Shopping Mall Security Course: Lessons 2026

Lesson 1: Your role and your limits

A shopping mall is private property that is open to the public. Thousands of people may pass through each day. Mall security keeps shoppers, staff and property safe, helps people, and responds first when something goes wrong.

You usually work for the mall owner or its property manager, not for the stores. Stores may have their own staff for theft. Your post orders say what you do for tenants.

Licence and conduct

• You need the security licence your province requires. Alberta, for example, requires approved basic security training before it issues a security service worker licence. In Ontario, you must carry your licence, on paper or digitally, and show it on request.
• You are not the police. Ontario guards can be fined for calling themselves police, law enforcement, special constable, detective or an officer.
• Ontario's study guide says guards must treat all persons equally and without discrimination. Watch behaviour, not age, race or clothing.

Lesson 2: Patrols, hazards and accessible service

Vary your patrol times so nobody can predict them. Cover the food court, washroom hallways, stairwells, exits, loading docks and parking areas.

Patrol checklist

• Spills, wet floors and tripping hazards
• Exit doors and exit routes clear of carts, boxes and kiosks
• Lights out in hallways, stairs or parking areas
• Doors to service areas closed and locked
• Unattended bags or items that look out of place
• People who seem lost, unwell or in distress

Slips are a common cause of injury. The Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS) says good housekeeping is the first and most important level of preventing slips and trips. It advises cleaning spills immediately and marking spills and wet areas. Stand by a spill or mark it until cleaning staff arrive, and keep walkways well lit.

Service animals

Ontario's customer service guidance says to welcome service animals into public areas. If you cannot easily tell that an animal is a service animal, you may ask for documentation from a regulated health professional. Do not make assumptions.

In Alberta, qualified service dog teams may enter all places where the public is allowed, but not non-public areas such as food preparation spaces. A business cannot set aside a separate area, such as an outside patio, for people with service dogs. Refusing access can lead to a fine of up to $3,000.

Lesson 3: Trespass, bans and arrest

Ontario's study guide explains that the Trespass to Property Act lets the occupier decide who may or may not be on private premises. Security guards often do this for the occupier. Other provinces, such as Alberta, have their own trespass laws.

Use this power with care. Ask clearly, explain why, and give the person time and a way to leave. If a group hands out flyers or holds a protest inside without permission, explain the mall's rules and ask them to stop or leave. If they refuse, call police. Do not take their things.

Alberta's government reminds property owners that they can still be held criminally responsible for their actions and should call law enforcement to deal with trespassers.

Criminal Code arrests

Under section 494(2), the owner, a person in lawful possession of property, or a person they authorize may arrest someone found committing a criminal offence on or in relation to that property, such as spray-painting a wall. Under section 494(3), anyone who is not a peace officer must deliver the arrested person to a peace officer right away.

Lesson 4: Video surveillance and privacy

Most malls use many cameras. The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada has guidelines for overt video surveillance by businesses. Key points:

• Post a clear notice about the cameras before people enter the area.
• Do not aim cameras at places where people expect more privacy, such as washrooms. Surveillance there is inappropriate.
• Keep recordings only as long as needed for their purpose, then destroy them securely.
• Give access to stored video to a limited number of authorized people.
• Video may be disclosed to police, for example after a car break-in in the parking lot.
• Consider less privacy-invasive options before adding cameras.

Never use cameras to follow a person for no security reason, or to look at someone out of curiosity. When you release video, follow your site's procedure and record what you gave, to whom and when.

Lesson 5: Emergencies in a busy mall

Fire alarms

Fire codes require a fire safety plan in many buildings. Alberta's fire code (the National Fire Code – 2023 Alberta Edition), for example, requires fire emergency procedures in buildings that must have a fire alarm system. Supervisory staff must be trained in the fire emergency procedures before they are given any fire safety duties, and the plan is kept in the building for the fire department.

Fire safety plan templates, such as Lethbridge's, assign tasks like these:

• Check the alarm panel for the alarm location and meet fire crews
• Confirm where the fire is, if it is safe to do so
• Call 911, or confirm the monitoring company called
• Guide people to exits and help those who need more assistance

Medical emergencies

Heart & Stroke lists the signs of cardiac arrest: sudden collapse, no response, and not breathing or not breathing normally. Phone 911 and shout for an AED, start CPR right away, and use the AED as soon as it arrives. CPR and an AED can double a person's chance of survival.

For a suspected opioid overdose, stay and help, call 911, and give naloxone if you have it and are trained. The Good Samaritan Drug Overdose Act protects anyone who seeks emergency help, including the person overdosing, from charges for simple drug possession.

Missing persons

The RCMP says do not wait 24 hours to report a missing person. If anyone is worried about a person's safety, call police or 911 right away. Then get a description, check exits and alert other guards.