Security guard agency licence

A security guard agency licence is the business-level licence a company needs before it provides guard services to clients. Guards are licensed as individuals too, so a buyer of a security firm is looking at two layers: the firm’s licence and each worker’s licence. The three provinces covered here name the firm’s licence differently.

British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario

British Columbia’s Security Services Act says a person must not carry on a security business unless the person holds a valid security business licence or is exempt by regulation. A security business licence must not be transferred unless the registrar consents in writing to the transfer, and a security worker licence must not be transferred at all. Alberta’s Security Services and Investigators Act says no person may, without a licence, patrol, guard or provide security for another person for remuneration, and no person may, without a business licence, engage in the business of providing individual licensees to do security work, subject to the exemptions in sections 10 and 11. A licence issued under the Act or the regulations is not transferable. The Ontario government says any business that sells the services of security guards requires an agency licence, separate from the licence a guard needs to work. This entry covers British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario only; check the rules in the province where the business operates.

What to check or ask

• Which entity holds the business licence and whether the buyer must apply in its own name.
• Whether the regulator’s written consent is needed before any transfer.
• Whether each guard’s individual licence is current, since those do not move with the business.

Timing questions are covered in does a buyer need its own licence before the sale closes. See also licence re-application.