24/7 towing and roadside help

Towing and Roadside Help in British Columbia

Broken down in British Columbia? Call 1-888-TOW-1213. We lock your price by text, send the nearest available partner tow company and stay with you until help arrives.

If anyone is hurt or you're stopped in a live lane, call 911 first.

Call 1-888-TOW-1213 Find help near you

How it works in British Columbia. Sentinel Towing is a network, not a tow company. A vetted local partner near you does the job. We stay with you by text and hold them to your locked price.

Towing by City in British Columbia

Roadside guides for British Columbia

Two kinds of BC driving

From Valley Rain to Mountain Passes

Our BC city pages cover two very different places to break down. In the Fraser Valley, Abbotsford sits on the Trans-Canada (Highway 1) and Highway 11, the road to Mission and the Sumas border crossing. Winters there are mostly rain, fog and the odd heavy snowfall that doesn't last. Low ground on the Sumas Prairie has flooded before, and Highway 1 went under water in November 2021.

Up in the Okanagan, Kelowna and Vernon share Highway 97, the valley's main road. It carries you over Okanagan Lake on the William R. Bennett Bridge, up past Lake Country, and on toward Kamloops. The Okanagan Connector (Highway 97C) climbs to Pennask Summit at 1,728 m, and Highway 33 heads up to Big White. Those are the stretches where a dead battery or a slide into the snowbank turns serious fast.

Whichever side of the Coquihalla you're on, the call works the same way. Tell us where you are, and we send the nearest available partner for a tow, a jump start or a winch-out.

Before you drive BC highways in winter

BC's winter tire and chain signs apply from October 1 to April 30 on signed routes, and some routes that aren't in the mountains end March 31. Outside the Lower Mainland and southeastern Vancouver Island, winter tires are required on most highways. Check DriveBC for road conditions before you head over a pass.

Source: Government of BC, winter tire and chain-up routes.

BC rules worth knowing

Slow Down, Move Over, and What to Do If Your Car Was Towed

BC's Slow Down, Move Over rule covers tow trucks with flashing lights, so it protects the driver working on your car too. Passing drivers must slow to 70 km/h where the limit is 80 km/h or more, and to 40 km/h where it's under 80. On a road with more than one lane in your direction, they must move over a lane when it's safe. Read it on the Government of BC site.

Sentinel doesn't do impounds or private-lot tows. If your car was towed and you didn't call anyone, find out who authorized it: a city, a property owner, a strata, a parking operator or the police. Ask for a clear list of the fees and keep your receipts. Consumer Protection BC explains the steps.

I'm stuck on a highway between towns. Can you still help?

Call and tell us the highway, your direction and the last town or exit you passed. If a partner can reach you, we'll lock your price by text and send them. If no partner covers that stretch yet, we'll tell you on the call so you can try someone else right away.

Is a BC tow different from the rest of Canada?

The call is the same everywhere we work: your price is texted and locked first, you get your driver's name, photo and truck, and we check on you until help arrives. What changes in BC is the road: rain and flooding near the coast, snow and steep grades inland.

Roadside help in British Columbia

Towing and Roadside Services Across British Columbia

Sentinel is a 24-hour towing and roadside assistance network across British Columbia. Tell us where you are, and we send a vetted local towing company near you with a truck suited to the job: a tow truck for a car that can't be driven (a flatbed where the vehicle needs one), or a service truck for a jump start, lockout, flat tire, fuel delivery or winch-out.