Electrician Vancouver — Licensed and Insured
The Wire Guys are a licensed electrical contractor across Vancouver — panel upgrades, rewiring, EV chargers, lighting, repairs and emergencies for homes, strata and businesses. The estimate is free, and we file your City of Vancouver permit and meet the inspector for you.
4.7 stars across 137 Google reviews. Read them on GoogleAcross all of Vancouver: Downtown · South Granville · Renfrew · Riley Park · Strathcona
Licensed electrical contractor in British Columbia
WorkSafeBC registered
Continuous coverage since 30 September 2019.
BBB Accredited
Since 2023.
Canadian family owned. Serving British Columbia since 2019.
What counts as an emergencyAre you a licensed electrician in Vancouver?
The Wire Guys Electrical Ltd. is a licensed electrical contractor serving Vancouver. We handle panels, rewires, lighting and EV chargers for homes, businesses and strata buildings across the city, and the phone is answered at any hour on 778-708-0451.
- Open 24 hours
- The estimate is free
Our Vancouver address
999 Canada Place #404, Vancouver, BC V6C 3T4, on the downtown waterfront. Vancouver jobs are booked on the same number as every other job, and the areas we cover run from the West End out to the eastside.
Get directionsElectrical Contractor Vancouver: What We Do Here
We do electrical work for homes and businesses across Vancouver, from fixing a single dead outlet to rewiring a whole house. This is the work Vancouver customers call us for:
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Panel upgrades and rewires
A pre-war house in East Vancouver or Grandview-Woodland can still have knob and tube wiring behind a panel sized for a much smaller load. If your house has an old fuse box, a worn-out panel, or has run out of circuits, we upgrade the electrical panel and rewire what needs it. Adding a laneway house or a secondary suite adds load too, and the City of Vancouver has its own load calculation form for that setup.
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Faults and dead circuits
When half a floor loses power, an outlet goes dead or a breaker will not stay on, our electrical troubleshooting and repair work finds out why and fixes it. The cause is usually a loose connection, an overloaded circuit or a failing breaker, and we tell you which one before we start the repair. In a strata apartment, we also tell you whether the fault is inside your unit or on common property, because that decides who pays for the fix.
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Lighting
We handle light fixture installation, new pot lights, switches and dimmers, whether it is one room or the whole home. In a Kitsilano character house we run new wiring through the old ceilings; in a concrete West End strata tower, pot lights need a different plan, so check your strata bylaws before we cut anything. We test everything before we leave.
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EV chargers
We do EV charger installation for houses, condo and strata parkades, and commercial buildings. Every job starts with a load calculation, so we know your panel can carry the charger before we wire it in. In an apartment building of five or more units, the City of Vancouver asks for a New Electrical Load Installation form before it reviews a permit for new EV charging.
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New circuits
Some appliances need their own circuit from the panel, such as an electric range, a heat pump, the outlets in a workshop or the wiring for a hot tub. We run the new circuit, fit the right breaker and pull the City of Vancouver permit when the job needs one. Swapping baseboard heaters for a heat pump can lower a unit's net load, and when it does, the City does not ask for the new-load form.
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Commercial and strata
For businesses and strata buildings, our commercial electrical work covers individual units, shops and offices, and common areas such as hallways, lobbies and parkades. Strata councils and building managers book us for common-area work, and owners book us for work inside their own unit. A larger Vancouver building with a service over 500 kVA can hold an annual permit from the City, which covers maintenance and minor work without a new permit each time.
Residential Electrician Vancouver — homes, suites and single repairs
In Vancouver homes we take on rewires and kitchen renovations, add circuits to panels that have no spaces left, and fix the breaker that trips every time the kettle goes on.
One outlet or a full rewire, the work is priced the same way and you pay for the time on site. We work as a residential electrical contractor Vancouver homeowners can book for a single repair or a full rewire, and the whole list of what we take on is under residential electrician.
Commercial Electrician Vancouver — shops, offices and strata common areas
We work for strata councils and building managers as well as shops, offices and renovations: common-area lighting, parkade circuits and suite panels.
Commercial is priced differently from a house, and the reason is physical, not a markup. A home is wired in Romex through the studs; a commercial building is wired in conduit, bent and pulled to the layout. That is slower per circuit and uses more material, and it shows in the quote.
Electrical Installations We Handle in Vancouver Homes
We take on three bigger installations in Vancouver homes: EV chargers, new electrical panels, and standby generators with lighting controls.
