Lost your mailbox key, or the lock has stopped turning? Fast Locksmith services apartment, condo and strata mailbox banks and private house mailboxes across Vancouver: new cam locks, rekeys, spare keys cut on-site. Canada Post community boxes are a different job, and we will tell you straight when that is what you have.
Three different things get called "a mailbox" in Vancouver, and only two of them are a locksmith's job. Here is how to tell which one you have before you spend money on the wrong call.
If the key to your building's mailbox is lost, snapped, or the little cam lock has seized solid, a mobile locksmith can normally replace the lock and cut you a fresh set of keys the same day. If your mail comes from one of the green multi-unit community mailboxes on the street, the lock belongs to Canada Post and they are the ones who change it. Most of the confusion, and most of the wasted call-outs, comes from that one distinction, so we deal with it first.
Mailbox locks in Vancouver fall into a few clear categories. The middle column is what decides whether we can help you today or whether you need to go somewhere else first.
| Mailbox type | Whose lock it is | Who changes it |
|---|---|---|
| Canada Post community mailbox (the green multi-unit street box) | Canada Post | Canada Post (see below) |
| Apartment or condo lobby mailbox bank | The building or strata corporation | Owner, strata or property manager authorizes; we do the work |
| Parcel or locker compartment in a building lobby | The building or strata corporation | Strata or property manager authorizes; we do the work |
| Suite mailbox in a rented house or laneway home | The landlord | Landlord authorizes; we do the work |
| Standalone house mailbox (wall-mounted or post-mounted) | You | You; we do the work |
The green multi-unit boxes at the end of the block are Canada Post equipment, and Canada Post controls the locks and keys on them. If your community mailbox key is lost or stolen, Canada Post's published process is to open a support ticket with them. They replace the whole lock rather than cutting a single key, and you collect the new keys from the post office they name, with government-issued photo ID. There is a published fee for lost or stolen keys, $29 plus taxes at the time of writing. If the key or lock is simply defective, Canada Post says it will replace the lock and your keys at no charge. Full details are on the Canada Post support page for lost community mailbox keys.
We will not drill, pick, or re-lock a Canada Post community mailbox for you, and you should be wary of anyone who offers to. That box is not yours, and having a private key made for it is not a service a legitimate locksmith can sell. Canada Post is also explicit that the reverse holds: in its own words, it "does not maintain locks and keys for condo, strata, apartment or business mailboxes," and it directs residents to their building manager or superintendent. That second half is the part almost nobody knows, and it is exactly the work we do.
A lost key to a building mailbox is almost always a lock swap rather than a key cut, because the small cam locks used in mailbox banks are cheap to replace and usually faster to change than to pick and read. We open the compartment without damaging the door, fit a new lock of the same footprint, and hand you two keys. If you still have one working key and only want a spare, that is a straight duplicate, so see key cutting. If you are reaching us because you have just moved in and have no idea who else holds a key, the honest fix is a new lock, on the same logic as a lock change or rekey on your front door.
Mailbox cam locks live a hard life. On Vancouver's wetter streets, in the older lobbies along Commercial Drive, the walk-ups in Mount Pleasant and the West End, and the exposed banks on Kitsilano side streets, moisture gets in and the wafers corrode until the key turns halfway and stops. Others fail mechanically: the cam arm loosens on its shaft so the key spins freely without moving the latch, or the key snaps off in a worn keyway. All of it is fixable in one visit, and none of it needs the door replaced. Do not force a stiff mailbox key, because a broken blade inside the keyway turns a ten-minute job into a longer one.
Mail theft is a real concern in Vancouver, and mailbox banks in shared lobbies are a common target because one forced door can expose a row of compartments. We do not have verified numbers to quote you and will not invent any, but if your compartment has been pried or punched, or the whole bank has been hit, the practical priorities are the same either way: report it, get the lock replaced rather than bent back into place, and redirect anything sensitive in the meantime. A punched lock often leaves the door still closing but no longer secure, which is worse than an obviously broken one because it does not look like anything happened. We will tell you whether the compartment can be re-locked properly or whether the door itself needs the strata's attention.
Tenant turnover is the most common reason we are called to a mailbox bank. When a unit changes hands, the mailbox is the one lock that tends to get forgotten: the suite door gets rekeyed and the mail compartment keeps letting the last tenant's keys in. We rekey or replace single compartments on turnover, and we will do a full bank in one visit when a building wants every compartment reset and keyed to a documented schedule. For larger buildings that want one manager key over individually keyed compartments, that is a master key system question, and we will spec it properly rather than improvise. We invoice, we are licensed and insured, and we are used to working inside building access hours.
Building lobby bank, house mailbox, or a green community box on the street. That one answer tells us whether it is our job or Canada Post's, and we will say so on the phone rather than charge you for a visit that cannot help.
Your own house mailbox needs nothing. A building or strata compartment needs the owner, landlord, strata or property manager to approve the work. We will tell you exactly what is enough, and we will not open someone else's mail compartment on a stranger's say-so.
We open the compartment without wrecking the door, fit a new lock or rekey the existing one, test it, and hand you the keys. Extra copies cut on the spot if you want a set for a partner, a tenant, or the building file.
We quote mailbox work on the phone once we know the lock type and how many compartments are involved, so you know the number before anyone comes out. Call or book online and we will confirm a window.
No. The green multi-unit community mailboxes belong to Canada Post and Canada Post controls their locks and keys. Their process is to open a support ticket with them, after which they replace the lock and you collect new keys from the post office with government-issued photo ID. Lost or stolen keys carry a published fee, $29 plus taxes at the time of writing, while a defective lock or key is replaced free. Anyone offering to cut you a private key for a community box is not doing legitimate work.
Your building, not Canada Post. Canada Post states plainly that it does not maintain locks and keys for condo, strata, apartment or business mailboxes, and it points residents to their building manager or superintendent. In practice the owner, strata or property manager authorizes the work and a private locksmith does it. That is us: we replace or rekey the compartment lock and cut your keys on-site.
Sometimes, if the lock is stamped with a readable code or you still have one original to copy. More often it is faster and cheaper to swap the small cam lock outright, which also has the advantage of retiring whatever keys are still out there. If you have a working key and only want a spare, that is a straight duplicate.
Usually the cam, the little metal arm behind the lock that actually catches the door, has worked loose on its shaft or sheared off, so the key rotates without moving anything. It can also be a corroded wafer stack that lets the key turn partway. Either way it is a lock replacement, not a door replacement, and it is a short visit.
For a compartment in a shared lobby bank, yes, because that hardware belongs to the building. Owner, landlord, strata council or property manager approval is enough, and we will tell you what we need when you call. For a mailbox on your own house you are the owner and no one else has to sign off.
Yes. Whole-bank rekeys and replacements for landlords, property managers and strata councils are routine work for us, done in a single visit with a documented key schedule handed back at the end. Call with the building address and the number of compartments and we will quote it.
Yes: Burnaby, Richmond, New Westminster and Coquitlam, as well as every Vancouver neighbourhood. See service areas for the full list.
Mailbox lock work across Vancouver and the surrounding Metro areas, with the same mobile technicians and the same pricing.
Every job done by a licensed Vancouver technician. No subcontractors, same-day service.