Saskatchewan Security Law and Trespass Course: Lessons 2026

Lesson 1: Saskatchewan's security licensing law

Security guards in Saskatchewan are licensed under The Private Investigators and Security Guards Act, 1997 and The Private Investigators and Security Guards Regulations, 2000. The Registrar for Private Investigators and Security Guards runs the licensing program.

Section 5 says no person may act as a security guard without a licence. Licences are for one year and are tied to the licensed business you work for. A new guard who has not finished the approved training course can work on a temporary security guard licence, but only under the immediate supervision of a licensed guard who has completed the approved course.

Rules you carry on every shift

Lesson 2: Equipment, incident reports and penalties

Equipment

• A licensee may never carry a firearm or imitation firearm while working as a guard (regulations s. 16(1)).
• Batons, restraining devices and other special weapons or self-defence equipment are allowed only if you have been trained in their use and the registrar has been notified in writing of the equipment and the duty (s. 16(3)).
• An employer may not require you to carry such equipment unless it has trained you and notified the registrar (s. 16(4)).

Reporting use of force

Section 41 of the Act requires guards and security businesses to tell the registrar about any incident with a member of the public that involves the use of force or any other unusual intervention. Section 24 of the regulations says the report is made on Form E. If a licensee fails to report, the registrar may suspend, cancel or refuse to renew the licence.

Penalties

Breaking the Act or regulations is an offence. For an individual, a first offence can bring a fine of up to $5,000, up to one year in jail, or both.

Lesson 3: Saskatchewan's Trespass to Property Act

Saskatchewan's Trespass to Property Act came into force in 2009. Amendments in force on January 1, 2022 shifted the duty onto people who want access: anyone entering rural land for recreation, such as hunting, fishing or hiking, must first get consent.

The Act protects the occupier. This includes a person in physical possession of the premises, a person responsible for its condition or activities, and a person who controls who may enter. Your post orders should say how you act for the occupier at your site.

What is an offence

Under section 3, without the occupier's consent, a person must not:

• Enter where entry is prohibited, or do an activity that is prohibited
• Fail to leave as soon as practicable after the occupier asks them to leave
• Fail to stop an activity after being asked to stop
• Re-enter, or start the activity again, after leaving or stopping on a request

Entry is prohibited without any notice on a lawn, garden, yard site, land under cultivation, grazing land and enclosed land (section 4). There is a presumption that lawful access to a building entrance by the normal way in is not prohibited. Also, the fact that entry is not prohibited does not by itself mean the occupier has consented (section 13.1).

Lesson 4: Giving notice and calling police

How notice is given

• Orally or in writing, for example "You must leave the property now."
• By signs posted so one is clearly visible in daylight from the approach to each ordinary point of access.
• A sign naming or showing an activity with an oblique line through it is enough notice that the activity is prohibited.
• Only the occupier, or someone with the occupier's consent, may put up, remove or change these signs.

Arrest under the Act is for police

Section 12 says a peace officer may arrest without a warrant a person found on premises who is breaking the Act. The Act does not give that power to guards. Under sections 5 and 6, a peace officer may also ask a person to leave or stop an activity where entry or the activity is prohibited, or in an emergency, and the person must comply.

1. Tell the person clearly that they must leave, and why.
2. Give them a fair chance to leave and show them the way out.
3. If they refuse or come back, call police. Do not use force to remove them for trespass alone.
4. Record the time, words used, a description and any witnesses.

Lesson 5: Criminal Code arrest and use of force

Any arrest power a Saskatchewan guard has comes from the Criminal Code, which applies across Canada.

• Section 494(1): anyone may arrest a person they find committing an indictable offence, or a person escaping and freshly pursued by people with authority to arrest.
• Section 494(2): the owner, a person in lawful possession, or a person they authorize (such as a guard) may arrest someone found committing a criminal offence on or in relation to the property.
• Section 494(3): the person must be delivered to a peace officer forthwith.

Use of force

Section 494(4) says a person making a lawful arrest under section 494 is authorized by law for the purposes of section 25. Section 25 allows as much force as is necessary, when acting on reasonable grounds. Section 27 allows as much force as is reasonably necessary to prevent an offence that could lead to an arrest without warrant and would likely cause immediate and serious injury to a person or property. Force beyond what is necessary is not protected.

In Saskatchewan, any use of force must also be reported to the registrar under section 41 of the licensing Act.