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EV charger installation
We install chargers at houses with a driveway or garage, and we also put in a condo parkade charger, where running the wire back to the panel is usually most of the work. Every job starts with a load calculation, then we do the wiring and test the charger. Leviton is one of the charger brands we install.
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Electrical panel upgrade
We replace old panels with new Eaton, Square D and Schneider panels. Changing a panel means the power has to be cut at the meter, so we arrange the disconnect with BC Hydro as part of the job and you do not have to call them yourself.
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Standby power and lighting controls
We install Generac standby generators that keep your power on during an outage. We size each generator to the circuits you want to keep running, such as the fridge, the furnace and a few lights, so you are not paying for a bigger unit than you need. We also install Lutron dimmers and lighting controls, so you can set the lights in each room the way you like them.
What it costs
What is the electrician hourly rate in Vancouver?
We charge $135 an hour for a Red Seal electrician plus a helper on electrical work in Vancouver, and the rate is the same at 3am as at 3pm. We also do plenty of jobs for a flat rate. Once we have looked at your work, we tell you which way your job will be priced.
What you get for $135 an hour
For $135 an hour you get two people, not one: a Red Seal electrician and a helper. We charge by the hour when nobody could honestly price the job before opening it up, and what pushes it either way is usually how hard the run is to get at, whether the panel has any capacity left, whether the job needs a permit, and how old the wiring behind the wall turns out to be.
Hourly labour
$135/hr
This pays for a Red Seal electrician and a helper working together.
Hidden-fault diagnostic
$165/45 min
Tracking down a fault you cannot see takes testing time, so this is the one thing that is not free.
Estimate and consultation
Free
778-708-0451The estimate and the consultation are both free. If we price your job at a flat rate, you get one number in writing for the whole job before anything starts. That number is based on what we can see, so if the job changes once a wall is opened, we tell you first.
Who issues a Vancouver electrical permit?
Inside City of Vancouver limits, the City issues and inspects electrical permits itself, through its Development and Building Centre at 515 West 10th Avenue. Technical Safety BC does not have jurisdiction here. We pull the permit for your Vancouver job before work starts, and we are there when the inspector closes it.
Technical Safety BC licenses contractors across the province, but a permit filed with the wrong authority is not a permit.
Once an application is in, you follow its status on the City's own Vancouver permit portal, which covers any address inside city limits.
The guide: Vancouver electrical permits and inspections What an inspection checks and where fees are published, taken from the City itself. No email needed.What about Vancouver electrical permit fees?
Fees depend on the scope and on whether the application needs a plan review, so the only figure worth trusting is the live one the City of Vancouver publishes itself.
Wiring in Vancouver neighbourhoods
A Kitsilano character house and a West End strata apartment are two different wiring problems.
Roughly 1900 to the late 1940s
Knob and tube wiring was the Canadian standard from roughly 1900 to the late 1940s, and it is still in the walls of houses from that window — pre-war East Vancouver and Grandview-Woodland, the older streets of Mount Pleasant, heritage places in Kerrisdale and Point Grey. It carries no ground conductor.
Suites, laneway houses and strata
A basement or secondary suite is a second set of circuits in a house wired for one household. A laneway house needs a fresh supply run down the lot. An apartment in Marpole sits in a strata building, where your own panel is only half the story.
What we check before we call it done
These are the checks we make before we finish a job.
- If we find anything unexpected, we talk it through with you and get your approval before any extra work begins.
- An apprentice's work is checked by a Red Seal electrician or a Field Safety Representative, every time; Jasjot Kohli, the owner, is both.
- Then we test it and show you it working.
If an inspection does not pass
If an inspection does not pass on our work, we put it right, call the inspector back, and cover the cost.
After we leave
If something we installed is not right, we come back. Our guarantee terms are one year on new construction and six months on renovations.
Useful local contacts in Vancouver
When the problem belongs to the City or to BC Hydro, calling them directly is quicker than waiting for us.
City of Vancouver — booking the inspection
Inspections are booked and cancelled on 3-1-1, or 604-873-7000 from outside the city. The City says a request in before 2pm on a working day is aimed at the next working day, and anything later goes two working days out — worth knowing before you plan a Friday around it.
BC Hydro — anything before your meter
The line running to the building and the meter itself are BC Hydro's, not yours and not ours. A dead block, a sagging service line, or getting the power cut so a panel upgrade can go ahead all start with them.
1 800 224 9376. An outage can be reported at any hour; the contact centre for everything else is Monday to Friday, 7am to 8pm, and Saturday, 9am to 5pm.
A power line down on the ground is a 911 call, not a call to an electrician. BC Hydro's own advice is to stay back ten metres and treat it as live even if it is silent.
