Miss your expiry date, and you stop working that day. Ontario publishes no grace period, so a lapsed card pulls you off the schedule until the ministry licences you again. You can renew security licence credentials up to 90 calendar days early, and most guards should use every one of those days.
One note on spelling before anything else. Ontario writes licence with a c, because Canadian English uses the c form for the noun and the s form for the verb. Most guards still type “license” into the search box. Both words point to the same permit under the Private Security and Investigative Services Act, 2005.
Key takeaways
- An Ontario security guard or private investigator licence runs for two years and expires on a birthday.
- The fee is CA$80 for one licence, or CA$160 if you hold both.
- The portal opens for renewals 90 calendar days before your expiry date.
- Online decisions take up to 15 calendar days. Mailed applications take up to 30 calendar days.
- Ontario gives no grace period. Manitoba gives 30 days. Every province licenses separately.
How long you have, and what happens if you miss the deadline
Your licence runs for two years and lands on your birthday, not on the anniversary of the day you applied. According to the Ontario government’s licensing guidance for security guards and private investigators, the fee is CA$80, and a licence expires two birthdays after the ministry issues it. Those figures were current in August 2026. Renew before the date, and the clock resets two years forward, still tied to your birthday.
To renew securitylicencee credentials in Ontario, order a Criminal Record and Judicial Matters Check first. Then sign in to the ministry portal up to 90 days before your expiry date, upload that check and two pieces of identification, and pay the CA$80 fee. Approval takes up to 15 calendar days online.
Now the part nobody enjoys. A lapsed licence is not a filing error you can shrug off. Working a security shift without a valid licence breaks the Act, and the ministry runs a public registry that anyone can search by licence number. Agencies do search it. A supervisor who leaves an unlicensed guard on the roster puts the agency licence at risk as well as yours.
What you need before you start
Gather everything first. Renewals stall on missing paperwork far more often than on the form itself.
- A Criminal Record and Judicial Matters Check issued within the past six months, in the official format. Police services set their own fees and turnaround times.
- Two different pieces of valid government identification, front and back. One proves who you are. The other proves you may work in Canada.
- A photo that meets the ministry specification. You only send a new one every six years, so many renewals reuse the photo already on file.
- Your licence number and your Ontario.ca Login. The digital licence arrives by email and can be downloaded from that account.
- A payment method for the CA$80 fee, or CA$160 for the dual licence.
The record check is where most renewals go sideways. A conviction does not end your licence by itself, and the ministry weighs what happened and how long ago it was. Our explainer on how a conviction for aggravated assault is sentenced shows how far a real outcome can sit from the maximum written in the Criminal Code.
How to renew security license credentials in Ontario, step by step
Work backwards from the date printed on your card. Ninety days is the earliest the portal will take you, and that head start is what absorbs a slow record check.
- Find your expiry date and count back 90 days. Mark that day in your phone. It is the first day the ministry will accept your renewal.
- Order your Criminal Record and Judicial Matters Check. Ask for the official format. It has to be less than six months old on the day you file.
- Sign in to the ministry licensing portal. Use the Ontario.ca Login attached to your current licence, then pick the renewal path rather than a new application.
- Confirm your details and upload your documents. Match the spelling of your name exactly to your identification. A mismatch sends the whole file back.
- Pay the fee. CA$80 covers a security guard licence or a private investigator licence. Both together cost CA$160.
- Wait, then download the licence. Online renewals take up to 15 calendar days, mailed ones up to 30. Carry a printed or digital copy on every shift and show it on request.
Timing, from record check to digital licence
The renewal itself is fast. Getting ready for it is the slow half.
Your police service controls the first delay, and the ministry controls the second. Neither one moves faster because your shift starts Monday. Build in a buffer and the whole thing becomes boring, which is what you want from a renewal.
- 100 days out. Order the record check.
- 90 days out. The portal opens. File as soon as the check lands in your hands.
- 75 days out. An online decision should be back by now.
- 60 days out. Still nothing? Ring the licensing office and quote your file number.
