Renew your Ontario security guard licence before it expires: the 90-day renewal window, the $80 fee, the fresh CRJMC rule, and what happens if your licence has already expired — from ontario.ca.
Applies in: Ontario
Renewing an Ontario security guard licence is a paperwork exercise, not a re-qualification — but the timing is unforgiving, and the one document that trips people up is the police check. Your licence expires two birthdays after it was issued, you can renew up to 90 calendar days before expiry, and the renewal costs $80. This guide is the renewal companion to how to get a security guard licence in Ontario — it covers only the renewal, not the first application.
Your licence's expiry date is linked to your date of birth: it expires two birthdays after the day it was issued, and a renewal completed before expiry runs two years into the future, still linked to your birthday. The Ministry's rule is that you may renew up to 90 calendar days before your licence expires — not earlier, so don't try to renew a year ahead.
Start at the beginning of that window. Two reasons: a correctly completed online renewal still takes up to 15 calendar days, and if your application is returned for an error you have 90 calendar days to respond — starting early means a returned application is a delay, not a gap in your employment. One more timing trap: you cannot update your licence information or change your licence type when your licence is expired or within 90 days of its expiry date, so if your address or name has changed, sort that out before the window opens, not during it.
This is the renewal's one hard requirement that catches people. Every renewal needs a new Criminal Record and Judicial Matters Check (CRJMC), and it must have been issued within six months of your application submission date to be valid. Order it too early and it expires before you apply; order it late and you eat into your window. The practical order is: open the 90-day window, order the CRJMC, then apply as soon as it arrives.
Get it from your local municipal police service, an Ontario First Nations police service, the Ontario Provincial Police, or an authorized private provider. If you apply online, you must submit the original, unaltered digital PDF from the provider — scanned or altered copies are not accepted. By mail, you send the original paper document; photocopies are not accepted. Make sure the name on the CRJMC matches your identification exactly.
Your renewal package is the same set of documents as a first application, minus the training and exam:
If you are renewing by mail and are unsure whether your photo on file is still valid, the Ministry says to contact ServiceOntario to check before you send the package.
Online is the faster route: sign into your Ontario.ca Login, upload your documents in DOC, DOCX, PDF, or JPG/JPEG format, and pay by Visa or Mastercard credit or Visa/Mastercard debit. A correctly completed online application takes up to 15 calendar days to be processed and approved. The payment shows on your statement as "SOLGEN – PSIS Fee".
By mail, print and complete the licence application form, include your documents and payment by bank draft, money order, or certified cheque payable to the Minister of Finance — credit cards, cash, and personal cheques are not accepted by mail — and send it to ServiceOntario, Private Security Licensing Services Office, P.O. Box 4500, Kingston, Ontario K7L 0E1. A correctly completed mail application takes up to 30 calendar days.
The fee is $80 for a security guard licence and $160 for a dual licence, and it is non-refundable: withdrawn, denied, or error-returned applications keep it as a processing fee. If your application is returned for missing information, you have 90 calendar days to respond before it is closed and a new application and payment are required.
Once approved, you receive your digital licence by email — Ontario no longer issues physical licence cards, so there is nothing to wait for in the mail. Download or print it by signing into your Ontario.ca account, and keep a copy with you: you must carry a digital version or a printed copy of your licence at all times and be prepared to show it on request.
There is no published safety net here, so don't assume one. Ontario.ca states no grace period for an expired security guard licence and no window in which an expired licence can still be renewed as a renewal rather than a new application. What the page does say is unambiguous: you must have a valid licence to work, and you cannot update licence information or change licence type once the licence is expired. If your licence has lapsed, stop working and contact the ServiceOntario Contact Centre (toll-free 1-866-767-7454, Monday to Friday 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.) or email privatesecurity@ontario.ca to find out whether your file can be restored or whether you need to apply as a new applicant. While licensed, remember the standing rule that you must notify the Ministry within 5 days if you are convicted of an offence listed in the Clean Criminal Record Regulation.
This one is simple because there is no card any more. If your old physical licence card was lost, stolen, or damaged, you replace it with a digital licence: sign into your Ontario.ca Login to download a digital copy, and print a paper copy if you prefer. There is no replacement application and no replacement form — the digital licence is the licence.
Related guides: how to get a security guard licence in Ontario (the first-application companion to this renewal guide: the 40-hour course, the Serco exam, and the $80 first licence), security guard licence cost in Ontario (the full renewal and first-application costs priced out line by line, including the police check), how to become a private investigator in Ontario (the parallel PSISA licence — and the $160 dual licence if you want to hold both), how to get a security guard licence in British Columbia (the BC version of the process, for guards moving provinces), and how to start a security guard company in Canada (the agency licence side, for guards going out on their own).
Up to 90 calendar days before it expires. Your licence expires two birthdays after it was issued, and a renewal done before expiry runs for another two years, still linked to your date of birth. Renew inside that window and there is no gap in your ability to work.
The renewal fee is $80 for a security guard licence, or $160 for a dual security guard and private investigator licence. The fee is non-refundable — it is kept as a processing fee if the application is withdrawn, denied, or returned for errors and not corrected within 90 days. Your fresh police check is a separate cost on top of the $80.
Yes. Every renewal needs a new Criminal Record and Judicial Matters Check (CRJMC), and it must have been issued within 6 months of the date you submit your renewal. Your old CRJMC from your first application does not carry over, and online applications need the original, unaltered digital PDF from the provider — scanned or altered copies are not accepted.
No. The 40-hour training course and the Serco exam were one-time steps to get licensed. The renewal checklist on ontario.ca is your Ontario.ca Login, your documents and photo, a fresh CRJMC, and the fee — no new training or testing is listed as a renewal requirement.
You cannot work as a security guard in Ontario without a valid licence, so an expired licence means you stop working until it is sorted out. Ontario.ca publishes no grace period and no restoration window for an expired licence — the page mentions restoring a licence only in the context of the photo rules — so if yours has expired, contact the ServiceOntario Contact Centre (toll-free 1-866-767-7454) or email privatesecurity@ontario.ca before you apply, rather than assuming the online renewal form will accept it.
A correctly completed online renewal takes up to 15 calendar days to be processed and approved; a mail renewal takes up to 30. If your application is returned for missing information, you have 90 calendar days to respond before it is closed and the fee is kept — so renew early in the 90-day window and you have time to fix a returned application without a gap.
There is no card to replace. Ontario no longer issues physical licence cards — licences are digital only. If your physical card was lost, stolen, or damaged, sign into your Ontario.ca Login and download a digital copy; you can print a paper copy from it. You must carry a digital version or a printed copy of your licence at all times on duty.