I am pleased to inform you that a new individual licence application form and step-by-step instructions are now available for download on the ministry’s website.

The new, simplified application form is intended to make the application process easier for applicants.  In addition to increased customer satisfaction we anticipate the benefits of a simplified application process will be measured in improved Branch service levels in customer service and application processing time.  For those of you that provided feedback on the form and the step-by-step instructions, we thank you for your participation and hope that you are pleased with the end result.

We encourage you to distribute the new application form and instructions to your clients/employees. The new application form should be used by both new and renewing private security guard and private investigator licence applicants.  Please know that we have made similar improvements to the agency license application process and hope to have that update to share with you shortly.

Thanks kindly,
Lisa

Lisa Kool
Director/Registrar
Private Security and Investigative Services Branch
777 Bay Street, 3rd Floor
Toronto
M7A 2J6

Ministry of Community Safety Ministère de la Sécurité communautaire
and Correctional Services et des Services correctionnels
Private Security and Direction des services privés de
Investigative Services Branch sécurité et d’enquête
777 Bay Street 777, rue Bay
3rd Floor 3ème étage
Toronto ON M7A 2J6 Toronto ON M7A 2J6
Telephone: (416) 212-1650 Téléphone: (416) 212-1650
Facsimile: (416) 212-1603 Télécopieur: (416) 212-1603

REQUIREMENT FOR LICENSED INDIVIDUALS TO CARRY THE LICENCE ON THEIR PERSON
Recently the Private Security and Investigative Services Branch (PSISB) has received requests to clarify the need for licensed individuals to carry the licence on their person in order to work as a security guard and/or private investigator.
Section 6 of the Private Security and Investigative Services Act, 2005 (PSISA) requires a private investigator or a security guard to hold the appropriate licence under the Act. An individual who holds themselves out as or acts as a security guard or private investigator and does not hold the appropriate licence would be considered in violation of the PSISA, and may be subject to charges.
The licensing status of an individual may be ascertained by reviewing the ministry’s list of licensed individuals under PSISA on our website at www.ontario.ca/private-security. This list is updated daily. Individuals appearing on this list are considered to be licensed under PSISA.
Sections 34(1) and 35(1) of the PSISA also require a private investigator or security guard to carry his or her licence and, upon request, to identify himself/herself; and produce his or her licence. An individual who fails to produce his licence upon request would be considered in violation of PSISA and may be subject to charges.
As such, while the ministry’s list of licensed individuals may be used to confirm the licensing status of an individual, this does not remove the requirement for a licensed individual to carry on their person the licence issued by PSISB to satisfy Sections 34(1) and/or 35(1).
What is set out above should not be considered to be legal advice. It is important to note that the PSISB’s interpretation of the PSISA does not bind the Courts or any police officer enforcing the PSISA. The PSISB is not in a position to provide legal advice and it is an individual’s and/or business’ responsibility to determine if and how they are subject to the PSISA.
I trust this information is helpful.

Lisa Kool
Director/Registrar 1
Private Security and Investigative Services Branch

Training and Testing Working Group

Anyone seeking a licence as a private security guard and/or private investigator has been subject to mandatory training and testing requirements under the Private Security and Investigative Services Act, 2005 as of April 15, 2010.

Since then, the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services has been monitoring the effectiveness of the basic training and testing program, and has recently set up a working group with participants from the Ontario private security industry. The overall objective of the working group is to ensure the basic training and testing program supports the government’s commitment to professionalize the industry and to protect public safety. The key areas of focus for this group are:

• To review, and if necessary update, the ministry’s training and testing program to ensure the testing component is appropriate and relevant for the industry.
• To provide a ministry-endorsed test preparation document to complement the curricula for security guard and private investigator training.

As well as participants from the private security industry, the working group also includes the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services, and the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities. The group has been put together to ensure a province-wide perspective that includes representatives from the security guard, private investigation and loss prevention disciplines.

The ministry expects to report on the findings of the working group early in 2011.

Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services News

The Private Security and Investigative Services Branch (PSISB) is experiencing unexpected and unique challenges, including an increased volume of licence applications prompted by the upcoming G8 and G20 Summits. To help ensure that those licences that expire during the period leading up to the Summits are renewed despite this higher than normal volume, the Ministry has taken the following action.

The PSISB has made recent amendments to Regulations under the Private Security and Investigative Services Act, 2005 (PSISA).  The affected Regulations are the Term of Licences Regulation, the Registration Requirements for Business Entities Regulation and the Training and Testing Regulation.

