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. Counsellors: send it to a student from your own email in one click.
An apprenticeship: you are hired by a sponsor, paid while you learn on the job, and go to class for a few weeks at a time. Every fact here is from Skilled Trades Ontario (STO) and the Ontario government. See every Ontario trade side by side
You are paid from your first day. Over the 6,000 hours on the job, even at the minimum wage you would earn at least $107,700 before tax while you train, and most sponsors pay more as your skills grow.
The trade on Skilled Trades Ontario's site(opens in a new tab)
Still in high school? In Grade 11 or 12, with at least 14 credits and age 15 or older, you can start an apprenticeship through co-op placements and earn credits at the same time. Ask your school's OYAP recruiter, guidance counsellor or co-op teacher. Ontario Youth Apprenticeship Program (OYAP)(opens in a new tab)
Not ready to find a sponsor? Free pre-apprenticeship programs (up to a year at a college or community agency, tools and books covered, with a work placement) get you ready and in front of employers. Employment Ontario helps you apply. Pre-apprenticeship training(opens in a new tab)
Ontario sets no percentage of full pay for apprentices. Your sponsor agrees your wage with you, and it can never be below the minimum wage: $17.95 an hour from 1 October 2026. Source (opens in a new tab)
The median pay is about $72,000 a year. Across everyone in the job it runs from about $45,000 at the lower end to about $100,000 at the upper end. The source is listed under Sources at the end of this page.
2 to 4 years, on the usual route, and you are paid while you train from the first day.
$1,100 to $7,700 all in for tuition, fees, exams and kit. Living costs are not counted.
It depends where you work. You need a licence, certificate or registration in British Columbia and Quebec. Elsewhere there is none to hold, though many employers still ask for training or a certificate.
Moderate demand nationally, from government outlook data. Demand varies by region, so check your area.
Or read the whole thing here
What you earn and what it costs to get there.
Median
$72,000
Lower end
$45,000
Upper end
$100,000
Job Bank's national median is $34.72 an hour, about $72,000 a year at 40 hours a week. The lower end ($21.63) and upper end ($47.85) are the bottom and top of the wage range for everyone in the group. 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 figures cover more than locksmiths.
60% of a journeyperson's rate
The least an Alberta first-year locksmith apprentice can be paid
It rises to at least 70% in the second year and 80% in the third. You start by cutting keys, rekeying locks and riding along on service calls.
$37.32 an hour
The median in British Columbia, about $78,000 a year
Ontario's median is $30 and Quebec's is the lowest, at $28. Specialist work on safes, automotive keys and electronic access control pays more.
Roughly, all in
$1,100 to $7,700
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 with no interest 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 work
Night and weekend lockouts are part of the job.
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 (British Columbia) makes you get a security licence first. Quebec requires a vocational diploma and a licence from the BSP (Bureau de la sécurité privée, the private security board).
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 (British Columbia) treats locksmiths as security workers: you need a security worker licence, with fingerprints and a criminal record check, before you can work. Quebec does the same: you need the DEP (Diploma of Vocational Studies) in Locksmithing and an agent licence from the BSP (Bureau de la sécurité privée, the private security board). 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.
In Quebec locksmithing is a licensed private security activity: you need a vocational diploma and a permit from the BSP (Bureau de la sécurité privée, the private security board).
Secondary IV courses
From age 16
The DEP (Diploma of Vocational Studies) in Locksmithing needs Secondary IV language of instruction, second language and math, and you must be 16. A high school diploma also gets you in.
DEP in Locksmithing (Serrurerie, 5329)
About 11 months
1,290 hours, in French, at vocational centres in Quebec City, La Prairie and Montreal (Léonard-De Vinci centre, Thimens building).
Keep a clean record
Always
The permit is refused if you have been convicted of a criminal offence, or of another offence linked to the trade.
Apply for the BSP agent permit
Weeks
Once you have the DEP and are 18 or older, apply for an agent permit in locksmithing. In 2026 a new permit costs $69.50 plus $119 for the security check.
Keep the permit active
Every year
Every year you pay $69.50 in permit fees plus $18 for ongoing security monitoring.
Through its RAC-SER program (temporary locksmith permits), the BSP (Bureau de la sécurité privée) lets a locksmith agency in the program hire you before you have the diploma. You get a temporary permit of up to 120 days, renewed as needed, learn on the job, then earn the DEP (Diploma of Vocational Studies) through recognition of prior learning at a school service centre. The BSP warns that this does not guarantee you will get the DEP.
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 (British Columbia) and Quebec 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.
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 (British Columbia), 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.
Quebec's private security board will not issue a locksmith permit before age 18, even with the diploma in hand, and refuses anyone convicted of a crime linked to the trade.
Every list is built from the same numbers shown above, so you can see where this career sits next to the others.
Industrial and mechanical first, then the rest of the field. See every career in skilled trades.
Last checked October 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. How every figure on this site is sourced and checked.
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