Airport Security Awareness Course: Lessons 2026

Lesson 1: Who does what at a Canadian airport

Airport security is a team effort. Each partner has a clear role.

Whoever your employer is, such as the airport, an airline, a tenant or a security contractor, the airport's security rules apply to you.

Lesson 2: Restricted areas, signs and doors

A restricted area is a part of the airport that the operator has designated as restricted. Only authorized people may enter or stay there.

Signs

The operator must post signs outside each restricted area access point and on each security barrier. The signs are in at least both official languages and say that access is restricted to authorized persons. At Class 1 airports, signs on a barrier, such as a fence, must be no more than 150 m apart.

Doors and gates

Doors and gates are a weak point if people get careless. These rules come from the sections of the regulations for Class 1 airports. Class 2 and Class 3 airports have their own sections, with their own details.

• Enter a restricted area only through a restricted area access point, never over a fence or through a baggage belt.
• If you have temporary control of a door, stop unauthorized people from getting through.
• If no one is controlling a door, anyone who goes through must lock it and keep others out while it is open.
• No one may stop a door from locking, for example with tape, a wedge or a chair.
• Do not open an emergency exit that is also an access point unless the operator authorizes it or there is an emergency.

Lesson 3: Security clearances and identity cards

Transportation Security Clearance (TSC)

A Transportation Security Clearance from Transport Canada is required for people who need to enter airport restricted areas. You need it before you can get a restricted area identity card.

• The employer must start the application, so you need a job that requires access to restricted areas.
• Checks include RCMP criminal record and law enforcement records checks, a CSIS security assessment if needed, and an immigration status check if it applies.
• A TSC is valid for up to 5 years.

Restricted area identity card (RAIC)

The RAIC system was built by CATSA with Transport Canada and airport authorities. It uses iris and fingerprint biometrics to confirm who you are.

Rules for card holders

• Enter a restricted area only while you are working, with an active card.
• Wear your card visibly on your outer clothing at all times in a restricted area.
• Never lend or give your card or key to anyone, and never use someone else's.
• Never use your card to let another person in without the operator's authorization.
• If your card is lost or stolen, report it to your employer right away.

These rules come from the sections for Class 1 airports. Class 2 and Class 3 airports have their own sections of the regulations, so always learn your own airport's rules.

This course is not a clearance or a pass. Only Transport Canada grants a TSC, and only the airport issues a restricted area identity card. This course is background knowledge only.

Lesson 4: Escorts and screening of workers

Escorts

A person without a card, such as a visitor or a short-term contractor, must be escorted by a card holder. In some areas with defined limits, such as a construction site, a card holder may keep people under watch instead.

Non-passenger screening

CATSA also screens airport workers, such as flight and cabin crews, caterers, baggage handlers and maintenance staff. This is called non-passenger screening. It happens at doors leading into restricted areas and at random inside them. Workers must comply, or they can lose their access privileges.

No one may help another person get around screening. Taking a friend's bag through a side door so it skips screening breaks the law. A person at an airport must also not carry or have access to a weapon, except in the cases the regulations allow, such as a police officer on duty.

Lesson 5: Threats, false claims and reporting

Everyone at an airport has a part in reporting threats.

• Any person working at an airport who learns of a threat against the airport must immediately notify the airport operator and help it decide whether the threat is real.
• If the operator decides the threat puts the airport at risk, it must act right away to keep people safe, including informing the police.

False declarations

It is an offence for a person at an airport or on an aircraft to falsely declare that they, or another person, are carrying a weapon, explosive or incendiary device. A "joke" about a bomb at screening is treated seriously. Airports must post a notice about this at each passenger screening checkpoint.

What to report

• Threats, by phone, email, note or in person
• Unattended bags or suspicious items
• Doors that do not lock, damaged fences, or people in restricted areas without a visible card
• Lost or stolen cards and keys

In an emergency, call 911. Then follow your airport's procedure for telling the operations centre. Write down what you saw, when and where.