PSISA and Regulations Introduction

This section provides a comprehensive overview of the key aspects of the Private Security and Investigative Services Act, as well as outlines the Code of Conduct. It delineates the individual’s obligations in relation to licensing, encompassing the licensing application process, mandatory eligibility criteria, prohibitions, associated penalties, and specifications for uniforms and equipment.

Furthermore, this section elucidates the responsibilities of businesses that employ individuals engaged in activities regulated by this Act. It addresses how both individuals and employer organizations should represent themselves to the public. Additionally, it underscores the obligations to furnish identification, maintain meticulous records of all operational facets, and make these records accessible to authorized entities conducting inquiries.

The following are the types of licences that may be issued under this Act:

A licence to act as a private investigator.
A licence to act as a security guard.
A licence to engage in the business of selling the services of private Investigators.
A licence to engage in the business of selling the services of security guards.
A licence to act as both a private investigator and a security guard (dual license)
A licence to engage in the business of selling the services of both private investigators and security guards 2005, c. 34, s. 4.

Registration

Registered employer

If a business entity, excluding those involved in offering private investigator or security guard services to the general public, hires a private investigator or security guard, it is required to:

Complete the employer registration process as per the specified guidelines.
Furnish the Registrar with a mailing address for official correspondence in Ontario. Additionally, the business entity must promptly inform the Registrar of any modifications to this mailing address within a five-day window following the change.

Mandatory Requirements

No person is eligible to hold a licence under this Act unless the person possesses a clean criminal record and in the case of an individual;

The person is 18 years old or older, the person is entitled to work in Canada, and the person has successfully completed all prescribed training and testing.

If, at any time subsequent to being issued a licence, a person ceases to meet a requirement set out in the Act, the person shall not continue to act or offer services under the licence and shall return the licence to the Registrar as required under section 37 within five days, excluding Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays, within the meaning of the Employment Standards Act,

A license is not transferable

Individual Responsibilities

Licence means an individual or business entity that holds a licence under this Act, and “licenced” has a corresponding meaning.

Registrar means the Registrar of Private Investigators and Security Guards appointed under section 3

Tribunal means the License Appeal Tribunal established under the Licence Appeal Tribunal Act, 1999.

Individual license

No person shall act as a private investigator or a security guard or hold himself or herself out as one unless the person holds the appropriate licence under this Act

No person who holds a licence to act as a private investigator or security guard shall act or hold his self or herself or itself as being available to act with respect to, the collection of accounts acting as a bailiff or an eviction under the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006

Protected Witnesses

No person who holds a licence to act as a private investigator or security guard shall act or hold himself, herself or itself as being available to act with respect to;

Locating a person known or suspected by the licensee to be a member of a witness protection program
Gathering information about any person known or suspected by the licensee to be a member of a witness protection program for the purpose of enabling the person to be located

Licences – general rules

The Registrar may decline to issue or renew a licence if the Registrar is of the opinion that one of the following applies, and if the Registrar is of the opinion that the matter is relevant to the applicant’s fitness to hold a licence:

The past conduct of the applicant or of an interested person in respect of the applicant affords reasonable grounds to believe that the applicant will not carry on business in accordance with the law and with integrity and honesty
The applicant, an employee or agent of the applicant makes a false statement or provides a false statement in an application for a licence or for a renewal of the licence
The applicant, has been convicted of or found guilty of an offence under a law of Canada for which a pardon under the Criminal Records Act (Canada) has not been issued or granted
Has been convicted of or found guilty of a provincial offence or an offence under a law of any other province or territory of Canada
Is liable to pay a fine for a provincial offence that has not been paid
Has been convicted of a criminal offence under the law of another jurisdiction for which a pardon has not been issued or granted
A ground exists that is prescribed as a ground for which an application for the issuance or renewal of a licence may be refused
It is in the public interest to refuse to issue or renew the licence

An applicant who meets the requirements set out in this Act and the regulations for the applicable licence is entitled to the issuance or renewal of a licence unless another condition as stated in the act applies.

A person may be issued more than one type of licence, but, regardless of the licences a person holds, the person may not act as a security guard and a private investigator at the same time

Every licence shall display a clearly recognizable photograph of the holder, if the holder is an individual.

A licence is not transferable

The Registrar may issue or renew a licence subject to such conditions as he or she considers appropriate and may, at any time, attach such additional conditions as he or she considers appropriate to an existing licence.

Duties, Standards & Regulations

Application

This Act applies to private investigators and Security Guards within the meaning of the Act

Notice by Registrar

Where the Registrar becomes aware that a person no longer meets a requirement as set, the Registrar shall promptly give the person notice that the Registrar’s records have been changed to show that the person no longer has a valid licence.

Request to reconsider

Where the Registrar has given notice that the person no longer has a valid licence, the person to whom notice has been given may request that the Registrar reconsider the change to the Registrar’s records, and the Registrar may consider any relevant information in doing so

Clean criminal record

A person possesses a “clean criminal record” if;

The person has not been convicted of a prescribed offence under the Criminal Code (Canada), the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act (Canada) or any other Act of Canada, or
The person has been convicted of such an offence and a pardon under the Criminal Records Act (Canada) has been issued or granted

Application for licence

A person who applies to the Registrar for the issuance or renewal of a licence shall

