The highest value we currently have from a no deposit bonus in Canada is at Europa casino, where you get 100 spins worth C$0.10 each. While we at InsideCasino will not stop looking for sites with such a bonus, it’s safe to say at present that they are few and far between.
It is hard enough to find a no deposit bonus or a no wagering bonus on its own; to combine both is basically impossible, and for good reason. Having a bonus with no deposit or wagering requirement effectively means the casino is giving away truly free money that players can cash out just by signing up for an account at the site. Recently opened to the Canadian market, PlayOJO comes close to offering this, by giving away 81 spins that do not have any wagering requirements attached, but you will only get them after your first C$10 deposit.
As a player, it is always important to remember that all casinos are for-profit businesses, which means that everything they do is intended to make them money in the end. As players, then, it is important to remember to gamble responsibly and stay wary of no deposit bonuses, even if the casino does give this out for free.
A few tips you would want to keep in mind include:
No deposit bonuses are no doubt very convenient for a lot of Canadian players, which is why these bonuses are so popular in the first place. But they are not for everyone. If you aren’t quite sure whether or not a no deposit bonus is right for you, we’ve made a short list of some of their pros and cons to help you decide.
No deposit bonuses are constantly compared to their with-deposit counterparts, the match bonus. Although the main difference lies in whether the player has to pay first or not, this difference has encouraged even more changes that make the two bonuses very different from each other.
But in the end, neither is really better than the other, it all comes down to personal preference. If you want to trial a casino while spending as little money as possible, a no deposit bonus will let you do that for free. However, it won’t give you much value if you end up liking the casino and want to make real money deposits. That is where casino match bonuses comes in, handsomely rewarding players with more bonus cash the bigger their deposit.
Free casino money is always nice to have, and never is this more true than on a casino site where just a few minutes’ worth of bad losses can vaporise bankrolls of any size. Online casino bonuses without deposits are a great way to get a bit of cash or spins to play new Canadian casinos before buying in, but players should be wary of the many strings that can come attached to them.
There are a small number of online casinos in Canada with a no deposit bonus and you can find them all in our list of no deposit casinos, where you can find the best offer for you.
A no deposit bonus works like any other deposit bonus, except that the player does not need to deposit real money before they can claim the bonus.
A no deposit bonus gives you some casino credit or free spins without needing a real money deposit from the player. A free spins bonus gives out free spins to use on casino games. Depending on the casino, the bonus may or may not require a deposit.
Yes, you can keep the winnings you get from a no deposit bonus, but only after you clear the bonus wagering requirements that put a hold on those funds.
You can easily find and get deposit bonus codes through sites like InsideCasino, where we keep track of all of the best casino bonuses in Canada.
Yes, you can win real money from playing with a no deposit bonus. However, you will have to deal with very high wagering requirements before you can expect to cash out that money.
As it is with all bonuses, no deposit bonuses become "worth it" depending on what you value in a bonus.
No deposit bonuses can be claimed by the players specified by the bonus terms and conditions. For example, welcome no deposit bonuses are typically offered when you register at a new casinos site, while other bonuses can be locked behind VIP or loyalty program status.