These amendments ensure that existing licences with expiry dates from June 14, 2010 to June 30, 2010 may receive a 30 day extension, in the event that the Branch has not been able to process the application prior to the licence’s expiry.  This provision applies only to those applications received by the Branch prior to their licence expiry date and which the Branch has not been able to process.  This provision applies to individuals, licensed agencies and registered business.

For example, if the Branch receives an application on June 15, 2010 for a licence that expires on June 29, 2010 and the Branch is unable to process the application prior to June 29, 2010, the licence is automatically extended to July 29, 2010.

Individuals affected by this process will receive their plastic licence with the extended July expiry date.  The expiry date will not revert back to the original June date.

The amendments also ensure that affected licensees will not have to take and pass the mandatory test until they renew their licence in 2011.

The Branch will continue its efforts to ensure that all applications are processed as quickly as possible, however these amendments will ensure that licensees with imminent expiry dates are able to continue to provide security services at this critical time.

Finally, these amendments only relate to licences with an expiry from June 14 to June 30, 2010.  They do not allow for a 30 day extension to be applied to licences with expiry outside of these dates.  We strongly encourage licensees to submit their application at least 30 days prior to their licence expiry date to ensure that the Branch has adequate time to process their renewal.

NOTICE TO SECURITY INDUSTRY WORKERS

On April 15, 2010, a new regulation prescribing basic training and testing requirements for security guards and private investigators will come into force.

New Applicants

New applicants for a security guard or private investigator licence, who have not been licensed by April 15, 2010, will have to complete a basic training course and pass the prescribed test before their application can be considered.

Existing Licence Holders

Existing licensees do not need to take the basic training course if they pass the test before the renewal of their licence.

Those whose licences expire between April 15 and July 15, 2010, will not be required to pass the test until their 2011 renewal.

Those whose licences expire on or after July 16, 2010, will have to pass the test before the expiry of their current licences in order to renew them.

Training and Testing

Training will be available through licensed agencies, public universities and colleges, and private career colleges. Registered business entities may also train their own employees.

The test will be available after April 15 and individuals may write the test more than once if necessary. However, existing licensees must pass the test before their renewal date.

For more information, please visit the ministry’s website at www.ontario.ca/securitytraining or call the Private Security and Investigative Services Branch, Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services at 416-212-1650 or toll-free at 1-866-767-7454.

Paid for by the Government of Ontario

AVIS AUX TRAVAILLEURS DE L’INDUSTRIE DES SERVICES PRIVÉS DE SÉCURITÉ

Le 15 avril 2010, un nouveau règlement prescrivant des exigences relatives à une formation de base et des examens pour les agents de sécurité et enquêteurs privés entrera en vigueur.

Auteurs d’une demande de nouveau permis

Les auteurs d’une demande de permis d’agent de sécurité ou d’enquêteur privé qui n’ont pas reçu leur permis avant cette date devront suivre un programme de formation de base et réussir à un examen prescrit avant que leur demande ne soit examinée.

Titulaires actuels d’un permis

Les titulaires actuels d’un permis n’ont pas besoin de suivre le cours de formation de base s’ils réussissent à l’examen avant le renouvellement de leur permis.

Ceux et celles dont le permis expire entre le 15 avril et le 15 juillet 2010 ne devront pas réussir à l’examen avant le renouvellement de leur permis de 2011.

Ceux et celles dont le permis expire le 16 juillet 2010 ou après cette date devront réussir à l’examen avant l’expiration de leur permis actuel pour pouvoir le renouveler.

Formation et examens

La formation peut être dispensée par des agences de services privés de sécurité titulaires d’un permis, des universités et collèges publics et des collèges privés d’enseignement professionnel. Les entreprises inscrites seront autorisées à former leurs propres employés.

L’examen sera offert après le 15 avril et les candidats peuvent se présenter à l’examen plus d’une fois au besoin. Toutefois, les titulaires actuels de permis doivent réussir à l’examen avant la date de renouvellement de leur permis.

Pour plus d’information, veuillez visiter le site Web du ministère, à www.ontario.ca/securiteformation ou appeler la Direction des services privés de sécurité et d’enquête du ministère de la Sécurité communautaire et des Services correctionnels, au 416 212-1650 ou, sans frais, au 1 866-767-7454.

Annonce payée par le gouvernement de l’Ontario.

February 25, 2010

As of April 15, 2010, the new basic Training and Testing Regulation takes effect. This Regulation helps strengthen the professional requirements for security guards and private investigators and enhance public safety.

For more information on the basic Training and Testing Regulation, please visit http://www.mcscs.jus.gov.on.ca/english/PISG/private_inv_sec.html

November 11, 2009

Canada’s privacy czar is facing demands from key players in the insurance industry to butt out of claim investigations and to stop complaining about the use of covert video surveillance to catch suspected insurance cheats. After fielding a growing number of complaints against insurance companies, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner issued guidelines to the private sector in May to protect people against covert video surveillance, characterizing it as an “extremely privacy-invasive form of technology” to be considered “only in the most limited cases.”

