Locks, keys, safes and access systems. A hands-on trade that is quietly going electronic.
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Pay, the path, pros and cons and the facts on one printable page. Good for a wall or a guidance counsellor.
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What you earn and what it costs to get there.
Experienced
$72,000
Apprentice
$45,000
Owner or institutional
$100,000
Job Bank's national median is $34.72 an hour, about $72,000 a year full time. One caution: Job Bank pools locksmiths into a wider group of technical trades (the NOC 72999 group, NOC being the National Occupational Classification), so the real locksmith median is probably a bit lower. Shop owners and institutional locksmiths at hospitals and universities sit at the top.
$20 to $24 an hour
Apprentice or shop helper, about $45,000 a year
You start by cutting keys, rekeying locks and riding along on service calls. Pay climbs as you can be trusted on your own in the van.
$45 to $48 an hour
About $100,000 a year for senior or self-employed locksmiths
After-hours lockouts pay a premium, and safe work, automotive keys and electronic access control all pay more than house calls.
Tuition, fees, exams and kit. Not rent, food or travel
Most locksmiths learn on the job and pay very little. The low end is a starter set of tools and picks plus, in provinces such as British Columbia, a security licence with a fingerprint check. The high end is a formal apprenticeship with the school blocks paid out of pocket, in Alberta about eight weeks a year for three years, along with a fuller tool set. The Canada Apprentice Loan covers up to $4,000 a block interest free for registered apprentices, and debt is rare in this trade.
Most people learn on the job and pay very little. Debt is rare in this trade.
Company van and phone
Standard for mobile locksmiths.
On-call pay
Night and weekend lockouts pay extra.
Health and dental
At larger security firms and institutions, not at small shops.
Public-sector pension
If you work in-house for a hospital, school board or university.
The exact path from high school to qualified.
Learn on the job. Some provinces run an apprenticeship, and BC makes you get a security licence first.
High school diploma
Grade 12
Shop, math and any electronics course. A clean record matters: employers and licensing bodies check.
Get hired by a locksmith shop
Weeks to months
Most start as a helper cutting keys and doing rekeys. A security guard or alarm background helps.
Register an apprenticeship (optional)
Days
Ontario has a Locksmith apprenticeship (trade code 259L). Alberta runs a 3-period program: 1,560 hours of work plus 8 weeks of class each year.
Work and learn
2 to 4 years
Residential, then commercial hardware, then safes, automotive keys and electronic access control.
Certificate (where offered)
After your hours
Alberta issues a Journeyperson Certificate after the exam. Ontario issues a Certificate of Apprenticeship, with no final exam.
Shop or technology
Fine hand work with small parts.
Electronics or computer tech
Access control is now wired and networked.
Math
Key codes, pinning charts and measurements.
English
Work orders, quotes and talking to stressed customers.
BC treats locksmiths as security workers: you need a security worker licence, with fingerprints and a criminal record check, before you can work. Ontario lists Locksmith as a voluntary apprenticeship (code 259L) with no licence needed. Alberta has an optional Journeyperson Certificate. Check your own province's rules, and know that a criminal record can close the door in this trade.
Things you don't need, but that help.
Safe and vault work
Opening, repairing and moving safes. Few locksmiths do it well.
Automotive keys and transponders
Programming car keys is a big share of modern locksmith revenue.
Electronic access control
Card readers, keypads and smart locks. Bridges into security systems work.
Master key systems
Designing key systems for schools, hospitals and office towers.
Driver's licence
Mobile work is most of the job.
Clean criminal record
Required in BC and expected everywhere.
Basic electrical and networking
Electric strikes, maglocks and door controllers.
Customer skills
People call you on their worst day.
Many locksmiths end up self-employed with a van and a small storefront. The work is steady in any economy, but you are on call, and the big money now comes from commercial access control contracts rather than house lockouts.
Day to day, pros and cons, where you'd work.
Open the shop, cut keys and rekey a landlord's stack of locks. Drive to a commercial job to install door closers and a keypad lock, then an afternoon lockout at an apartment. Back at the shop, pin up a master key system for a school. On call that night: a car key locked in a trunk at 11pm.
The good
The hard parts
Things people don't tell you.
In BC, locksmithing is a licensed security activity under the same rules as security guards and alarm installers. You need fingerprints, a criminal record check and a security worker licence before your first day.
Alberta runs a formal Locksmith apprenticeship: 3 periods of 1,560 hours of work experience, each with 8 weeks of classroom training. Certification is optional, but the Journeyperson Certificate is the trade's recognised ticket there.
Modern car keys carry a chip that must be programmed to the vehicle. Locksmiths who invest in the programming tools can charge well under dealer prices and still make more per job than on any house call.
Last checked September 2026. Pay figures are typical full-time annual amounts in Canadian dollars, based on Government of Canada Job Bank wage data and published salary grids. They vary by province, employer and experience. Tuition is for domestic students.