How Much Do Locksmiths Charge in Vancouver? 2026 Price Guide

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.

The short answer

In Vancouver in 2026, a locksmith visit during standard hours starts with a $75 service call. On top of that you pay for the work: $80 to $160 to open a locked home or business, $25 to $45 per cylinder to rekey standard hardware, $5 to $15 to cut a house key, and $180 to $280 for a programmed transponder car key. After 5pm the labour rate changes, and that is where most of the horror stories come from.

Those are the numbers we quote on the phone and the numbers on the invoice. If you want the full sheet in one place rather than in prose, it is on the prices page.

What the service call actually buys

The $75 service call covers getting a licensed technician, a van of tools, and the right blanks or cylinders to your address. It is not a diagnostic fee that vanishes if you decline the work, and it is not a deposit against a number invented on your doorstep. It is the cost of the trip, quoted before we leave.

After hours the labour rate moves: $150 from 5pm to 9pm, and $250 per hour from 9pm to 8:30am. That is stated on the phone, before dispatch, every time. A company that will not tell you its after-hours rate on the phone is telling you something.

Home and business lockouts

A standard-hours lockout is $80 to $160. The spread is real work, not a sales tactic. A common residential deadbolt on a door that closes properly is at the bottom of the range. A high-security cylinder, a mortise lock in an older Kitsilano building, a commercial storefront with a panic device, or a door that has dropped in its frame all take longer and sit higher.

Non-destructive entry is the default. Most modern locks are picked open in five to fifteen minutes with no damage to the lock, the door or the frame. Drilling is a last resort and it is discussed with you first, because a drilled cylinder becomes a lock replacement you did not plan for. More on that in what a lockout call actually costs, and the fastest route on a bad night is the emergency locksmith page.

Rekeying and lock changes

Rekeying is $25 to $45 per cylinder for Schlage, Kwikset, Weiser and Yale hardware, and $60 to $120 per cylinder for high-security platforms such as Mul-T-Lock, Medeco and Schlage Primus. The first two keys are included on a standard rekey; extra keys are $4 to $10 each.

A lock change, meaning new hardware rather than new pins, runs $80 to $160 installed, plus the lock itself. Rekeying keeps the hardware you already own and changes who can open it, which is why it is usually the right call after a move or a lost key. The full comparison lives in why rekeying beats replacing, and the service page is lock rekey Vancouver.

Keys, car keys and safes

House and office keys are $5 to $15 each, or $8 to $30 for specialty and commercial blanks. Restricted high-security keys cut to a registered code are $30 to $80. Car keys are their own category: a programmed transponder key is $180 to $280, a proximity smart key is $280 to $420, and European luxury platforms such as Mercedes, BMW and Land Rover run $400 to $900. All keys lost, meaning no working key to copy from, starts at $180 because the car has to be read rather than duplicated.

Safe work: residential opening from $150, combination changes $80 to $150, and commercial TL-15 or TL-30 opening from $300. We do not drill a safe until the non-destructive options are exhausted. See safes Vancouver for what we carry and service.

Master key systems

A master key system starts at $300 for the setup plus $30 to $80 per door cylinder on standard hardware, or $60 to $200 per cylinder on a restricted keyway. That includes a documented key registry so future copies need authorisation rather than a walk-in. If you manage a building, read master key systems explained before you price it out.

What makes a quote go up

Six things, in rough order of how often they matter. The hour, because after-hours labour is a different rate. The hardware, because a restricted or high-security cylinder costs more to key and more to source. The door, because a frame that has shifted turns a ten-minute job into a carpentry problem. The number of cylinders, because rekeying is priced per cylinder and a house with a front, back and garage door is three. Access, because a fourth-floor walk-up with no parking costs time. And parts, because a discontinued lock sometimes has to be replaced rather than repaired.

How to not get overcharged

Ask for the service call fee and the after-hours rate before you agree to a dispatch. Ask whether the person coming is an employee or a subcontractor. Ask for the shop address. We are at 4105 Macdonald St and you can walk in. If the answers are vague, hang up: how to spot a locksmith scam covers the pattern in detail.

Article history

This guide replaces the older article How Much Do Locksmiths Charge A Comprehensive Guide To Pricing In 2025. It was rewritten in September 2026: every price now comes from one sheet, the invented figures are gone, and the dead links have been repointed at live pages. Questions about a quote you have been given? Contact the shop and we will tell you whether it is reasonable, even if the job is not ours.