How Much Does Key Cutting Cost in Vancouver? 2026 Prices

Updated September 2026. Written and checked by the technicians at Safe & Secure Locksmith, 4105 Macdonald St, Vancouver. Every figure below matches our published price list. Call 604-734-7233 for a quote before anyone is dispatched.

Four kinds of key, four prices

People ask what key cutting costs as though it were one thing. It is four. A plain house key, a specialty or commercial blank, a restricted key that has to be cut to a registered code, and a car key with electronics in it are four different jobs on four different machines.

Here are the current numbers. House and office keys are $5 to $15 each. Specialty and commercial blanks are $8 to $30. Restricted high-security keys, such as Mul-T-Lock or Medeco, cut to a registered code are $30 to $80. A transponder car-key spare is $180 to $240 and a smart-key spare is $300 to $420. A blank on its own, if you already have a way to cut it, is $4.75. The full sheet is on the prices page.

Why a house key is cheap

A standard residential key is a flat piece of brass with a bitting pattern along one edge. Duplicating it means clamping your key next to a blank and tracing the cut. It takes a couple of minutes and the blank costs a few dollars. That is the whole story, and it is why any shop that charges a lot for one is charging for something other than the cutting.

The variable is the blank. Common Kwikset and Schlage profiles are stocked everywhere. An older Weiser, a European profile, a cabinet or a mailbox key may need a blank that is not on the wall, which is where the $8 to $30 band comes in. We keep a large blank wall at the shop for exactly this reason: see key blanks.

Why a restricted key is not

Restricted keyways exist so that a key cannot be copied by anyone who happens to be holding it. The blank is patented and controlled, the profile is not sold to the public, and the cutting is done to a registered code held by the shop that installed the system, with authorisation from the person on the registry.

That process is the product. You are not paying $30 to $80 for a harder cut; you are paying for the control that means a former tenant, a contractor or an ex-employee cannot walk into a hardware store and leave with a working key. If that matters to your building, read about the Mul-T-Lock interactive system and master key systems.

Car keys are a different trade

A car key that starts the engine is two things at once: a mechanical cut and a programmed chip the car recognises. Cutting the blade is the easy half. The chip has to be paired to the immobiliser, which means diagnostic equipment and, on many platforms, a security code from the manufacturer.

A transponder spare is $180 to $240 when you have a working key to copy. A proximity smart key spare is $300 to $420. If every key is lost, the car has to be read rather than duplicated, and that job starts at $180 and depends heavily on the make. The detail is in what a car key replacement costs, and the service page is car key replacement.

Spare now, not later

Cutting a spare while you still have a working key is the cheapest locksmith transaction there is. Losing the last one turns a $180 to $240 job into an all-keys-lost job at a higher rate, usually at a worse time. The same logic applies to houses: a spare house key is $5 to $15 today and a lockout is $80 to $160 tonight.

Kiosks, hardware stores and shops

A self-service key kiosk works for a simple Kwikset house key and nothing else. It cannot read a worn key well, it cannot handle most specialty profiles, and it cannot touch anything restricted or electronic. A hardware store desk is one step up and is usually fine for common residential blanks.

The reason to use a locksmith shop is everything else: a worn original that needs to be cut to code rather than traced, a commercial profile, a restricted key, an automotive key, or a key that has to work in five doors at once. We do all of it on the counter at 4105 Macdonald St. The service page is key cutting Vancouver.

When a copy does not work

A copy of a copy of a copy drifts. Each duplication introduces a small error, and after a few generations the key is a shape that only sort of matches the lock. If a new copy turns hard, the honest fix is to cut a fresh key to the lock's code rather than to your old key, which is a service a shop can do and a kiosk cannot.

Article history

This guide replaces the earlier article Understanding How Much Key Cutting Really Costs A Comprehensive Guide, rewritten in September 2026 with the shop's real 2026 prices and working links. If you are not sure which category your key falls into, bring it in or call 604-734-7233 and describe it.