Can a security guard scan or photocopy a visitor’s driver’s licence?

Usually that goes too far. Privacy commissioners say looking at the licence and handing it back is normally enough, unless a law requires more.

What is the difference between tailgating and piggybacking?

Tailgating is when someone follows an authorized person through a door without them knowing. Piggybacking is when the authorized person knowingly holds the door or lets them in.

Can I force someone to open their bag at the entrance?

No. A bag check needs the person’s consent. If bag checks are a posted condition of entry and the person refuses, you can refuse entry under your site’s policy, but you cannot search them by force.

What should I do if an access card is lost?

Report it right away so the card can be turned off in the system before anyone else uses it.

Is the certificate accredited or officially recognised?

No. It is a private certificate of completion for knowledge only. It is not recognised, accredited or approved by any government, licensing body, regulator or educational institution, and it does not replace the security licence training required in your province or territory.

Access Control and ID Checks Course 2026

Question 1 of 25

What is access control?

Controlling who and what can enter a place, and where and when
Writing parking tickets on public streets
Watching CCTV for shoplifting only
Giving first aid at the entrance

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Answer: A. Controlling who and what can enter a place, and where and when

Access control decides who may enter, which areas they may use and at what times.

Question 2 of 25

Which is an example of electronic access control?

A printed site map
A guard’s notebook
A fire extinguisher
A card or fob reader on a door

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Answer: D. A card or fob reader on a door

Electronic systems use cards, fobs, PINs or biometrics to unlock doors for authorized people.

Question 3 of 25

What is the best way to check a photo ID?

Only read the name out loud
Compare the photo with the person’s face and check the expiry date
Check that the card is not bent
Ask the person to describe the photo

Show answer

Answer: B. Compare the photo with the person’s face and check the expiry date

An ID only helps if it belongs to the person holding it and is still valid.

Question 4 of 25

An employee shows a badge that expired last month. What should you do?

Keep the badge and send them home
Do not admit them on that badge and follow your procedure to verify them
Let them in because they look familiar
Let them in if they promise to renew it

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Answer: B. Do not admit them on that badge and follow your procedure to verify them

An expired badge is not valid. Verify the person through your site procedure, such as calling a supervisor.

Question 5 of 25

According to Canada’s privacy commissioners, what is the least privacy-invasive way to use a driver’s licence to confirm identity?

Photocopy both sides
Write down the licence number
Look at it and hand it back
Scan it into a computer

Show answer

Answer: C. Look at it and hand it back

Examining the card is the least intrusive step. Recording or copying it collects more than most purposes need.

Question 6 of 25

What do Canada’s privacy commissioners say about photocopying or scanning a driver’s licence for routine purposes?

It is always required for visitors
It is required by the Criminal Code
It generally goes too far
It is fine if the copy is shredded within a year

Show answer

Answer: C. It generally goes too far

A full copy captures the photo, signature and physical description, which is more than most businesses need.

Question 7 of 25

When may a business record a driver’s licence number, according to the privacy commissioners’ guidance?

When a law requires the number to be recorded
Whenever a guard feels it is useful
Whenever the visitor is under 30
Only on weekends

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Answer: A. When a law requires the number to be recorded

Recording licence numbers is generally excessive, but some laws, such as federal anti-money laundering rules for financial institutions, require it.

Question 8 of 25

A visitor asks why you need to see their ID. What should you do?

Tell them it is none of their business
Refuse to answer and call police
Let them in without ID to avoid an argument
Explain the reason calmly, since people have the right to ask

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Answer: D. Explain the reason calmly, since people have the right to ask

Privacy guidance says people can ask why their ID is needed and whether it will be recorded.

Question 9 of 25

Which information usually belongs in a visitor log?

Religion and marital status
Name, company, person being visited, and time in and out
Driver’s licence number and photo
Home address, birth date and income

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Answer: B. Name, company, person being visited, and time in and out

Collect only what you need for a clear purpose. A visitor log needs to show who is in the building and why.

Question 10 of 25

Why should visitor badges be collected when visitors leave?

To check the visitor’s pockets
So visitors cannot come back ever again
Because badges are expensive to print
So you know who is still inside and badges cannot be reused

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Answer: D. So you know who is still inside and badges cannot be reused

Collecting badges keeps the visitor log accurate and stops someone using an old badge to get in later.

Question 11 of 25

Post orders say a visitor must be escorted. What does that mean?

Someone authorized stays with the visitor the whole time they are in the area
The visitor gets a map
The visitor is walked to the elevator and left there
The visitor may go anywhere once signed in

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Answer: A. Someone authorized stays with the visitor the whole time they are in the area

An escort stays with the visitor until they leave the controlled area or are handed to their host.

Question 12 of 25

What is tailgating?

