Beating the Tariffs: Best Deadbolts of 2025

Times are tough for everyone in Vancouver and finding ways to beat the unjust U.S. tariffs has become a priority for most of us in the Lower Mainland. Most of us are looking for Canadian-made alternatives or simpler cheaper alternatives. Good times will come back one day, but for now, we all should try to save money wherever we can.

When it comes to locks and your residential or commercial security, it’s vital we still choose quality locks. After all, there’s no point in saving money if someone steals your stuff. You will have to spend more money to replace the stuff they stole. So here are the best deadbolts you can buy in Vancouver while beating the U.S. tariffs.

As always, if you have any questions or comments, please call or text me at 604-363-2760 or email me at alex@locksmithvancouver.com. Our Downtown Vancouver Key Store is open Monday to Friday 10am to 5pm. You can drop by anytime to copy a key, copy a fob, or meet me face-to-face. Our Mobile Locksmithing Service is available everyday 8am to 11:30pm.

Selecting the Best Deadbolts of 2025

While this list is based on my professional experience as a Vancouver Locksmith with years in the field, others may have different opinions. When selecting the list of Best Deadbolts of 2025, I used the following criteria:

• Price – the most important factor in 2025
• Security – the whole point of a deadbolt is to provide security
• Value – an overall valuation of how much security you get per dollar spent

Unless we enter an era of apocalyptic societal breakdown where Security is paramount, I think most of us are still budget conscious and want good Value. Basically, what is the biggest bang for the buck?

Are there any Canadian Lock Manufacturers?

Did you know that one of the three largest key blank manufacturers in the world has Canadian roots? Back in 1964, a young Canadian locksmith turned locksmith distributor by the name of Aaron Fish started a company called Unican. You probably have seen Unican’s famous mechanical push button locks in older commercial buildings. They’re now called Kaba Simplex Unican Pushbutton Locks, and they were the dominant Heavy Duty push button locks before the age of electronic knobs and levers.

Mr Fish eventually bought the giant key blank company Ilco in 1972 and moved his operations down south of the border before going on a M&A spree in the 1980’s which eventually turned into the conglomerate now known as DormaKaba.

During that era, most Canadian lock companies like Dominion Lock and Corbin were snatched up by international private equity groups and disappeared. Unfortunately, there are really no longer any Canadian Lock Manufacturers.

Our once-thriving and world-class lock companies are now owned by non-Canadian companies with virtually no domestic production. To illustrate, in 1952, the original Weiser Lock company setup its main factory here in Vancouver in a sprawling 100,000 sq ft facility in Burnaby. For the next several decades, Weiser Lock produced some the highest quality locks in North America. 

I still encounter them in older Vancouver condos especially in the English Bay area. Even with little to no maintenance, some of the locks are still functioning after 70+ years of service. When NAFTA was signed into law, the new owners shifted production overseas and the quality dropped off a cliff. Weiser is now infamous for their quality and generally despised by any decent locksmith in the industry.

So, the best you can do these days is to hire a local Canadian locksmith supported by a local Canadian locks distributor.

Enough of the sad news, onto the best deadbolts of 2025 (so far)!

Grade 3 – Best Residential Deadbolt of 2025

Grade 3 door hardware and deadbolts are catch-all buckets for all the “low-end” products from each company. I use quotation marks because there is a huge range in terms of price and quality. 

For example, you have the truly abysmal c**p with the cheapest price tags like the Defiant deadbolts at Home Depot to fairly pricey products like the Schlage F series which can cost more than some low-end Grade 2 hardware.

With the most extensive product offering at multiple price points, this was the hardest category to choose from. However, given that Value is paramount in 2025 and we’re trying to beat the tariffs, our choice for the Best Grade 3 Deadbolt for 2025 is the Halsco Grade 3 Residential Deadbolt.

[In any normal year, we would have probably recommended something like the Schlage B60 deadbolt but it’s too expensive with the 20% tariff markup.]

Halsco Grade 3 Residential Deadbolt

The Halsco Grade 3 Residential Deadbolt is our pick for the Best Grade 3 Residential Deadbolt mainly because of its low price and 25 year warranty. As of March 2025, we sell this deadbolt for $35 to $40 which is really really cheap. With its 25 year manufacturer warranty, we basically have a no-questions asked return policy within the 1 year warranty period we provide. Short of someone breaking or tampering with the lock, we will just get you a new deadbolt at no-extra charge.

Pros:

• One of the cheapest deadbolts in the market
• Outstanding warranty from the manufacturer
• Easy to install and fits into almost all doors

Cons:

• Very little security – it’s cheap, what did you expect?
• Only available in the WR5 keyway
• Only available in the Satin Chrome or Polished Brass finish

I personally do not recommend any Grade 3 Residential Deadbolt be used on an exterior freestanding or a perimeter door. These types of locks are really meant for interior doors.You really should not expose the Halsco Grade 3 or any lock in this category to outside weather conditions as there is very little brass or anti-corrosion alloys in its make-up.

They provide neither enough security or longevity for such applications. As a result, in these situations, a Grade 2 Commercial Deadbolt may be more appropriate.

Grade 2 – Best High End Residential Deadbolt of 2025

Locksmiths always have a little trouble defining what Grade 2 hardware is. It’s a step above Grade 3 so it’s not purely Residential, but then it’s a significant step below Grade 1 so it’s technically not Commercial hardware.