“Covert surveillance is an intrusive act, and, if there are other means to resolve a dispute, we believe they should be explored first,” such as independent medical exams, assistant commissioner Elizabeth Denham said. Private investigators have fired back, calling on the insurance industry to disregard the directives. “Our advice to the industry is, if you need to investigate, do not be deterred by the privacy commissioner’s guidelines,” said Norman Groot, counsel to the Canadian Association of Private Investigators.

“We challenge the privacy commissioner on the existence and scope of a right to privacy in public places, and we say that, where there are flags of fraud, the right to defend and the right to investigate supersedes another’s right to privacy of their image in a public place.” The country’s privacy watchdog is also fending off a State Farm Insurance legal challenge questioning her jurisdiction over investigations in the first place.

The largest property and casualty insurer in North America is asking the federal court to rule that personal information collected during these investigations, including copies of covert video surveillance reports and tapes, falls outside the scope of Canada’s private sector privacy law. State Farm turned to the court in response to an investigation of a complaint against the insurance company. A man under covert video surveillance complained to the privacy commissioner after the company refused to provide him with the information compiled about him.

State Farm is seeking an order that the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) does not apply to the privacy interests of the man under surveillance. This is the second challenge to the privacy czar’s authority this year from an insurance company.

Following an investigation into the covert surveillance practices of a private investigation firm working on behalf of an insurance company, the privacy commissioner determined the complaint was well-founded and recommended the firm depersonalize or remove third parties caught on video without their consent. In this case, a mother and daughter were videotaped during covert surveillance of the mother’s sister, who had begun legal proceedings against her insurer over benefits following a car accident.

The privacy commissioner also found that the collection, use or disclosure of personal information about third parties without their consent was only acceptable in certain, specific situations: for example, when the information is relevant to the purpose of the collection of information about the subject of the surveillance. The privacy commissioner declined to bring an application to Federal Court to enforce the recommendations even though the firm refused to implement the recommendations.

© Copyright (c) The Ottawa Citizen

Bill 168, Occupational Health and Safety Amendment Act

(Violence and Harassment in the Workplace), 2009

The Standing Committee on Social Policy will meet to consider Bill 168, An Act to amend the Occupational Health and Safety Act with respect to violence and harassment in the workplace and other matters. The Committee intends to hold public hearings on November 17, 23 and 24, 2009. Interested people who wish to be considered to make an oral presentation on Bill 168 should contact the Committee Clerk by 5:00 p.m. on Monday, November 9, 2009. An electronic version of the Bill is available on the Legislative Assembly website at: www.ontla.on.ca

Shafiq Qaadri, MPP  Chair

Katch Koch Clerk

Room 1405, Whitney Block

Queen’s Park, Toronto ON  M7A 1A2

Telephone/Téléphone: (416) 325-3526

Facsimile/Télécopieur: (416) 325-3505

TTY/ATS : (416) 325-3538

President, Diligent Security Training and Consulting Inc

www.diligenttraining.ca

Companies who were hoping to find out this month whether or not they had been awarded the contract to deliver standardized testing services as part of the mandatory training requirements that are to be brought in under the Private Security and Investigative Services Act (PSISA) have recently been notified that the Province’s original RFP has been cancelled and that a new RFP will be issued within the next few weeks.  As a consequence of this development, the Province’s anticipated target for implementation of standardized testing will now be pushed back from around the end of this year to sometime in the middle of 2010.

The original RFP, which was issued in late May, called for a successful contract services vendor to be selected by sometime in September, and for testing services to be up and running by the end of December.  With a new RFP slated to come out between now and the middle of October, it is unlikely that testing will now be implemented anytime prior to May or June, if then.  The Private Security and Investigative Services Branch (PSISB) is expected to make some kind of formal notification to industry stakeholders over the next couple of weeks.

Meanwhile, the Province’s contract with test development company Castle Worldwide proceeds on schedule.  The first test forms are being piloted this month, and subject matter experts from the industry have been invited to participate in standard setting workshops – for the purpose of making recommendations regarding pass marks for the two tests (one for security guards and one for private investigators) – on the last 2 days of September.

It is as yet unknown what effect this most recent setback – the additional  delay in the process of selecting an outside company to administer the standardized testing process – will have on any plans the Province may have had to publish the new Training and Testing Regulation which it is in the process of finalizing the wording for.  In June of this year the PSISB circulated a draft regulation for comment by industry stakeholders.