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Ontario Private Investigator overview

Ontario Private Investigator: The PI industry and getting licensed

Who needs an Ontario private investigator licence under the Private Security and Investigative Services Act, 2005, who is exempt, the six licence types, eligibility (age 18, clean criminal record, right to work, training and testing), the 50-hour training syllabus, approved training providers and the licence term.

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The PI industry and getting licensed · Question 1Score 0/0

Which of these people is NOT covered by the PSISA while doing their usual work?

Study reference: Ontario Private Investigator Study Guide (ontario.ca, October 2021), Ch. 1 The private investigation industry and licensing — PSISA ss. 2, 4, 6, 10, 12; O. Reg. 26/10 and 367/07; Training Syllabus for Private Investigators

All 12 questions in this test

Every question and its answer choices. The correct answers and explanations appear when you take the test above.

  1. Which of these people is NOT covered by the PSISA while doing their usual work?

    1. A person paid to follow a spouse suspected of cheating
    2. An employee who tracks down missing debtors' addresses
    3. An insurance adjuster licensed under the Insurance Act
    4. A self-employed person locating witnesses for a fee

  2. An applicant was convicted of an offence listed in the Clean Criminal Record regulation and has no pardon. What happens?

    1. They may work under a provisional licence until the Registrar holds a hearing
    2. They may be licensed after a one-year waiting period
    3. They are not eligible and the application cannot be processed
    4. They may be licensed if their employer vouches for them

  3. Under the PSISA, what kind of paid work requires a private investigator licence?

    1. Occasional fact-checking done as a small part of another job
    2. Work that mainly consists of investigations to provide information
    3. Work that mainly consists of patrolling to protect property
    4. Any job that involves regularly reading public court records for others

  4. Your first private investigator licence is issued on October 1. When does it expire?

    1. Exactly one year after the issue date
    2. Exactly three years after the issue date
    3. On your second birthday after the issue date
    4. On December 31 of the following year

  5. Which training format meets the ministry's requirement for private investigator training?

    1. A recorded course with no way to reach an instructor
    2. Reading the study guide alone without any course
    3. A live video-conference course attended in full
    4. A course where the student skips the final sections

  6. An applicant has a conviction for an offence that is not listed in the Clean Criminal Record regulation. What does the study guide say?

    1. They may be eligible after the branch reviews the file
    2. They must first obtain a pardon before applying again
    3. The conviction is ignored and never reviewed by anyone
    4. They are automatically refused a licence for five years

  7. What is the minimum age to hold an individual private investigator licence in Ontario?

    1. 21 years old
    2. 19 years old
    3. 16 years old
    4. 18 years old

  8. A retail loss prevention worker watches for shoplifters in a store. Which licence does the PSISA treat this work as needing?

    1. A business licence to sell investigators
    2. A security guard licence
    3. No licence at all, as store staff
    4. A private investigator licence

  9. Maria holds both a security guard and a private investigator licence. What rule applies to her work?

    1. She may do both roles at once only on the same client's premises
    2. She cannot act as a guard and an investigator at the same time
    3. She must choose one licence and surrender the other within a year
    4. She needs written approval from the Registrar for each shift

  10. Which of these may deliver the mandatory private investigator training program?

    1. A college of applied arts and technology
    2. A private tutor who has worked as an investigator
    3. Any website that sells a self-paced video course
    4. A police association offering evening seminars

  11. What is the minimum in-class time for basic private investigator training?

    1. 33.5 hours
    2. 40 hours
    3. 50 hours
    4. 29 hours

  12. Who is exempt from Ontario's private investigator training and testing requirement?

    1. A former police officer who left the service in the last year
    2. A holder of a permanent PI licence from another province earned by testing
    3. Anyone with five years of full-time experience as a licensed security guard in Ontario
    4. Any graduate of a university criminology or law degree

