If you apply for a license between now and April 15, but the PSISB does not get to your application and issue you a license before April 15, and you have not completed training and passed the test, the PSISB will cancel your application and send it back to you. You will have to re-submit it once you have completed training and passed the test.

To help outline the implications of all the changes, Ted Carroll, president of Policing & Security Management Services, provided an overview of the training and testing requirements recently released by the Ministry at the monthly meeting of ASIS Toronto on March 17.

Carroll talked about how this latest regulation will affect both in-house and contract security personnel and their employers.
He says any inconvenience to the industry will be short-term.

“The Ministry had been under criticism for not implementing quickly enough,” says Carroll. “There has been some advanced notice it was coming so it shouldn’t be a total surprise. It will create a bit of flux for some, but it will really be a situation that occurs one time only. In the future, anyone hiring a security person will ask them to provide a licence and it will mean they were properly trained and tested and won’t create a burden on the employer.”

Patrick Ogilvie, chair of ASIS Toronto, says the industry has expressed concerns about the impact of the training and testing requirement on an organization’s bottom line during the transition period, which will occur for about a year-and-a-half.

“What we’re hearing from the industry is a concern around the impact of overtime if there is a shortage of security workers who haven’t been able to adequately fulfill the needs of the Ministry. Ultimately, it comes down to issues of commerce.”

With respect to the issue of the unknown pass mark, Ogilvie is less concerned but admits it is an issue for some.

“Some people feel it is important and others do not. As a security professional there is a base knowledge required so regardless if the pass mark is 50 or 90 per cent it should be fulfilled by practitioners working in the industry,” he says.

Exemptions from writing the test may occur if an individual is from another province, which already has mandatory training, and the person is relocating to Ontario.

“Ontario will process those people without them having to go through the training and testing,” says Carroll.

In Alberta, where similar legislation for the private security industry has recently been overhauled, the Security Services and Investigators Act is taking 12 months to phase in changes to the Act and will grandfather licensing. With use of force, anyone who carries a baton will be required to take a 40-hour use of force course.