How Do I Get a Security Guard Licence in Ontario?

Canada licenses security work province by province. In Ontario the regulator is the Private Security and Investigative Services Branch of the Ministry of the Solicitor General. Guards working for an agency or on their own account need a provincial licence in the province where they work.

Armed work is generally federally restricted and is not covered here.

You must be 18 or over, legally entitled to work in Canada, and have a clean criminal record. You need a Criminal Record and Judicial Matters Check issued within six months of the date you apply, so time the check close to your application.

These rules come from the Ontario Government page for individual security guard and private investigator licences.

• Be 18 or over.
• Be legally entitled to work in Canada.
• Have a clean criminal record.
• Hold a Criminal Record and Judicial Matters Check issued within six months of applying.

Basic training is at least 40 hours and includes emergency first aid and cardiopulmonary resuscitation. After the training you pass the ministry test, which is 60 multiple-choice questions in 75 minutes. Our separate answer on the Ontario test covers how it works.

Training providers set their own prices, so the price varies by provider.

The application fee for a security guard licence is CAD 80, in Canadian dollars, according to the Ontario page updated on 4 August 2026. The licence expires two birthdays after issue.

How long a licence application takes is not published on the pages checked, so check with the ministry.

The order matters. First complete the basic training. Then pass the ministry test. Then obtain your record check, timed so that it is issued within six months of the day you apply, and submit the application.

Getting the record check too early is a common avoidable problem, because a check older than six months does not meet the requirement. Getting it too late delays the application.

Compare this with the other provinces if you may move. British Columbia accepts a licence from Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba or Ontario for its training requirement, so an Ontario licence can be a useful starting point, though the other province still sets its own application and fees.

Finally, plan for expiry. The licence expires two birthdays after issue, so the term is not a fixed number of years. Put the expiry date in your calendar when you receive the licence, and check the Ontario Government page for the renewal steps before it passes.

If you are unsure about any step, use the Ontario Government pages named in this answer, which cover the licence, the testing and the basic training. They are the official source and are kept current, so they take priority over anything a third party tells you, including this page.

Ontario publishes a public registry of individual licence holders on its compliance website. XGuard checks the licence against the provincial register before a professional can list.

XGuard is a marketplace, not a security company. It does not promise work or availability, and the licence is an entry requirement rather than a guarantee of bookings.