Start a security guard company in Canada: get the agency licence, hire licensed guards, carry the required insurance, and win contracts that renew.
Applies in: across Canada
A security guard company is a licensing-and-scheduling business that happens to put guards on posts. The guards are the visible part. The three things that decide whether you survive the first year are the company licence, the roster, and the payroll float. The licence is a legal gate: without it, you cannot sell guard services at all. The roster is the product: a company that cannot fill a shift on a Friday night loses the contract, not just the shift. And the payroll float is the cash problem: guards are paid weekly while clients pay monthly. Get those three right, pick one or two services, and the contracts follow.
The company licence comes before the first sale. In Ontario, a security guard agency licence costs $700, and a dual security guard and private investigator agency licence costs $1,400. A corporation applicant provides articles of incorporation listing directors and officers, a corporation number, and a business name registration where the business name differs from the legal name. Every officer, director, and partner provides a background check form, an original Criminal Record and Judicial Matters Check, and two pieces of government identification. Payments are non-refundable, and a returned application must be fixed within 90 calendar days or the payment is retained as a processing fee.
In British Columbia, a security business licence costs $500 for one year, $775 for two years, or $1,050 for three years, and application fees are non-refundable. The business needs at least one manager who ordinarily resides in Canada and is 19 or older, and at least one employee with a valid security worker licence in the same category as the business application. Check the regulator in each province you plan to work in, because a licence in one province does not carry to another. This section is general information about the regulatory layer, not legal advice.
In Ontario, the agency application requires a certificate of commercial general liability insurance of at least $2,000,000 per occurrence, referencing the provision of security guard services and indicating use of firearms, handcuffs, and batons where applicable. New applicants are not required to submit proof of insurance with the initial application, but must provide a valid certificate before advancing to the final stages. In British Columbia, the business must hold an active general liability policy of at least $1 million, covering all branch offices and showing the business name and the coverage dates, for the whole licence term.
Talk to a broker who knows the security market, and confirm the policy covers the services you actually sell. Armed work, guard dogs, and mobile patrols each change the risk and the premium — a policy written for static unarmed guarding may not cover the service you just sold. Keep the certificate current: a lapsed policy puts the licence and every active contract at risk.
Every guard you deploy must hold a valid individual security licence in the province where they work. In Ontario, an individual security guard licence costs $80, and in British Columbia the business must have at least one employee with a valid security worker licence in the same category as the business licence. Check every licence yourself before the first shift, and track expiry dates — a guard whose licence lapses mid-contract cannot legally work the post.
Recruiting is the ongoing job. Guards leave for better pay, better hours, or steadier posts, so a roster that exactly covers this week's posts is a roster one sick call away from a missed shift. Keep a bench of licensed, uniformed, site-briefed guards who can cover, and pay attention to the supervisors: a good site supervisor who visits posts, checks reports, and answers the phone at night is what keeps clients renewing.
Register the business name in the province where you operate: $60 for five years in Ontario, $40 plus a $30 name request in British Columbia, with other provinces in the same range. Get a Canada Revenue Agency business number, which is free, and register for GST/HST when you pass the $30,000 threshold — or voluntarily before it, so you can claim input tax credits on uniforms, vehicles, radios, and fuel. If you operate in Quebec, you also deal with QST.
If you hire guards as employees, workers' compensation registration in your province is mandatory, and payroll taxes, vacation pay, and statutory holiday pay all sit on top of the hourly wage in your contract rate. Price the rate from the full loaded cost, not from the wage alone — a rate built on the wage without the burden is a rate that loses money on every hour.
Ontario agency applications require colour photographs of uniforms and marked vehicles. For new security guard and dual agency applications, these may be mock-ups at application time, but mock-ups are not accepted at renewal, and any change to uniforms or vehicles must be reported with a complete list of what is currently in use. Uniform exemptions are available only for bodyguard, loss prevention, or combined bodyguard and loss prevention services, and only with a letter explaining the reason.
Post orders are the working document: the written instructions for each site — the patrol route, the access rules, the incident reporting steps, the escalation contacts, and what the guard does when something goes wrong. Write them with the client, brief every guard on them before the first shift, and update them when the site changes. A guard without post orders improvises, and improvisation is where incidents become disputes.
Guard work comes from trust and reliability. Property managers, strata councils, builders, retailers, and event organizers buy on the same question: will the post be filled, will the report arrive, and will someone answer when something happens at 2 a.m.? Your first contracts will likely be small — a single building, a construction site, a weekend event — and that is a good start: it proves your scheduling and reporting without stretching the roster.