Calls to make now
What counts as an electrical emergency, and what can wait until morning
An electrical emergency is anything that could start a fire or shock someone. A dead outlet or a dark room is a fault, not an emergency, and can wait for daylight. We are open 24 hours, and a Vancouver call at midnight reaches the same company as one at noon.
These are the ones that should not wait until morning:
- A burning or hot-plastic smell from an outlet, switch or panel.
- Sparks at an outlet, or scorching around one.
- A panel that feels warm, or hums and buzzes.
- Part of the home dark while the rest works.
- A breaker that goes again the second you reset it.
- Any outlet, panel or wiring that has been under water.
If you can reach the panel safely, switch that circuit off and call.
Before you phone anyone, check whether the rest of the block has lost power too, whether a breaker has tripped, and whether a GFCI outlet needs resetting. We walk you through all three checks over at emergency electrician.
- Scorching or sparks at an outlet often start at a loose connection behind the plate.
- A hot-plastic smell near an outlet is the same warning, even before any mark shows.
Areas we serve in Vancouver
Pick an area to fly the map to it.
Beyond the city we work in Burnaby, New Westminster and Coquitlam, and our Abbotsford office covers the eastern Fraser Valley. We also take on electrical work in Victoria.
Find us in Vancouver
Vancouver jobs are booked on the same number as every other job, and the phone is answered at any hour.
Our Google reviews
These reviews are on our Abbotsford Google profile, and both are quoted exactly as the customers wrote them:
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We had an outstanding experience with The Wire Guys Electrical Ltd.! Their team is incredibly professional, punctual, and highly respectful of your time. We initially hired them to replace the lights in one of our commercial warehouse units, and their fair pricing and excellent service quickly convinced our entire team to proceed with them for the second unit as well.
Since this was a commercial project, they took all the necessary steps to ensure compliance, including verifying their insurance with the strata, confirming their license, and meeting all strata restrictions. Their attention to detail and professionalism gave us complete peace of mind.
What truly set them apart was their flexibility and commitment to our needs. Since shutting off electricity during working hours wasn’t an option, they went the extra mile to complete the entire job during night shifts, allowing our operations to continue uninterrupted.
If you’re looking for a reliable, professional, and customer-focused electrical company, we highly recommend The Wire Guys Electrical Ltd.!
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Jas and his team are highly professional and reliable, the pricing is very fair and reasonable. I have used Jas for 3 retrofit/renovation jobs now, 1 of them being fairly large. Highly recommend.
Frequently asked questions
You can read more about our residential electrician work, or see all our electrical services in one place.
You are calling a licensed electrical contractor with 4.7 stars across 137 Google reviews.
Any questions? Call 778-708-0451The Wire Guys Electrical Ltd. is a licensed electrical contractor serving Abbotsford, Vancouver, Victoria and communities across the Lower Mainland, Fraser Valley and Greater Victoria, handling residential and commercial electrical work for homeowners, landlords and business owners in British Columbia.
How to choose an electrician in Vancouver
Check what you can verify without taking anyone's word for it. The contractor licence should be active and in the company's own name. Read the reviews, not just the star average, and see whether the complaints are about the work or about the billing.
What are the questions to ask an electrician before hiring?
Four do most of the work. Is the hourly rate for one person or two? Is fault-finding billed separately from the estimate? Who pulls the permit, and who meets the inspector? What happens if the work does not pass? Ask all four.
Do I need a permit for electrical work?
For most work, yes, and panel work always. At a Vancouver address it comes from the City of Vancouver, not Technical Safety BC. We file it before work starts, so you do no paperwork.
How long does it take to get an electrical permit in Vancouver?
It depends on the permit. A simple one clears faster than anything needing a plan review, and the City publishes its own current processing times — read those, not a number on a contractor's website. We apply once the job is confirmed.
Does a house need rewiring after 25 years?
Age on its own is not the test. What matters is behind the walls: knob and tube wiring, aluminum branch wiring, or circuits with no ground. Those are what an insurer asks about, and a house of any age can be fine if it was rewired properly.
I own a condo — do I go through the strata or hire my own electrician?
Both happen. Work inside your unit is usually yours to arrange; common property is the strata's call, so start with the council. Either way, at a Vancouver address the permit comes from the City, and we file it before work starts.
More from us
Other electrical services we offer
Tell us what is going on
Tell us the Vancouver address and what the problem is — the address decides who issues the permit. The estimate is free; for a hidden fault, the $165, 45-minute diagnostic tells you what is wrong and how we would fix it.