Office Lock Change in Newmarket
Somebody left and the key did not come back. We change or rekey office cylinders across a whole suite, usually in one evening, without breaking your master key hierarchy.
Quick answer
An office lock change in Newmarket means rekeying or replacing the cylinders on your suite doors so old keys stop working. Rekeying a commercial cylinder runs about $30 to $55 each plus the service call; replacing runs $120 to $340 per opening. Work is normally done after hours. Call 866-820-1331.
The most common reason for an office lock change in Newmarket is not a break-in. It is a resignation. Someone handed in a laptop and a parking pass and everybody forgot about the brass key to the suite door, or the key to the file room, or the one that opens the back corridor into the shared washrooms. Three weeks later the office manager realises nobody knows where it went.
The uncomfortable part is that most departures are fine. It is the small number that are not — a dismissal that went badly, a contractor who was given a key for a two-week fit-out and never returned it, a cleaner who left the company mid-contract — that make the whole thing worth doing properly. And by the time you know which category you were in, it is too late to be casual about it.
The good news is that this is a cheap, fast, unglamorous job. Most office suites in Newmarket have between three and twelve keyed openings. An evening is usually enough for all of them, and if the hardware is sound you are paying for rekeying rather than new locks.
Rekey or replace? The honest test
These are not the same job and they do not cost the same. Here is how a technician decides.
Rekeying means the lock body stays on the door and the cylinder is taken apart, the pin stack changed, and a new key cut to match. Nothing about the door changes. Old keys stop working the moment the cylinder goes back in. It takes fifteen to twenty minutes per cylinder and it is by far the cheaper route.
Replacing means new hardware. You do that when the lock is worn out, when the keyway is obsolete and blanks are hard to source, when you are stepping up to a restricted key system that cannot be copied at a hardware store, or when the lock is simply the wrong grade for the door. A hollow-metal office door taking two hundred cycles a day should be on ANSI Grade 1 or 2 hardware, not the Grade 3 lever somebody bought at a big box store.
Rekey when
The hardware turns smoothly, the keyway is current, and the only problem is who holds a key. Cheapest and fastest option by a wide margin.
Replace when
The plug is sloppy, the latch drags, the finish has worn through, or the lock is a residential-grade unit doing a commercial job.
Upgrade when
You want key control. Restricted or patented keyways mean nobody cuts a copy without written authorisation from a named person on your side.
Both, sometimes
Front door and file room get new restricted cylinders, interior offices get rekeyed to the same system. That mix is common and it is the sensible spend.
Changing one cylinder without wrecking the master key
This is where cheap jobs go wrong. If your suite is on a master key system, every cylinder contains a second shear line so the building master or your office master also turns it. Pull one cylinder, rekey it in isolation to a fresh key, and you have just cut that door out of the master system. Now the building manager cannot get in during a flood, and your own master no longer opens the file room.
Done properly, a single-door change is keyed back into the existing hierarchy: the change key is new, the master pins are re-established, and everything above it in the chain still works. To do that we need to know what the system is. Bring us the master key, or the keying chart if you have one, or let the technician read the existing pinning off the cylinder on site. Any of those works. Guessing does not.
Identify the system
We check the keyway family, count the levels, and confirm whether there is a building grand master above your suite master. Ten minutes, and it saves an expensive mistake.
Decide what changes
Usually only the change keys change. Masters stay. Occasionally the whole suite level is retired because too many keys are unaccounted for.
Pin and test
Cylinders are pinned on the truck, fitted, then tested with every key level that should turn them — and with the old key, to confirm it now does nothing.
Hand over and record
You get the new keys counted out and a written record of which key opens which door, so the next change is a phone call instead of an investigation.
Doing it outside business hours
An office lock change during the working day is disruptive in a way people underestimate. Doors are off, the file room is open, staff are wandering past a technician with a pinning kit on the floor, and somebody always needs into the room you are working on. It is also the worst possible time to be visibly changing locks if the reason for the change is a departure that has not been announced.
We do most suite changes between six and ten in the evening, or on a Sunday. Keys are left with whoever you nominate, or handed over the next morning. For medical and legal offices on Davis Drive and around Southlake, after-hours work is close to mandatory anyway because of patient and client confidentiality.