What earns the renewal is unglamorous: filled shifts, clean incident reports, supervisors who visit posts, and invoices that match the hours actually worked. Keep a simple record of every contract — client, site, post hours, rate, guards assigned, and incidents — and ask for the renewal conversation before the contract ends, not after it has already gone to a competitor.
Related guides: How to Get a Security Guard Licence in Ontario, How to Get a Security Guard Licence in British Columbia, How to Start a Cleaning Business in Canada, and How to Start a Property Management Business in Canada.
| Ontario security guard agency licence | $700 |
|---|---|
| Ontario dual agency licence (guard and investigator) | $1,400 |
| Ontario individual security guard licence | $80 |
| British Columbia security business licence, 1 year | $500 |
| British Columbia security business licence, 2 years | $775 |
| British Columbia security business licence, 3 years | $1,050 |
| Ontario business name registration | $60 for 5 years |
| British Columbia business name registration | $40 plus a $30 name request |
| Canada Revenue Agency business number | $0 — free |
Licence fees are the cheapest lines. Uniforms, vehicles, radios, scheduling software, insurance premiums, and the payroll float between paying guards weekly and being paid by clients monthly are the real entry cost — price those from suppliers and brokers, not from a guide.
An individual licence lets one person work as a guard; a company licence lets a business sell guard services and employ guards. The individual path — training, a background check, and an $80 licence in Ontario — is the entry ticket for a guard. The company path is a second layer: an agency licence in Ontario or a security business licence in British Columbia, insurance, a manager, licensed employees, uniforms, and vehicles. Hiring guards without the company licence, or deploying unlicensed guards under a licensed company, both break the rules. This guide covers the company layer; the individual licence guides on this site cover the guard layer.
An agency licence under the Private Security and Investigative Services Act, applied for as a sole proprietorship, partnership, or corporation. A corporation applicant provides articles of incorporation listing directors and officers, a corporation number, and a business name registration where the business name differs from the legal name. Every officer, director, and partner provides a background check form, an original Criminal Record and Judicial Matters Check, and two pieces of government identification. The application needs colour photographs of uniforms and marked vehicles — mock-ups are accepted for new applications but not at renewal — and a certificate of commercial general liability insurance of at least $2,000,000 per occurrence, provided before the final stages. The fee is $700 for a security guard agency licence, $1,400 for a dual guard and investigator agency licence, and payments are non-refundable, with 90 calendar days to fix a returned application.
A security business licence: individuals who advertise for or operate a security business in British Columbia must hold one. The business needs an active general liability policy of at least $1 million, covering all branch offices, for the whole licence term; at least one manager who ordinarily resides in Canada and is 19 or older; and at least one employee with a valid security worker licence in the same category as the business application. Controlling members cannot be members of a police force as defined by the Police Act, though peace officers and retired police officers may be eligible. Application fees are $500 for one year, $775 for two years, and $1,050 for three years, and they are non-refundable. Managers and controlling members without a security worker licence complete a criminal record check, including fingerprints.
Static guarding for buildings, lobbies, and gates; mobile patrols visiting several sites on a route; construction site security; loss prevention for retailers; event security; and alarm response, where the company is set up for it. Bodyguard work and private investigation are separate service lines with their own rules — in Ontario, uniform exemptions are available only for bodyguard, loss prevention, or combined bodyguard and loss prevention services, and only with a letter explaining the reason. Start with one or two services your roster can actually staff, and add lines only when the licensed people and the insurance cover them.
By the guard hour, with the rate built from the guard wage, payroll burden, uniforms, supervision, insurance, scheduling, and margin. Static posts price per hour per post; mobile patrols price per visit or per route; events price per guard per event with minimum hours. The trap is the payroll float: guards are usually paid weekly or biweekly, while commercial clients pay on 30-day terms, so a growing company needs cash to cover payroll before the first client invoice clears. Put the post hours, the supervisor visits, the reporting, the holiday coverage, and the cancellation notice in writing, so the client and the company agree on what the rate covers.
Once your taxable supplies pass $30,000 over four consecutive calendar quarters, or $30,000 in a single calendar quarter, you must register for GST/HST and charge it on your services. You have 29 days from the day you pass the threshold to register, and registration is free through the Canada Revenue Agency. Most guard companies register voluntarily before the threshold so they can claim input tax credits on uniforms, vehicles, radios, and fuel. If you operate in Quebec, you also deal with QST. This guide is general information, not tax advice — confirm your own position with the Canada Revenue Agency or an accountant.