24/7
Live dispatch, day or night
NASTF
Vehicle security verified
12 yrs
Serving BC & Lower Mainland
1 yr
Warranty on parts & labour
EMERGENCY CALLOUT RATES — VERIFIED SEPTEMBER 2026
What an Emergency Locksmith Costs in Vancouver
Everest Locksmith charges $89 to $145 for a daytime lockout in Vancouver, $145 to $195 after hours and on statutory holidays, and $85 to $150 to open a locked vehicle. These are the five calls we are dispatched to most often, and every figure is a total quoted on the phone before dispatch, with the callout and travel inside Metro Vancouver already included.
HOME LOCKOUT
Daytime Home Lockout
$89 – $145 On-site time: 15–25 mins
- Cylinder picked or bypassed, never drilled
- Lock, strike and frame checked before we leave
- Callout and travel inside Metro Vancouver included
After Hours
24/7 PRIORITY ENTRY
After-Hours Emergency
$145 – $195 On-site time: 20–30 mins
- Evenings, overnight, weekends and statutory holidays
- The same non-destructive method, no after-hours shortcut
- One total agreed on the call, nothing added at the door
VEHICLE LOCKOUT
Car Lockout
$85 – $150 On-site time: 15–25 mins
- Wedge and long-reach tools, never a coat hanger or slim jim
- Airbag wiring and weather seals protected on newer vehicles
- Registration or insurance slip confirms the vehicle is yours
KEY SNAPPED OR LOCK SEIZED
Broken Key Extraction
$85 – $135 On-site time: 20–40 mins
- Snapped blade drawn out without drilling the cylinder
- Cylinder cleaned, lubricated and cycle-tested before we leave
- Replacement key cut on site from the recovered blade
AFTER A BREAK-IN
Emergency Lock Change
$140 – $260 On-site time: ~45 mins
- Grade 1 or Grade 2 deadbolt supplied and fitted on the same visit
- Three-inch strike screws driven into the stud, not the jamb
- Door and frame damage assessed and quoted separately, not assumed
No after-hours surcharge: the total quoted on the call is the total on the invoice, at 2pm or at 2am.
| Emergency callout | Everest price | Typical on-site time |
|---|---|---|
| Home or apartment lockout — daytime | $89 – $145 | 15 – 25 minutes |
| Lockout — after hours, weekends, statutory holidays | $145 – $195 | 20 – 30 minutes |
| Car lockout — keys locked inside the vehicle | $85 – $150 | 15 – 25 minutes |
| Broken key extraction or seized lock | $85 – $135 | 20 – 40 minutes |
| Emergency lock change after a break-in | $140 – $260 per door | About 45 minutes |
Three things move a price inside its range: the grade and condition of the lock, whether the door or frame has already been forced, and the vehicle make on a car lockout. All three are identified on the phone, which is how we can commit to a total before a technician is dispatched. If we find something on site that was not in the quote, we stop and requote rather than adding it to the bill.
Anything that is not an emergency callout is priced on its own page: rekeying and residential lock changes, commercial and strata work, and car keys and fob programming.
Emergency Locksmith Vancouver
What an Emergency Locksmith Actually Does
An emergency locksmith opens locked doors, replaces compromised locks and cuts replacement keys on site, at any hour. Everest Locksmith runs a 24/7 mobile emergency service across Vancouver, Burnaby and Metro Vancouver, and quotes a firm price by phone before a technician is dispatched.
Emergency work is dispatched from the vehicle, not from a shop counter. Every Everest van carries picks and bypass tools, cylinder stock, key blanks and programming equipment, so the majority of emergency calls are finished in one visit instead of being booked for a return trip.
You are told the total on the phone. The invoice matches the quote, and if the job turns out to need something that was not in the quote, we stop and requote before continuing.
Common Emergency Calls
When You Need an Emergency Locksmith
Everest Locksmith is called out across Vancouver most often for house and apartment lockouts, keys locked inside a vehicle, break-in damage that leaves a door unsecured, keys snapped off in a cylinder, and lost keys that mean a home or storefront is no longer secure until it is rekeyed.
- Locked out of a house, condo or apartment, with the key inside or lost
- Keys locked in the car, or a smart fob that has stopped responding
- A break-in or attempted break-in that left the door, frame or lock unsecured
- A key snapped off in the cylinder, the deadbolt or the ignition
- A lock that has seized and will no longer turn with the correct key
- Lost keys to a rental unit, a storefront or a strata common area
If a door is currently unsecured after a break-in, say so when you call. That call is prioritised over a routine lockout, because an open door is a live risk and a locked-out tenant is not.