The PI industry and getting licensed: key rules to remember

Our summary of what the official handbook says on this topic, in our own words. Read it before or after the practice questions above, then check the original chapter. Read the official chapter ↗

Introduction to the private investigation industry

  • The PSISA came into force on August 23, 2007; its aims include professionalizing the industry, improving public safety and making sure practitioners are trained and qualified.
  • The Training and Testing regulation (O. Reg. 26/10) came into force on April 15, 2010; every private investigator must meet it before applying for a licence.
  • A licence is needed by anyone paid to do work that mainly consists of investigations to provide information on a person's character, actions, business, occupation or whereabouts.
  • Loss prevention specialists count as security guards under the PSISA; they do not need a private investigator licence.

Who the Act covers

  • s. 2(2): a private investigator is a person paid to do work that consists primarily of conducting investigations to provide information.
  • s. 2(3): examples of information: character or actions of a person, business or occupation of a person, whereabouts of persons or property.
  • s. 2(7): the Act does not apply to lawyers practising law, people mainly doing credit-rating, insurance-applicant or employment-suitability checks, peace officers acting as such, licensed insurance adjusters and insurers and their employees in the normal scope of work, armoured vehicle services, security consultants who do not sell guard or investigator services, and locksmiths.
  • s. 2(8): pay that depends on finishing the work (contingency) still counts as remuneration.

Licence types and rules

  • Six licence types: individual PI, individual security guard, PI business, security guard business, individual dual (both), business selling both.
  • s. 6: an individual may act as a PI only with the right licence and while employed by a licensed business entity or registered employer (or an employer not required to register), or as sole proprietor/partner of a licensed business.
  • s. 12: a licence shows its type and expiry date, carries the holder's photo, and cannot be transferred.
  • s. 12: a person may hold both licences but cannot act as a security guard and a private investigator at the same time.

Eligibility

  • Individual applicants must be 18 or older, entitled to work in Canada, have a clean criminal record and have completed the prescribed training and testing.
  • Clean criminal record: no conviction for an offence listed in O. Reg. 37/08 (Eligibility to Hold a Licence — Clean Criminal Record), unless a pardon/record suspension was granted.
  • A conviction or charge not on the list does not automatically bar a licence; the branch reviews the file and the applicant may be given a chance to be heard.
  • s. 10(2): if a licensee stops meeting a requirement, they must stop working under the licence and return it within five days (not counting weekends and public holidays).
  • Licensees must tell the ministry within 5 days of a conviction or finding of guilt for an offence listed in O. Reg. 37/08.

Training and testing

  • s. 2(2): a PI licence requires a training program that complies with the Training Syllabus for Private Investigators and is given by an approved provider, plus passing the ministry's PI licensing test.
  • s. 2(3): approved providers: a public university, an Ontario college of applied arts and technology, a registered career college, a licensed business entity, or a registered business entity that employs the applicant or has made a conditional job offer.
  • s. 2(7): a person holding a permanent PI licence from another province or territory, earned through a test (with or without training), is exempt from Ontario training and testing.
  • s. 3.1: a business entity that trains must give a certificate showing its name, the words "Private Investigator", the student's name, the completion date and an authorized signature.

Program length

  • Minimum 50 hours of in-class time; suggested split: industry 2, PSISA 2, statutes 6, criminal and civil law 12, investigative techniques 14, ethics 2, communication 7, self-management 5.
  • Outside-class hours are pre-reading only; recommended instructor/student ratio 1 to 24.
  • Web-based courses must include real-time interaction with an instructor if the student needs it; live video-conference courses qualify.
  • Only students who attended the full course qualify to take the test.

Licence term

  • A new individual licence expires on the holder's second birthday after the day it is issued; a renewal runs two years.
  • Renewal is possible up to 90 days before expiry; licences are now digital and a digital or printed copy must be carried while working.
  • A PI who also wants a security guard licence must pass the separate security guard test too (testing page: separate tests for each licence).

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