What it costs, and how you find out
Work starts from $19, with a $15 service call fee on top. Those are starting prices for the simplest version of each job, so the number you actually pay is quoted on the phone before a van is dispatched and confirmed at your door before work begins. Nothing is added after the job is finished.
Starting prices
What the common jobs start at
Every figure below is a starting price for the simplest version of that job. Hardware, the hour, the distance, and what we find on the door move it, which is what the rest of this page is about.
Home and property
- House lockout
- from $35
- Lock change or installation
- from $35
- Lock rekeying
- from $19
- Safe opening
- from $35
Opening a locked door without damage wherever the lock allows.
Labour to fit new hardware. The lock itself is quoted with it.
Per cylinder, re-pinned so every old key stops working.
Quoted on the phone, because safes vary more than any other lock we handle.
Vehicles
- Car lockout
- from $35
- Car key made
- from $100
- Key programming
- from $80
- Ignition repair
- from $130
Opening the vehicle at the roadside, without damaging the seal or the lock.
Cutting a key at the vehicle. Programming is priced separately below.
Pairing a transponder key or fob to the immobiliser. Varies most by make.
A worn ignition cylinder that no longer turns, repaired or replaced.
$15 service call fee applies on top of the figures above, and every figure is a starting price for the simplest version of that job. What you actually pay is quoted on the phone, before a van is dispatched, and confirmed at your door before work begins.
All major cards accepted.
How we quote
Four things that do not change
You get the number before we drive
Describe the situation on the phone and you get a figure there and then. If we cannot quote it accurately without seeing it, we tell you that instead of inventing a number.
The quote is confirmed at the door
Before any tool touches the lock, the technician repeats the price back to you. That is the moment to ask questions, and it is before you are committed to anything.
A different job means a new quote, not a bigger bill
If what we find is not what was described, work stops and you get a fresh price. You are free to say no at that point and pay nothing.
Nothing is added afterwards
No mileage that was not mentioned, no after-hours uplift applied at the end, no fee for the tools. The number you agreed is the number on the invoice.
What moves the price
Five things that decide the figure
So you can tell whether a quote you have been given anywhere is reasonable.
What the lock is
A worn builder-grade deadbolt and a high-security cylinder are different jobs with different tools and different times. This is the single biggest factor, which is why we ask you to describe the lock rather than guessing.
What the job is
Opening a door, rekeying a cylinder, replacing hardware, and originating a car key with nothing to copy are four different pieces of work. Each is quoted as itself.
The hour
Overnight, weekend, and holiday call-outs cost more than a Tuesday afternoon, because someone is out at 3am. You are told the after-hours figure when you call at 3am, not after the work is done.
The distance
Ancaster and Hamilton are close. Brantford, Grimsby, Caledonia, and Smithville are a longer drive and that is reflected honestly in the quote rather than added later as a surprise.
Parts, if any are needed
Rekeying uses the hardware already on your door. A lock change does not. If parts are needed you are told what they are and what they cost before they go on the door.
The cheapest version of most of this
Booked work costs less than emergency work, every time. A spare car key cut while you still have a working one is a fraction of originating a key with nothing to copy. Rekeying starts at $19 per cylinder, which is why a rekey costs less than a lock change and does the same job when the hardware is sound. A stiff cylinder replaced on a Tuesday costs less than a snapped key on a Saturday night. None of that is a sales pitch, it is just how the trade prices out.
Straight answers
Questions about price
What does a "from" price actually mean?
It is the starting price for the simplest version of that job, on standard hardware, in normal hours, close to our Ancaster base. A straightforward house lockout on an ordinary cylinder starts at $35. A high-security cylinder, a failed lock, an overnight call, or a long drive costs more, and you are told the real figure on the phone before anyone is dispatched.
Is the $15 service call fee on top of the price?
Yes. The service call fee covers getting a technician and a stocked van to you, and it applies in addition to the job price. We say it here, we say it on the phone, and it is included in the total you are quoted before we drive, so it is never a line you discover on the invoice.
Will the price change when the technician arrives?
Only if the job is genuinely different from what was described on the phone, and then only after we have stopped and requoted. You can decline at that point rather than being committed to work you did not agree to.
What if I cancel after the technician has arrived?
If a technician has already travelled to you and the job is cancelled for a reason that is not ours, the service call fee applies. If we quoted one thing and found another and you decline the new price, that is our misjudgement rather than yours.
Is an emergency call-out much more expensive?
After-hours work costs more than daytime work, and the difference is quoted at the time you call. What it is not is a different price discovered at the end of the job.
How can I pay?
All major cards are accepted. Confirm what suits you when you call and the technician will have it sorted before starting. You get an invoice or receipt for the work either way.
Book a technician
Not an emergency? Leave your number
Rekeying, a lock change, a master key system, or a smart lock going on the front door. Send the details and a technician calls you back with a price and a time.
Locked out right now?
Do not use the form. The phone is answered 24 hours, 7 days, and a call gets a van moving in minutes.
(647) 559-3413