Once the approval comes through, the digital licence reaches you by email and sits in your Ontario.ca account. Print a copy for your kit bag anyway. Batteries die on night shifts.
Renewal requirements and fees by province
Every province and territory licenses its own guards under its own statute. An Ontario card is not valid in Calgary, and a British Columbia card is not valid in Toronto. A licence from elsewhere in Canada still helps, because Ontario and Alberta both let a valid out-of-province licence stand in for repeating basic training. Alberta’s own security service worker guidance puts the licensing fee at CA$100 for a two-year licence.
| Province | Term | Fee | Renewal window | Worth knowing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ontario | 2 years, expiring on a birthday | CA$80, or CA$160 for both licences | Up to 90 days early, no published grace period | Digital licence, carried on every shift |
| British Columbia | 90 days, 1, 2 or 3 years, your pick | CA$60 to CA$240 for a new licence, renewal rates differ | Before expiry only | Security Services Act. An expired card goes in as a new application |
| Alberta | 2 years | CA$100 | Same route as a first application | Approved course plus 80% on the provincial exam |
| Manitoba | 1 year | CA$30, or CA$60 for both | 30 day grace period after expiry | Apply about two months ahead |
| Quebec | Agent permit with annual charges | CA$69.50 permit right plus CA$119 security check | Well before expiry | Fees are indexed every 1 January |
Manitoba is the outlier worth remembering. A one-year cycle sounds worse until you notice the 30-day grace period, which is more forgiveness than Ontario offers anyone. Moving provinces mid-career? Read the destination’s rules before you hand in your notice, and browse our other Canadian law explainers for the obligations that sit around the licence itself.
When a renewal goes wrong
Already expired? Stop and phone before you file anything. The Occupational Licensing Services Office answers at 1-866-767-7454. Staff there can tell you whether your file still supports a renewal, or whether you begin again as a new applicant. British Columbia is blunt about this. If your card has expired there, you file a new application instead of a renewal, and Manitoba does the same once its 30-day window closes.
Charged or convicted while licensed? Tell the ministry within five days of a conviction or a finding of guilt. Concealing it is worse than reporting it, and the record check would surface it anyway. If the charge is serious enough to threaten your livelihood, contact a licensing lawyer well before your renewal date rather than after it.
Changed your name, address or email? Update the file early. The ministry will not process an information change once you sit inside the 90-day window before expiry, and it will not touch an expired licence at all. So fix your address in month 20, not month 23.
Three smaller traps catch people every year.
- The payment cleared, and nothing arrived. Check your junk folder, then confirm the email address on your Ontario.ca Login.
- The application came back. You get 90 calendar days to respond. Miss that and the file closes, taking the processing fee with it.
- Your employer said it would handle the renewal. Get that promise in writing. The licence belongs to you, and so does the consequence of a gap.
Before your next renewal
Set two reminders the day your new licence lands. One at 100 days before the next expiry, for the record check. One at 90 days, for the portal. That small piece of admin is the difference between a quiet renewal and a month off the schedule.
The form is short, and the fee is CA$80. Everything painful about this process comes from starting late.
Frequently asked questions
Up to 90 calendar days before the expiry date, and no earlier. Renewing early costs you nothing, because the new expiry still sits two years out and stays tied to your birthday.
Not for a straightforward renewal. Ontario requires at least 40 hours of basic training for security guards, including emergency first aid and CPR, and at least 50 hours for private investigators. Both roles also sit a 60-question test before a first licence. Renewing a valid licence does not send you back through either one.
You cannot work a licensed shift until you hold a valid one again. Call the licensing office first. Depending on the size of the gap, you may be filing a fresh application with fresh documents rather than a renewal.
No. Each province and territory runs its own scheme, so you apply again where you move. British Columbia uses the Security Services Act, Alberta runs its own security services rules, and Quebec licenses agents through the Bureau de la securite privee. Your existing licence can still spare you from repeating basic training.
CA$80 in Ontario for one licence and CA$160 for both. Alberta charges CA$100 for two years, and Manitoba charges CA$30 a year. Fees move, so open the government page for your province on the day you apply and check the number yourself.