Depending on the client, I’ve taken to calling Grade 2 lock and door hardware as High End Residential or Low-End Commercial because it sits awkwardly between both categories. Generally if you want something better than Residential but not pay the prices of Commercial hardware, a Grade 2 Deadbolt may be the perfect choice in terms of Security and your wallet.

As such, our pick for the Best High End Residential Deadbolt of 2025 is the Dorex TLA Grade 2 Deadbolt.

[In a normal year, we would have recommended the Schlage B560 deadbolt, It now comes in a variety of residential grade finishes and free security upgrades into the Schlage Everest system makes it a fantastic lock. However, with the 20% tariff induced price increase, it’s gotten quite pricey.]

Dorex TLA Grade 2 High End Residential Deadbolt

Dorex with its utilitarian yellow/blue boxes is probably a brand that most clients have never seen before or heard of. It’s basically an OEM brand that manufactures their product in China and South Korea. I find this a bit funny because as a Korean-Canadian, I’ve never seen this lock anywhere in Asia. It’s made purely for the North American market.

Dorex makes the same product for various other brands as well. The TLA deadbolt can be found branded with other company names like LSDA etc. Although I have found some with minute differences, I believe it comes from the same factory so the parts are interchangeable.

As of March 2025, we sell this deadbolt for $100. Compared to the Schlage B560 which will soon retail for $150, it’s a pretty good deal.

Pros:

• Solid heavy front armour with decent protection against kinetic attacks
• Brass cylinder with threaded end cap
• Grade 2 certified deadbolt with hardened steel pin insert

Cons:

• Limited colours/finishes available
• Only available in a Weiser or Schlage C keyway
• Do not master key

When it comes to clients who need master pins and a master key system, I do not recommend using an OEM product. Stick to the originals as much as possible. While you can master pin a Dorex cylinder, I have had some troubling results in the past. Things just don’t work smoothly as they should even with factory cut keys and brand original pins.

From a client’s perspective, I would say the most common observation I hear is that the Dorex deadbolt does not have the smooth operation of a Schlage B560. The Schlage original has smooth polished surfaces that give it that “smooth” feeling. The reduced friction also increases product longevity as there is less metal dust accumulating from the wear-and-tear of daily use.

Grade 1 – Best Commercial Deadbolt of 2025

To be honest, the number of true Commercial hardware being installed has dropped off a cliff since 2020 when the pandemic hit and inflation began rising. Real Commercial Hardware was already expensive to begin with, the high inflation made it even worse. Along with the U.S. tariffs, Grad 1 hardware is going to be virtually unobtainable for most residential and commercial clients.

However, if you need a heavy duty deadbolt that can “take a licking and keep on trucking”, a Grade 1 deadbolt or lock is still the best choice.

Our choice of the Best Commercial Deadbolt of 2025 is the Halsco Grade 1 Deadbolt. This was surprising that their Grade 3 deadbolt is really really cheap and their Grade 2 is just “meh” in our opinion.

[In any other year, I would have a really hard time deciding on the best Heavy Duty Deadbolt. Even gold standards like the Schlage B660 have dropped in quality with their redesigns and cheaper materials. If Value was not a priority, I would have to choose a High Security Deadbolt like the Abloy Protec 2. Their quality has not changed at all over the years and still remains high.]

Halsco T600 Grade 1 Commercial Deadbolt

Now I should preface my choice in that I deal primarily with the T660 SFIC version of the deadbolt. It’s a much cheaper version of the BEST SFIC deadbolt. However, the T600 series should be designed similarly.

Beside meeting the BHMA standards for a Grade 1 Deadbolt, I think why I like the Halsco the most is because of two things. First, the deadbolt is patterned after the older version of the Schlage B660 deadbolt before the redesign. It’s super heavy duty and feels like the weight and feel of the old version before they made it lighter and flimsier.

Second, it is patterned after the Schlage B660 so we can use specialty Schlage parts when necessary. For example, we can use the Schlage B610-055 extension screws for 2” doors. Very quick and simple which is almost never the case for off-brand products.

Pros:

• Super heavy duty deadbolt like the old Schlage B660
• Interchangeable with Schlage specialty parts
• Great value for the level of security

Cons:

• Only available in Weiser or Schlage C Keyway
• Only available in Satin Chrome finish
• Limited Stock availability

Unlike the Dorex GX Grade 1 deadbolt which is almost never in stock, the Halsco Grade 1 is always in stock somewhere which makes it readily available to our clients anytime of the year.

As previously mentioned, I use this lock primarily in its SFIC version. While I would not recommend using a non-original SFIC cylinder, it’s a great value and possibly the only alternative to the BEST SFIC deadbolt which retails for 45% more with the tariff markup.

Conclusion

Most Canadians and Vancouverites are looking for Canadian products and brands. Unfortunately, pretty much all the locks and keys in the market are owned by American and European companies.

However, we can still beat the tariffs but choosing non-American locks of great value that still offer decent security for the price point. 

If you have any questions or comments, please call/text me at 604-363-2760 or email me at alex@locksmithvancouver.com. Our Vancouver Key Store is located at 555 West Hastings St near Gastown and is open Monday to Friday 10am to 5pm. Our Mobile Locksmithing Service is available every day from 8am to 11:30pm.