Non-Destructive Entry
How We Open Your Door Without Damaging It
Everest Locksmith picks or bypasses standard cylinders rather than drilling them, so the lock and the door are left intact and no replacement part is needed. Drilling is a last resort used only when a lock has already failed internally, and the cost of a replacement cylinder is quoted before any work begins.
- Identify the lock. Cylinder type, deadbolt grade, and whether the door is a slab, a frame, or a fob-controlled lobby entrance.
- Verify the door is yours. Photo identification plus one document linking you to the address.
- Pick or bypass. Single-pin picking, raking, or a bypass tool on latch-only doors.
- Test and rectify. The lock is cycled, the strike plate checked and the alignment corrected while we are on site.
- Quote before any destructive step. Drilling happens only with your agreement and a price already on the table.
Drilling a lock that could have been picked is the most common way a customer gets overcharged in this trade, because it turns a service call into a service call plus a new cylinder. We do not do it unless the lock leaves us no other option, and we tell you first.
Vancouver, Burnaby & Metro Vancouver
Emergency Lockouts in Vancouver Towers and Strata Buildings
Most emergency lockouts in downtown Vancouver happen in strata buildings, where the suite door and the fob-controlled lobby are two separate problems. Everest Locksmith opens the suite door, and works with the building concierge or the strata council for lobby and common-area access rather than forcing any shared entry point.
In Downtown and Yaletown towers the suite locks are usually standard Grade 2 cylinders and open quickly. Reaching the door is the slower part, because most buildings require a concierge or a resident to grant lobby access first, so have the concierge desk number ready if you have it.
In older East Vancouver and Burnaby walk-ups the failure we see most is not the lock at all. It is a wooden door that has swelled through a wet Lower Mainland winter and is binding on the strike, so the deadbolt will not throw. That is an alignment fix, and we correct it on site rather than selling a lock that was never broken.
We never drill, force or bypass a lobby door, a mailroom, a parkade gate or any other common-area hardware without written authorisation from the strata corporation or its management company.
Licensed & Insured in British Columbia
Why a Licensed Locksmith Matters in an Emergency
Locksmiths in British Columbia must hold a security worker licence under the Security Services Act, issued by the Security Programs Division. The licence requires a Locksmith Certificate of Qualification or documented supervised experience, plus fingerprinting and a criminal record check. Everest Locksmith technicians are BC-licensed and carry identification on every call.
This matters more in an emergency than at any other time, because an emergency locksmith is being asked to open a door for somebody who cannot produce a key. Ask for the licence, ask for photo identification, and ask for the total price before work starts. A locksmith who will not give you all three on the phone is not the one to call at two in the morning.
Everest also carries liability insurance and WorkSafeBC coverage, and a certificate of insurance is available on request for strata corporations and property managers.
Check any BC security worker licence on the provincial verification tool
Before We Open the Door
What Identification You Need
Everest Locksmith asks for photo identification plus one document linking you to the address before opening any door in Vancouver: a lease, a utility bill, a property tax notice or ownership papers. For vehicles we ask for the registration or the insurance slip. This protects every owner in Metro Vancouver, including you.
If your identification is inside the locked home or car, say so when you call. There are workable alternatives and we deal with them daily: a landlord, a strata manager or a building concierge who can confirm the tenancy, a household member who can vouch for you, or a digital copy of a bill on your phone.
What we cannot do is open a door for somebody who can show no connection to it at all. That is the rule that makes the service worth having.
EMERGENCY DISPATCH
What Happens When You Call at 2am
A locksmith answers, not a call centre. Four steps from the moment you dial to the moment the door opens.
You Call, We Listen
You speak to a locksmith, not a dispatcher reading a script. Tell us the lock, the address and what has happened.
Firm Total, Firm ETA
We give you the exact total and a firm ETA on that same call, before anyone is dispatched to you.
Licensed Tech Arrives
A BC-licensed technician arrives in a marked Everest vehicle, carrying photo ID and a security worker licence card.
Door Open, Lock Intact
The cylinder is picked or bypassed and tested. You pay on a portable terminal and get an itemised receipt with the warranty on it.
Fast mobile arrival across Metro Vancouver • Firm quote before dispatch
COMMON INQUIRIES
Frequently Asked Questions
Clear answers to your security, licensing, and pricing questions.