How to Become a Security Guard in Ontario: Newcomer Guide for 2026

To work as a security guard in Ontario, you need an Ontario security guard licence. To get one, you finish a 40-hour course with first aid, pass the ministry test, and then apply to ServiceOntario with your ID and a police check. Newcomers can do this too, if they are allowed to work in Canada.

This guide walks through each step in order. It explains which permits and IDs ServiceOntario accepts, the papers that trip people up, how long each step takes and what guards earn. For the test itself (format, pass mark, booking rules), see our Ontario security guard test guide.

ProSyllabus is an independent study site. It is not part of the Government of Ontario, ServiceOntario, the Ministry of the Solicitor General, its test provider or Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC). This page is not legal or immigration advice. Every rule below is quoted or summarised from the official pages listed at the foot of the page: the government, test provider and Job Bank pages were read on 5 November 2026, the e-Laws sections on 26 October 2026.

ServiceOntario licence page (updated 4 Aug 2026) and ontario.ca basic training page (updated 6 Jul 2026). Read 5 Nov 2026.

Yes, if you are legally entitled to work in Canada. That is one of the licence requirements, along with being 18 or older and having a clean criminal record. ServiceOntario checks it through your ID: one of your two IDs must prove your eligibility to work in Canada.

The documents on ServiceOntario’s list for that second ID include a Permanent Resident Card, a Confirmation of Permanent Residence, a Canadian passport or citizenship certificate, and a valid work permit or study permit. So a permit holder can apply. But the permit only lets you work as far as its conditions allow, and those rules come from IRCC, not Ontario.

Not sure your status lets you work? The test provider’s FAQ says that if you are in Ontario on a visitor, work or student visa, you should contact ServiceOntario about the test and the licence. ServiceOntario’s licence page gives its numbers: 1-866-767-7454 (toll free) or 416-212-1650 in the GTA. For what your permit allows, go by IRCC and the conditions on the permit itself.

Every new security guard must finish a basic training course before the test. The security guard course must be at least 40 hours long, including certification in emergency first aid and CPR. You can take it in a classroom or online; an online course must let you talk with an instructor in real time.

Only these can give the course: community colleges, career colleges, licensed security agencies, registered employers (for their own employees and prospective employees only) and public universities. ontario.ca keeps a list of training providers, and it says no public university is enrolled as a provider at present. The ministry does not endorse any trainer, and providers set their own fees, so compare a few.

When you finish, your provider uploads your details and you get a training completion number (TCN) by email. You need it to book the test. The test provider says the TCN does not expire.

First aid is part of the 40 hours. The test provider’s FAQ says first aid training for new applicants must be in person, for at least 6.5 hours, given by an instructor certified by St. John Ambulance or a first aid trainer approved by the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB). Without a valid emergency first aid and CPR certificate, your training counts as incomplete and you cannot book the test. Interim certificates are not accepted.

Already have a valid first aid and CPR certificate from a St. John Ambulance or WSIB-certified instructor? ontario.ca says you can give it to your training provider and opt out of that part of the course.

Once you have your TCN, you book the test with the ministry’s test provider. You can take it online or at select DriveTest centres, in English or French. Each test costs $40.00 plus 13% HST, $45.20 in all, from 1 November 2026 (it was $35.00 plus HST before). You cannot cancel or move a booking yourself, and the fee is not refundable. The provider lists only a few exceptions to its cancellation policy (a death in the immediate family, sickness or injury of you or a member of your immediate family, jury duty), each needing proof.

Results come within 2 business days of the test, the provider’s home page says. If you fail, you book, pay and write the whole test again. Format, pass mark, online test rules and a study plan are in our Ontario security guard test guide; worked practice questions are in Ontario security guard test questions and answers.

These play in our practice player: press Start, answer them, and the result page explains each answer. They are our own questions, written from Ontario and Canadian law, not questions from the ministry test.

Every applicant must send a Criminal Record and Judicial Matters Check. It lists applicable criminal convictions, some youth findings, absolute and conditional discharges, outstanding charges, arrest warrants and certain court orders. It is a different check from a basic criminal record check, so ask for the right one.

A clean criminal record means no conviction for an offence listed in the Clean Criminal Record regulation (O. Reg. 37/08), or a pardon or record suspension for it. If you are unsure, read the regulation or ask ServiceOntario before you pay for a course.

You apply to ServiceOntario, not to the test provider or DriveTest. Have these ready:

If your application comes back for an error or missing information, you have 90 calendar days to fix it. After that it is closed and the fee is kept as a processing fee. Physical licence cards are no longer issued; you sign in to your Ontario.ca Login to download or print your digital licence.

You do not need Ontario’s training and test if you hold a current, active security guard licence in good standing from another Canadian province or territory. The regulation (O. Reg. 26/10, s. 2(6)) is narrower in its wording: it covers a permanent licence issued after you passed training and a test, or a test. If your province licensed you without a test, ask ServiceOntario before you apply. Add your licence number, type, expiry date, province and a copy of the front and back to your application. Under Ontario’s As of Right framework, these applications are processed within 10 business days once complete; if no decision comes in that time, you are deemed certified for 6 months and can work while the review continues. A full decision is made within 30 calendar days.

A licence from outside Canada does not count for this. Only a Canadian province or territory licence is named.

The law sets who you can work for. Section 6 of the Private Security and Investigative Services Act says you cannot act as a security guard unless you hold the licence and work for a licensed business entity (a security agency), a registered employer, or an employer that does not need to register. You can also be the sole proprietor of a licensed business entity or a partner in one.

ServiceOntario explains the two main kinds of employer. A security agency sells guard services to other businesses. A registered employer hires its own in-house guards. Licensed agencies can also give the basic course. A registered employer can give it only to its own employees and to people it has offered a job.

Job Bank, the Government of Canada job site, gives a median wage of $20.00 an hour for security guards in Ontario (NOC 64410), with a low of $17.95 and a high of $34.87. The data is mostly from 2023-2024, updated 19 November 2025. Ontario’s general minimum wage has been $17.95 an hour since 1 October 2026; Job Bank’s low figure for every Ontario region but two is the same $17.95.

Job Bank also says 71.1% of workers in this occupation in Ontario get at least one non-wage benefit, such as a pension plan, health or dental insurance, or paid leave. Pay for a real job depends on the employer, the site and the shift; ask before you accept.

Steps 2 and 3 can overlap: you can ask for your police check while you wait to write the test. It must still be no more than six months old when you apply.