Ontario to grant 90-day extensions to guard licences set to expire

According to a letter dated April 16 from the Ontario Ministry of the Solicitor General, in response to the evolving COVID-19 pandemic, the ministry is granting 90-day extensions to security guards and private investigators whose licences are set to expire between March 16 and June 16.

The letter states:

To support the private security sector in continuing to perform their role and fulfill current contracts without disruption during this public health crisis, the Ministry of the Solicitor General will be granting 90-day extensions to individual security guards, private investigators, agencies, and registered employers whose licences/registrations expire between March 16, 2020 to June 16, 2020. This will allow the sector to focus on the delivery of security guard services.

The letter also addresses the temporary closure of guard exam testing facility Serco Canada.

In response to the evolving situation, Serco Canada Inc. (Serco) is no longer conducting sessions for security guard and/or private investigator exams effective March 23, 2020, until further notice. A memo noting the same was sent to training entities on March 31, 2020. Candidates who have scheduled an exam, are in the process of receiving a refund. Please note that for individuals who have completed training and obtained a Training Completion Number (TCN), the TCN does not expire and may be used to book a security guard/private investigator test once testing services are available again.

The ministry states that there are currently 91,261 security guard licencees in the province and 1,960 new licences were issued between March 9 and April 10. The complete letter was shared recently by the Canadian Security Association (CANASA).