Face of Canada's largest security force is changing, duties are too

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By James Foster
Times & Transcript Staff

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Canada's Commissionaires are becoming less like the typical distinguished gentleman who mans the gate at the parking lot and more representative of society in general as they continue to hire a wider variety of persons of good character and take on a broader array of duties.

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VIKTOR PIVOVAROV/TIMES & TRANSCR

Commissionaire Roger Hornsby jokes with a driver as he works in the booth at the city parking lot behind the Capitol Theatre.

"The nature of the work is still security but we also do, for example, parking bylaws (in Moncton,) cruise ships in Saint John, at CFB Gagetown with work with the barracks wardens," says Kathy Vair, human resources head with the Commissionaires for New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island.

"It's not only the old security jobs that we used to be identified with."

The Commissionaires were formed more than 80 years ago and are now more than 19,000 members strong across the country.

While they are primarily made up for former military and police personnel, that's changing with an ever-growing number of former firefighters, teachers and other Canadians of good character joining the Commissionaires, which offers pay that is above industry standards and the kind of flexible work arrangements that allows the Commissionaires to boast the highest retention rate in the Canadian security industry.

Commissionaires' roles are broadening to include a wealth of security-related functions, from helping those who are seeking pardons or U.S. waivers, doing criminal-record checks and carrying out digital and regular fingerprinting.

Today's Commissionaires are getting younger, too, as former police officers, military people and others retire at a younger age, but find that they still crave fulfilling work.

Most Canadians said in a recent poll commissioned by the Commissionaires that they believe most soldiers retire after a full career in the armed forces. In fact, the average length of service for a Canadian soldier is 11.5 years. This means veterans will be looking for new employment opportunities when they leave the forces.

"Clearly, most Canadians think that members of the Canadian forces stay for the better part of their working lives," says Commissionaires chairman Paul Guindon.

"But we see the real story every day. Most vets retire long before they're even eligible for a pension, so they have to pursue second and even third careers. That's why Commissionaires was founded in 1925, with the social mandate to provide meaningful employment for vets. Since then, we've hired tens of thousands of former Canadian forces personnel."

The study showed that in Atlantic Canada, four out of five people wrongly believe that at least half of all veterans receive pensions when they leave the forces.

"Atlantic Canada's survey results clearly show that substantial misinformation exists here concerning our veterans and we hope to correct that," says Dave Blaney, CEO of Commissionaires, New Brunswick and P.E.I. Division.

"We want to remind Atlantic Canadians that their veterans don't serve as long as we think they do, and many need second careers where they can use the skills and training they've gained in the Canadian forces."

The same study showed, for the second year in a row, that 89 per cent of Canadians believe we have an obligation to ensure that veterans find meaningful employment after they serve their country.

"When I retired from the Canadian forces, I was still quite young and needed to keep working," says Commissionaire Scott Morrison, who now works in CFB Gagetown after joining the forces at age 17 and serving 27 years in the infantry.

"Commissionaires was a perfect fit for my skills and training. It was an easy transition."

For many, the flexibility of the job is the main attraction.

They might want to only work in the summer so they can spend time at their winter home in Florida; perhaps they prefer to work only weekends, or weekdays; maybe only nights or only days; perhaps only Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. Often, those kinds of schedules can be accommodated with Commissionaires.

Commissionaires work all over the province and have major offices in Moncton, Fredericton and Charlottetown as well as their headquarters in Saint John.

For more information or to contact Commissionaires recruiters, call toll-free 1-877-322-6777.