A licence you can get in weeks, a job you can get at 18, and a way into policing if you want it.
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Pay, the path, pros and cons and the facts on one printable page. Good for a wall or a guidance counsellor.
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What you earn and what it costs to get there.
Experienced guard
$44,000
New guard, retail or site
$34,000
Hospital, transit or supervisor
$65,000
Job Bank's median is $21 an hour, about $44,000 a year full time. That page is titled for guards handling explosives, but the median matches the general guard rate: Alberta's alis service reports an average of $21.49 an hour for security guards in 2023. Retail sites pay least. Hospitals, public agencies and unionised sites pay most.
$17 to $20 an hour
First job, often part time and overnight
Many first jobs are static guard posts at night. Alberta's alis service puts entry pay at about $19.42 an hour. Expect close to minimum wage until you have a year of experience and some certificates.
$27 to $32 an hour
Health care, public sector and specialised sites
Alberta's figures show security staff in health care averaging about $65,199 a year and public administration about $59,289, well above retail sites at about $43,260. Mobile patrol, transit, courthouse and airport work also pay above the base rate.
Tuition, fees, exams and kit. Not rent, food or travel
This is the cheapest licensed job on the site. The low end is a basic 40 hour course, the provincial licence fee and a criminal record check at your local police service. The high end is the same three items from pricier providers in a province that charges more. The licence fee is not refunded if your application is refused, so sort out any record issues before you pay it.
Under $500 and a few weeks is the whole entry cost. There is no cheaper licensed job in this category.
Flexible and part-time shifts
Easy to combine with school, which is why so many students do it.
Uniform and equipment provided
Benefits at the better employers
Hospitals, transit agencies and unionised sites offer health coverage and sometimes a pension. Most contract agencies do not.
Paid downtime
Many posts are quiet. People study for other qualifications on shift.
The exact path from high school to qualified.
Weeks, not years. The licence is the only real gate.
Be 18 and eligible to work
Right away
Ontario requires you to be at least 18, legally entitled to work in Canada, and free of the offences listed in its licensing regulation.
Take the basic training course
1 to 3 weeks
An approved provider teaches the legal powers of a guard, use of force, report writing, emergency response and first aid. Usually about 40 hours, in class or online.
Pass the provincial test
1 day
Ontario issues a training completion number, then you write the mandatory test for security guards.
Get your criminal record check and apply
2 to 6 weeks
Ontario charges $80 for the licence and it expires two birthdays after it is issued.
Get hired and trained on site
Days
Agencies hire constantly. Site-specific training happens in your first days.
English
Incident reports get read by lawyers, insurers and police.
Law or civics
Knowing what you can and cannot legally do keeps you out of court.
A second language
Valuable in big-city sites and hospitals.
Staying calm
The whole job is de-escalating people who are angry, drunk or in crisis.
You cannot legally be paid to guard property in Canada without a provincial licence. Ontario licenses under its private security legislation through the Ministry, Alberta under the Security Services and Investigators Act, and every other province has its own equivalent. Licences do not transfer: moving provinces means applying again. The licence is also the thing you can lose, which is why use of force and reporting rules are drilled so hard in training.
Things you don't need, but that help.
First aid at a higher level
Alberta employers commonly ask for CPR at Level 3. Health care sites expect more again.
Use of force and handcuff certification
Required for hospital, courthouse and transit work.
Driver's licence and clean abstract
Mobile patrol pays more than standing at a door.
Private investigator licence
Same licensing system in most provinces, different and better-paid work.
Police foundations diploma
Common for people using guard work as a stepping stone.
Mental health first aid
A large share of incidents are crises, not crimes.
Computer and camera system skills
Control room jobs are indoors, warmer and better paid.
Plenty of police officers, corrections officers, border officers and private investigators started as guards. It pays while you study, it gives you real reports and incidents to talk about in an interview, and it shows a hiring panel you can handle conflict. If that is your plan, choose posts with real incidents over quiet ones, and keep your reports clean.
Day to day, pros and cons, where you'd work.
Sign in, take a radio, read the pass-down log from the last shift. Then patrols on a set route, checking doors and cameras, logging everything. Most of a shift is uneventful. The rest is the opposite: a shoplifter, a medical emergency, a fight in a parking garage, someone sleeping in a stairwell in winter. You write it all up before you go home.
The good
The hard parts
Things people don't tell you.
An Ontario security guard licence expires two birthdays after the day it is issued, so the first one lasts between one and two years depending on when you apply.
There are far more licensed security guards in Canada than there are police officers. Alberta alone counts about 14,525 of them.
The same licence gets you $17 an hour at a retail entrance or close to $30 an hour in a hospital. Where you work matters far more than how long you have worked.
Last checked September 2026. Pay figures are typical full-time annual amounts in Canadian dollars, based on Government of Canada Job Bank wage data and published salary grids. They vary by province, employer and experience. Tuition is for domestic students.