Provide a mailing address for service in Ontario;
Pay the required fee for the issuance or renewal of the appropriate licence;
Provide a declaration that lists;
All of the person’s convictions for and findings of guilt for offences under a law of Canada up to the date of the declaration for which a pardon under the Criminal Records Act (Canada) has not been issued or granted,
All of the person’s convictions for and findings of guilt for a provincial offence or an offence under a law of any other province or territory of Canada
All fines levied against the person for a provincial offence that remain unpaid on the date of the declaration
All of the person’s convictions for criminal offences under the laws of other jurisdictions for which a pardon has not been issued or granted
All charges for allegedly committing an offence against a law of Canada that have been laid against the person and that have not been resolved on the date of the declaration, and
All charges for allegedly committing a criminal offence against the laws of another jurisdiction that have been laid against the person and that have not been resolved on the date of the declaration
Provide consent for the Registrar to collect information on any matter mentioned above
The Registrar may require an applicant to provide, his or her fingerprints, a clearly recognizable photograph of the applicant, his or her consent for the Registrar to conduct or have local police conduct a background check, including information regarding convictions and findings of guilt;
His or her consent for the Registrar to investigate the person’s immigration status in Canada; and
Any other information or material as the Registrar considers necessary, including personal information within the meaning of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, in order to determine, whether the applicant meets the requirements for the issuance or renewal of a licence, and

The applicant or an interested person in respect of the applicant is carrying on activities, that are in contravention of this Act or the regulations or that will be in contravention of this Act or the regulations if the applicant is issued a licence or a licence is renewed
The past conduct of the applicant or of an interested person in respect of the applicant affords reasonable grounds to believe that the applicant will not carry on business in accordance with the law and with integrity and
The applicant, an employee or agent of the applicant makes a false statement or provides a false statement in an application for a licence or for a renewal of the licence
The Registrar may revoke a licence or if the Registrar proposes to revoke a licence and he or she considers it to be in the interest of public safety to do so, the Registrar may by order

suspend the licence and any such order takes effect immediately

The Registrar shall, at the time of serving the written reasons, advise the applicant or licensee of the right to appeal under section 17

No business entity shall employ a private investigator or a security guard unless the private investigator or the security guard has an appropriate licence.

Every licensee under this Act shall ensure that the following information is on file with the Registrar and shall inform the Registrar in writing of any change within five business days of the change occurring:

The licensee’s mailing address for service
The mailing address of every branch office of the licensee
The street address of the licensee’s office and branch offices, if different from the mailing address
Name of business

No person who holds a licence to engage in the business of selling the services of private investigators or security guards shall carry on business in a name other than the name in which the person is licensed

Identification as private investigator

Every person who is holding himself or herself out as a private investigator shall
carry his or her licence;
on request, identify himself or herself as a private investigator; and
on request, produce his or her licence

No person who is acting as a private investigator or holding himself or herself out as one shall possess any identification or symbol of authority other than the licence issued to him or her under this Act Every person who is acting as a security guard or holding himself or herself out as one shall carry his or her licence, on request, identify himself or herself as a security guard; and on request, produce his or her licence (exceptions apply for LPPs & Undercover Investigators.

Security Guard uniform

Every person who is acting as a security guard or holding himself or herself out as one shall wear a uniform that complies with the regulations. This requirement does not apply to a person who is, acting as a bodyguard; or performing services to prevent the loss of property through theft or sabotage in an industrial, commercial, or residential or retail environment.

Identification, symbols of authority & licenses

No person who is acting as a security guard or holding himself or herself out as one shall possess any identification or symbol of authority other than his or her uniform, the licence issued to him or her under this Act, and any other form of identification or symbol of authority provided for in the regulations

No person who holds a licence to engage in the business of selling the services of private investigators or security guards shall do so unless the licence is displayed in a conspicuous spot in the office at which the public is invited to deal

The licence issued by the Registrar that is applicable to a branch office shall be displayed in each branch office. Every licence is the property of the Crown and a person shall immediately return his, her or its licence to the Registrar in the following circumstances:

The licence is suspended or revoked if;

The licence names a branch office at which the public is invited to deal and the business entity discontinues business at that office
The licence is to engage in the business of selling the services of private investigators or security guards and the licensee discontinues the business
The person ceases to meet a requirement set out in the Act and is prohibited from acting or offering services under the licence

Section 38

No person shall;

Possess, display or permit to be displayed a fake, altered or fraudulently obtained licence
Lend a licence to another person or permit another person to use it
Display or represent as his, her or its own a licence that was not issued to him, her or it
Display or represent as valid a licence that has been suspended or revoked
Display or represent as valid a licence when the person to whom the licence was issued no longer meets a requirement under subsection 10 (1). 2005, 34,

Section 39

No person who holds a licence under this Act shall hold himself, herself or itself out as providing services or performing duties connected with police.

Section 40

No private investigator, security guard or person who engages in the business of selling the services of private investigators or security guards shall use the following terms or variations of them:

Detective or Private
Law
Police
Officer

43. A person is guilty of an offence if he, she or it;

Knowingly furnishes false information in any application under this Act or in any statement or return required under this Act or the regulations;

Fails to comply with any order or other requirement made under this Act or the regulations, fails to comply with a condition of a licence, or contravenes or fails to comply with any provision of this Act or the regulations.

Limitation

No proceeding under this section shall be commenced more than one year after the Registrar first became aware of the facts on which the proceeding is

Offence – directors or officers

44. Where a business entity is guilty of an offence under this Act, every director, officer or partner of the business entity who authorizes or permits or acquiesces in the offence is guilty of an

45. (1) Penalties – Individuals

Every individual convicted of an offence under this Act is liable to a fine of not more than $25,000, imprisonment for a term of not more than one year, or both.

45. (2) Penalties – businesses

Every business entity convicted of an offence under this Act is liable to a fine of not more than $250,000.

52. A person who holds a licence under the Private Investigators and Security Guards Act on the day this section comes into force shall be deemed to be licensed under this Act until the day the person’s licence would have expired under that