Working as a security guard in Newfoundland and Labrador: the employer-led route, the age 19 rule, and the details the official pages do not state.
Applies in: Newfoundland and Labrador
Security guard work in Newfoundland and Labrador is regulated under the Private Investigation and Security Services Act, RSNL 1990, c. P-24, as amended, administered for security services by the Consumer and Financial Services Division of the Department of Government Services. The structure matters more than the title of this guide: a security guard is employed by a licensed security guard agency, and the Act treats that employment route separately from the licences held by agents. An agent, as defined after the 2007 amendments, means a private investigator, an armoured vehicle guard, a security consultant or a burglar alarm agent. A security guard is not in that list. This guide covers the guard employment route only, and it states plainly where the official pages are silent.
Start with the employer, not with a standalone licence application. A person shall not carry on the business of an agency unless the person holds a licence to do so, and a security guard agency may employ as a security guard a person who meets the requirements of the Act and any terms and conditions prescribed by the minister in the agency licence. That agency-licence wording is the guard route: the agency holds the business licence, and the guard meets the Act requirements and the terms set for that agency.
Ask the hiring agency which licence it holds, and confirm with the Division that the agency is licensed to provide the services of security guards. The Division lists security services among the industries it regulates, covering individuals and corporations who provide clients with private investigation and security services for protection or gathering information. Do not confuse this with an agency licence application of your own: running an agency is a separate licence, with its own eligibility rules, and it is not the route into a guard job.
A person may not be employed as a security guard by a licensed security guard agency unless that person is 19 years of age or over. That age rule was substituted into the Act by the 2007 amendments, and it is the one age figure stated in the Act text. Do not carry an age of 18 from another province or from a non-official site.
A person shall not hold a licence as an agent or be employed as a security guard where the person has been found guilty or convicted of an offence under the Criminal Code that the administrator considers relevant to fitness to act as an agent or security guard, and a pardon has not been granted in respect of the discharge or conviction. The test turns on the administrator view of relevance and on whether a pardon was granted. If this may apply to you, raise it with the Division before you accept a post, rather than assuming a spent or old conviction is ignored.
On citizenship and work eligibility, read the two wordings together. The 2007 text required a Canadian citizen for an agent licence and for employment as a security guard. The Government release of December 2018 states that amendments to the Act removed the requirement that anyone employed as a security guard or an agent must be a Canadian citizen, so that those legally entitled to work in Canada could gain employment. No consolidated current text of the Act is stated here. Confirm your position with the Division, and bring proof of your right to work in Canada when you apply.
An application for a licence or a renewal of a licence is made on the form approved by the minister for the purpose, under the consolidated regulations. For an agent, the application is on the form approved by the minister, and a notification of termination of employment is also on a minister-approved form. The regulations allow an individual to commence employment as a security guard before applying to the administrator for a licence, provided the application is made within 3 clear days after commencement of employment. The agency must then give the administrator reasons acceptable to the administrator as to why it was necessary for the person to act before licensing, and the administrator may refuse to license the person if not satisfied with the reasons.
The administrator may ask an applicant to provide fingerprints, at the administrator discretion. No official page states a photograph, identification document, or criminal record check list for a guard application, and no official page states a processing time. Confirm the current form, the documents to include, and the expected wait with the Division. A 2022 Government release states that a new online application allows security services and security agencies and agents to process licences, renewals and annual filings, view licensing history, and update personal information, with licences issued through email. Confirm the current portal with the Division, since the release is from 2022 and names no current web address.
Three figures that other sites state for this province are not stated in this guide because no official page states them: a fee amount, a current approved course with hours or a provider list, and a guard licence term. The regulations state only that fees for licences, including on application for a temporary licence or a renewal, shall be as set by the minister. The regulations state that a licence issued under the Act expires 12 months from the date of issue for an agent and for an agency, and that a temporary licence may be issued to an agent to act as a security guard or private investigator for not more than 4 months in a 12-month period, without proof of successful completion of a course or examination. Neither statement, on its own, fixes a fee or a term for guard employment. Do not carry the 30 dollar fee figure, or any course fee, from a non-official site.
On training, the consolidated regulations state that a first-time applicant for a private investigator or security guard agent licence, other than an applicant in the armoured vehicle guard category as then defined, shall provide proof of successful completion of the training course or examination provided by a community college, or proof from another Canadian institution where the course meets criteria established by the administrator, and that an applicant who has not completed the training may be granted a licence subject to completion within a period set by the administrator. That regulation text is a 1996 consolidation, and parts of it predate the 2007 amendments that separated the guard employment route from the agent categories. No official page names a current approved guard course. Ask the Division and the hiring agency, in writing if you can, whether any training proof is a term of the agency licence for your post, and which course counts, before you enrol or pay.