Holding the door for a co-worker you know
Using your own badge twice
Following an authorized person through a secure door without them knowing
Parking too close to the building

Show answer

Answer: C. Following an authorized person through a secure door without them knowing

A tailgater slips in behind someone who badged in. The authorized person may not even notice.

Question 13 of 25

What is piggybacking?

When two people badge in one after the other
When an authorized person knowingly lets someone in without proper access
When a delivery uses the loading dock
When a guard escorts a visitor

Show answer

Answer: B. When an authorized person knowingly lets someone in without proper access

In piggybacking, the person with access holds the door or lets someone in on purpose.

Question 14 of 25

Someone follows an employee through a secure door without badging. What should you do?

Shout at the employee in front of others
Politely stop the person and ask to see their badge or ID
Lock both of them in the hallway
Ignore it because the employee let them in

Show answer

Answer: B. Politely stop the person and ask to see their badge or ID

Everyone must badge in. A polite check fixes the problem without conflict.

Question 15 of 25

An employee tells you they lost their access card. What should happen first?

Give them another employee’s card
Prop open their office door
Report it right away so the card can be turned off
Wait a week in case it turns up

Show answer

Answer: C. Report it right away so the card can be turned off

A lost card that still works lets anyone who finds it get in.

Question 16 of 25

You find a secure door propped open with a chair. What should you do?

Take the chair and say nothing
Close and secure it, then report it and find out why
Leave it open for staff convenience
Lock it with a padlock

Show answer

Answer: B. Close and secure it, then report it and find out why

A propped door defeats the access control system. Close it and report it so the cause is fixed.

Question 17 of 25

A door-held-open alarm goes off at a side entrance. What is the best response?

Note it at the end of your shift
Go and check the door in person, or send someone
Wait for the alarm to stop by itself
Silence it and carry on

Show answer

Answer: B. Go and check the door in person, or send someone

The alarm may mean a tailgater, a propped door or a forced entry. Someone needs to look.

Question 18 of 25

A contractor arrives without a work order and their contact cannot be reached. What should you do?

Give them a master key to save time
Do not admit them until someone authorized confirms the visit
Let them in if they leave their phone
Let them in because they have tools

Show answer

Answer: B. Do not admit them until someone authorized confirms the visit

Wearing a uniform or carrying tools does not prove someone is allowed in. Confirm first.

Question 19 of 25

A delivery driver wants to take a parcel into a restricted area. What should you do?

Let them in quickly so they can leave
Sign their name in the log for them
Direct them to the receiving area or have authorized staff take the parcel
Lend them your access card

Show answer

Answer: C. Direct them to the receiving area or have authorized staff take the parcel

Deliveries go through the set process so strangers do not enter restricted areas.

Question 20 of 25

You must refuse entry to someone who has no appointment. What is the best approach?

Explain the rule politely and offer another option, such as calling their contact
Ask them to come back when you are off shift
Tell them they look suspicious
Block the door with your body and say nothing

Show answer

Answer: A. Explain the rule politely and offer another option, such as calling their contact

A calm explanation and an alternative help the person accept the decision.

Question 21 of 25

In Ontario, which law deals with trespass on private property?

The Employment Standards Act
The Trespass to Property Act
The Highway Traffic Act
The Criminal Records Act

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Answer: B. The Trespass to Property Act

Trespass is mainly provincial law. Ontario has the Trespass to Property Act; Alberta has the Trespass to Premises Act.

Question 22 of 25

Why must access rules be applied the same way to everyone?

It lets guards skip ID checks
It makes the visitor log shorter
Refusing someone because of race, religion or disability is discrimination under human rights law
Because the rules only apply to employees

Show answer

Answer: C. Refusing someone because of race, religion or disability is discrimination under human rights law

Human rights laws ban discrimination on grounds such as race, religion and disability.

Question 23 of 25

A posted sign says bags are checked at entry. A visitor refuses. What can you do?

Take the bag and search it anyway
Hold the person until police arrive
Search the bag while they are not looking
Refuse entry under your site’s policy, but not search the bag by force

Show answer

Answer: D. Refuse entry under your site’s policy, but not search the bag by force

Bag checks rely on consent. A refusal can mean no entry, but never a forced search.

Question 24 of 25

In Alberta, what is a guard’s formal identification as a licensee?

The licence card issued by the province
The company badge
A business card
The uniform shoulder flash

Show answer

Answer: A. The licence card issued by the province

Alberta’s policy manual says the licence is the only formal identification for licensees; a badge is not a legal document.

Question 25 of 25

Who should be able to read the visitor log?

Anyone in the lobby
Any visitor who asks
Friends of the guard on duty
Only people who need it for their job

Show answer

Answer: D. Only people who need it for their job

Visitor logs hold personal information. Privacy laws expect it to be protected and used only for its purpose.

Access Control and ID Checks Course 2026

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