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Experts say the amount of online training to become a security guard is not enough
The Yellowknife Chamber of Commerce says it is seeing an increase in local businesses paying for security guards. Use of force experts say that’s happening across the country, but it also comes with a growing grey area in law enforcement.
The Chamber of Commerce’s executive director, Matt Halliday, said anecdotally, over the past five years, businesses like grocery stores and banks have relied more on private security companies.
He said that’s an additional cost businesses have to deal with.
“If you go back 15, 20 years, it wasn’t really something that was part of your business model,” he said. “Now, many businesses are facing that as a cost and it can definitely be a barrier to entry to a business.”
Earlier this week, a video circulating on social media showed a security guard hitting and shoving a person who, according to the RCMP, was intoxicated. That has prompted some feedback from use of force experts from across Canada, including University of Alberta criminology professor Temitope Oriola.
Oriola said jurisdictions across Canada are seeing an increase in private security.
“There’s phenomenal growth in that sector of the economy,” he said.
But with more security comes more questions – and in some cases, problems.
“This area represents a grey area in our law enforcement,” Oriola said. “We have not been systematic and sufficiently clinical in our approach to examining the nitty-gritty of this area.”
Oriola said there needs to be better training and qualifications for security guards. That could include creating a better understanding of the law and increased training on de-escalation.
Only 40 hours of online training are needed
Oriola also noted that in Alberta, people eager to become a security guard need to complete a 40-hour online training course, then another online exam, before being licensed to work. He said that’s the same standard in the N.W.T.
Ngan Trinh, a spokesperson for the N.W.T. justice department, said there is no legislation in the territory that governs security guards for their licensing and training.
Oriola said that the amount of 40 hours of online training model it is not sufficient.
“That area needs to be tightened and much more codified,” he said, noting that, as the number of security guards across Canada increases, so too does the chance for more potentially hostile or dangerous encounters they might run into.
It’s a point Steven Summerville can agree with. Summerville is a retired police officer and another use-of-force expert.
He noted the contrast between the number of licensed security guards in Ontario compared to the number of police officers, which he believes is contributing to the growth in private security.
Data from Statistics Canada shows there were just over 26,000 police officers in Ontario in 2023. In comparison, there were more than 132,000 licensed security guards in 2023 in the province alone according to figures from the Ontario government.
For context, in 2013, there were roughly 140,000 private security guards licensed Canada-wide.
“Throughout the nation, law enforcement is taxed. We are probably dealing with lower numbers of law enforcement than we’ve had for a number of years,” said Summerville.
Summerville noted that in Ontario, training also lasts 40 hours and doesn’t cover physical engagement or the use of force in necessity.
He said security guards “absolutely” need more training across Canada.
“I believe not only in the use of force, I believe we should be trained in de-escalation methods and how to recognize people in crisis, or perhaps living with substance abuse.”