A security guard and an armoured vehicle guard shall wear a uniform that is required by the regulations while acting as a security guard or an armoured vehicle guard. The regulations require a security guard, and a burglar alarm agent who installs, services, tests or patrols a burglar alarm system, to wear a uniform while on duty that shall not resemble or be easily confused with the uniforms of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police or the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary, and that must display on the sleeves of all visible dress at the shoulders the words security guard or security in clear legible letters not less than 9.1 millimetres in height. No insignia or markings on vehicles or equipment operated by agencies shall be designed in a manner that would resemble the markings or insignia of the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary or the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
A security guard may not carry or use a firearm. That bar was added by the 2007 amendments. An armoured vehicle guard is a separate category, and the regulations allow a licensed agent in the armoured vehicle guard category to carry firearms, including registered restricted weapons, where Criminal Code requirements are met and the administrator is given proof of appropriate training in safe handling and use. Do not take a firearm post on a guard job description. If a post involves an armoured vehicle, confirm which category it falls in with the Division.
Keep your contact details current with the agency and the Division, and confirm the renewal steps and the position when you change agency. No official page states that a guard's standing moves with the guard from one agency to another, and no official page states a renewal form or deadline for guards. For questions, contact the Consumer and Financial Services Division, Government Services, by telephone at (709) 729-2600, toll free at 1 (877) 968-2600, or by email at CFSDivision@gov.nl.ca. The mailing address on the Division page is Motor Registration Building, 149 Smallwood Drive, Mount Pearl, NL, P.O. Box 8700, St. John's, NL, A1B 4J6.
The route in the Act is employer-led. A security guard agency may employ as a security guard a person who meets the requirements of the Act and any terms and conditions prescribed by the minister in the agency licence. That is different from the agent licences in the same Act, which cover a private investigator, an armoured vehicle guard, a security consultant or a burglar alarm agent. Do not treat a guard job and an agent licence as the same application. Confirm with the Consumer and Financial Services Division which form and process apply to your job before you apply.
You must be 19 years of age or over. That age rule is stated in the Act as amended in 2007. On citizenship, the 2007 text required a Canadian citizen, but the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador release of December 2018 states that the citizenship requirement was removed so that people legally entitled to work in Canada could gain employment. no consolidated current text of the Act is stated here, so confirm your work-eligibility position with the Division rather than relying on either wording alone.
No official page names a current approved security guard course, a course provider, a number of training hours, or an exam for security guards. The consolidated regulations state a training-proof rule for first-time applicants for agent licences, with proof from a community college course or examination, or from another Canadian institution where the course meets criteria set by the administrator, and a licence may be granted subject to completion within a period set by the administrator. Whether a training condition applies to a guard through the terms of the agency licence is not stated on an official page. Confirm the training position with the Division and with the hiring agency before paying for a course.
No fee amount is stated on any official page. The regulations state only that fees for licences, including on application for a temporary licence or a renewal, shall be as set by the minister. The regulations also state that a licence issued under the Act expires 12 months from the date of issue for an agent and for an agency. No official page states that same 12-month term for guard employment itself. Do not carry the 30 dollar figure from non-official sites. Confirm the fee, who pays it, and the term and renewal steps with the Division.
The regulations allow an individual to commence employment as a security guard before applying to the administrator for a licence, provided the application is made within 3 clear days after commencement of employment. The agency that employed the individual must give the administrator reasons acceptable to the administrator as to why it was necessary for the person to act before licensing, and the administrator may refuse to license the person if not satisfied with the reasons. Treat this as a narrow exception, not as permission to work without an application. Confirm the current process with the Division and the agency first.
A person shall not hold a licence as an agent or be employed as a security guard in a licensed security guard agency where the person has been found guilty or convicted of an offence under the Criminal Code that the administrator considers relevant to fitness to act as an agent or security guard, and a pardon has not been granted for the discharge or conviction. On firearms, a security guard may not carry or use a firearm under the Act as amended in 2007. The armoured vehicle guard category is separate. Confirm your own position with the Division before applying or accepting a post.
Where a figure could not be verified on an official page — the fee amount, a current approved guard training course, provider or hours, a guard licence term or renewal deadline, and a processing time — this guide says so and points to the Consumer and Financial Services Division instead of carrying a figure from a non-official site. Check with the Division before you pay anything or enrol in a course.