- Evening, early morning and weekend appointments as standard
- A whole suite of six to ten cylinders typically done in one two to three hour visit
- Old cylinders returned to you if you want them, or disposed of
- New keys counted and signed for, with a keying record on file
- Interior filing cabinet and desk locks done in the same visit if you need them
- Doors left latching and closing correctly, not just locking
Office lock change prices in Newmarket
Two ways to look at the cost. Per cylinder, if you only need a door or two done. Or as a whole-suite figure, which is what most offices actually want, because the service call is spread across every opening instead of being charged once per door.
| Scope | What it covers | Price range (CAD) |
|---|---|---|
| Service call, business hours | Attendance and diagnosis | $60 – $95 |
| Service call, after hours or weekend | Attendance and diagnosis | $95 – $160 |
| Rekey one commercial cylinder | Pinning and two keys | $30 – $55 each |
| Rekey a full suite, 6 – 10 cylinders | All keyed alike or to a hierarchy | $260 – $520 all in |
| Replace a commercial lever set | Grade 2 hardware supplied | $180 – $340 per door |
| Replace a mortise cylinder | Commercial cylinder and keys | $120 – $210 per door |
| Add a suite door to your master key | Pinning to the existing system | $45 – $80 per cylinder |
| Restricted cylinder upgrade | Patented keyway, key control | $95 – $180 per cylinder |
| Extra keys cut on the day | Standard keyway | $5 – $12 each |
| Filing cabinet or desk cam lock | Replaced and keyed alike | $45 – $95 each |
Ranges are typical for Newmarket in 2026 and cover labour plus standard commercial-grade parts. Overnight, weekend and statutory holiday call-outs carry a premium. A firm price is confirmed on the phone before a technician is dispatched.
Offices we work in around Newmarket
Professional suites around Davis Drive and Southlake, second-floor offices above the Main Street South retail units, the newer business condos off Leslie and Mulock, and the industrial-office hybrids near Highway 404. Different buildings, same job: get the old keys out of circulation without disrupting the week.
If the change is part of a bigger tidy-up — a new tenant, a fit-out, a change of ownership — it is often worth doing the whole opening properly at once, including the door closer and any buzzer entry at reception. One visit, one invoice.
What you get from us on an office change
Office lock changes beyond Newmarket
We attend commercial suites across the region. Everything is dispatched from Newmarket, so out-of-town appointments are usually booked rather than same-hour.
Frequently asked questions
How quickly can you change our office locks?
Same day is usually possible if you call in the morning, and for an urgent situation — a dismissal, a missing master key — we will attend within a couple of hours. Most offices prefer an evening slot so the work happens with the suite empty. A six to ten door suite takes two to three hours.
Do we have to replace the locks or can they be rekeyed?
If the hardware works properly, rekey. It costs a fraction of replacement, takes fifteen to twenty minutes per cylinder, and old keys stop working immediately. Replacement makes sense when the lock is worn, obsolete, residential-grade on a commercial door, or when you want a restricted keyway with proper key control.
Will changing one door break our master key system?
Only if it is done carelessly. A cylinder rekeyed in isolation drops out of the master system, which means your own master and the building master stop working on it. Done properly the change key is new and every level above it still turns. Show us the master key or the keying chart and it is straightforward.
Can you key all our office doors to one key?
Yes. Keyed alike is the simplest arrangement and it suits small offices where everyone needs everywhere. If you want the file room, the server cupboard or the director office restricted, you need a small master system instead — one key for staff, one that opens everything.
What does it cost to rekey a whole office suite?
For six to ten cylinders, typically $260 to $520 all in during business hours, including the service call and two keys per lock. After-hours attendance adds to that. Per cylinder on its own runs $30 to $55 plus the call-out. You get a firm figure on the phone once we know the door count.
Can staff still get in while you work?
Yes. We work one door at a time and no opening is left unsecured. If you need the main entrance usable throughout, we do it last, or fit a temporary cylinder while the permanent one is being pinned. Nothing is left open at the end of a visit.
Someone copied a key at a hardware store. Can we stop that?
Standard keys can be duplicated by anyone holding them. A restricted or patented keyway cannot — the blanks are controlled and a copy is only cut against a signed authorisation from a person you nominate. It costs more per cylinder and it is the only real answer to uncontrolled duplication.
Do you handle the filing cabinets and desks too?
Yes, and it is worth doing at the same time. Cam locks in cabinets, credenzas and pedestals can be replaced and keyed alike so your admin staff carry one small key instead of nine. It adds very little to the visit because the technician is already on site.
Related locksmith services in Newmarket
Book an after-hours office lock change
Tell us how many keyed doors you have and whether there is a master key involved. We will quote the suite as a whole and fit it around your trading hours. Call 866-820-1331.
