Ontario Private Investigator Practice Test 1

All 30 questions in this test

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

1. 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

2. A knife is to be presented in court as real evidence. What is usually needed to show it is the same object?

   1. A signed statement from the accused's employer
   2. A witness explains where and how it was found and where it was kept
   3. A photograph of a similar knife from a store catalogue
   4. The investigator's own opinion that the knife looks the same as the one at the scene

3. Which skill does the study guide link to acting under stress?

   1. Knowing how to write a business plan
   2. Knowing how to bill overtime correctly when a surveillance runs late
   3. Knowing how to repair a broken camera
   4. Knowing how to react if exposed during surveillance

4. How must a public complaint against a licensee normally be filed with the Registrar?

   1. In writing and signed, within 90 days of the events
   2. In person at a police station within one year
   3. By phone to ServiceOntario within 30 days
   4. Online and anonymously at any time after the events

5. Section 494(1)(b) allows any person to arrest someone they believe committed a criminal offence when that person is:

   1. Escaping and freshly pursued by people with authority to arrest
   2. Known to have committed similar offences in the past
   3. Seen on video committing the offence a week earlier
   4. Named as a suspect by a reliable witness who calls you the next morning

6. PIPEDA is described as a consent-based statute. What does that mean for an investigation agency?

   1. It may never collect information without the subject present
   2. It is limited in what it may collect or share without consent
   3. It may collect anything about anyone once a client has signed a contract
   4. It must get a court order before collecting any information

7. When might two or more investigators be assigned to one surveillance?

   1. Whenever the subject lives in a large city
   2. When the subject drives aggressively or the site has several exits
   3. Whenever the file is the investigator's first case and a mentor is available
   4. Whenever the client's budget allows overtime

8. Under section 10 of the Charter, which right does everyone have on arrest or detention?

   1. To be released once they give a home address
   2. To retain and instruct counsel without delay and be told of it
   3. To make one phone call to a family member of their choice before questioning
   4. To refuse to be arrested by anyone but police

9. A client asks you, a licensed PI, to collect overdue accounts from tenants. What does the PSISA say?

   1. You may do it if you hold a dual licence
   2. You may do it if you identify yourself as a private investigator first
   3. A PI licensee must not act in the collection of accounts
   4. You may do it if the client is a licensed landlord

10. Under section 322 of the Criminal Code, when is theft committed?

    1. When something is taken fraudulently and without colour of right
    2. Only when the item taken is worth more than $5,000 and is sold afterwards
    3. Only when the item leaves the building
    4. Only when the owner is present and sees it

11. To serve a document, you must get inside an apartment building with a locked lobby. What applies?

    1. You may enter if you show your licence to the superintendent
    2. You may follow a resident in, since service is urgent
    3. Serving a court document overrides the building's rules
    4. You must still comply with the Trespass to Property Act

12. Which provincial law, along with the Code of Conduct, requires private investigators to treat all persons equally?

    1. The Ontario Human Rights Code
    2. The Liquor Licence and Control Act
    3. The Trespass to Property Act
    4. The Provincial Offences Act

13. Hidden in a lunchroom, an investigator records two employees talking. Neither knows or consents. What is this?

    1. Acceptable, because the lunchroom and its furniture are company property
    2. A criminal offence, since the PI is not a party and has no consent
    3. Acceptable, if the recording is only used in a report
    4. Acceptable, if the client owns the recording device

14. A witness testifies that she saw the accused strike the victim. What type of evidence is this?

    1. Direct evidence
    2. Opinion evidence
    3. Circumstantial evidence
    4. Hearsay evidence

15. Which information can be collected without consent under the Regulations Specifying Publicly Available Information?

    1. Some publicly available records, such as certain judicial records
    2. A subject's bank statements obtained from a helpful teller at their branch
    3. Medical records requested from a family doctor
    4. Tax returns obtained from a former accountant

16. Before going undercover in a workplace, which briefing topic does the study guide list?

    1. Who the supervisors and any known suspects are
    2. The client's annual profit and tax filings
    3. The home addresses of all the employees
    4. The salaries of the company's managers

17. Surveillance could become criminal harassment under section 264 if the subject reasonably fears for their safety because you:

    1. Photograph their business sign from the street
    2. Repeatedly follow them from place to place
    3. Record their public activity from a parked car once
    4. Search land registry records for their home

18. A complaint alleges a Code of Conduct breach. If the facilitator recommends remedial instruction, what does the Registrar do?

    1. Imposes the remedial instruction as a condition of the licence
    2. Revokes the licence immediately without a hearing
    3. Sends the complaint to the local police service for possible criminal charges
    4. Closes the file because facilitation ends the matter

19. You plan to video a subject's conversation with a friend outdoors. What is the study guide's best practice?

    1. Record both, since the place is public
    2. Record audio only, since video is more intrusive
    3. Record video without audio
    4. Record both and delete the audio before reporting

20. Who typically decides whether police are informed of what an undercover operation found?

    1. The suspected employee's union
    2. The Registrar
    3. The undercover operator
    4. The client

21. How does the PI training syllabus describe the concept of duty of care?

    1. The duty to protect a client's reputation at all costs
    2. The duty to report every offence seen to the Registrar
    3. What a reasonable person should do in a particular situation
    4. The duty to finish every case within the time and budget set by the client

22. Before starting a locate or background investigation, what should you first establish with the client?

    1. A cover story for contacting neighbours
    2. A justifiable mandate for the investigation
    3. The number of hours the client will pay
    4. The subject's likely daily schedule

23. You go up a house's front walk to knock and ask the resident a question. What does the Act presume?

    1. Entry is trespass unless a sign invites visitors
    2. Any entry on residential land needs written permission
    3. Access to the door for a lawful purpose is not prohibited
    4. Entry is allowed only if the owner is home

24. 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

25. Reviewing your notes, you find a wrong licence plate number. How do you correct it?

    1. Draw a line through the error and initial it
    2. Tear out the page and copy the notes again
    3. Leave it and fix it only in the final report
    4. Erase it completely and write the correct number

26. How does the study guide say every investigation should be conducted?

    1. As if the case could go to trial
    2. As informally as the client allows
    3. As if only the client will read the report
    4. As quickly as possible, with paperwork done later

27. Before signing, a witness asks to remove a sentence from her statement. How is the change made?

    1. Strike a line through it; both of you initial the start and end
    2. Leave it in and add a note on the last page
    3. Use correction fluid on the sentence and have only the witness initial it
    4. Rewrite the whole page and destroy the original

28. 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

29. Which vehicle best suits surveillance, according to the study guide's equipment list?

    1. A nondescript vehicle in a muted colour
    2. A convertible for a clear view in all directions
    3. A vehicle with the agency's logo on the doors
    4. A brightly coloured car that is easy to find

30. After the signatures on the last page of a statement, what is common practice?

    1. Staple a blank page for the lawyer's notes
    2. Draw an x through the rest of the page
    3. Leave the space blank for later additions
    4. Write the client's name in the remaining space