News Article

Personal Background Checks have Doubled in B.C. this Year

Frank Luba, The Province
December 10, 2009

Demand for criminal background checks in B.C. has doubled since last year.

The Criminal Records Review Act requires a background check for anyone working with children or having unsupervised access to kids to protect the children from physical or sexual abuse.

Checks are mandatory for everyone from teachers and doctors to nurses, chiropractors, dentists, optometrists and physical and massage therapists.

And the Olympics have brought its own challenge with many more security guards needed.

The surge has meant that Commissionaires B.C. has opened a third office to do digital fingerprinting.

Commissionaires B.C. is the province's largest security organization, providing private and public-sector clients with security.

Commissionaires B.C. is doing 4,650 checks so far this year compared with about 2,000 in 2008.

"It's just a heightened awareness that people have to be more aware of who they're hiring and what their background is," said Commissionaires B.C. CEO Al Batchelar.

About 45 to 50 per cent of background checks are done for people seeking citizenship or landed immigrant status, said Batchelar.

The second biggest category is employment at about 30 to 35 per cent.

Digital fingerprinting takes about 20 minutes to complete and costs $45 plus GST, as well as the $25 RCMP fee if applicable.

The traditional ink fingerprinting procedures takes about 10 minutes and costs $35 plus GST.

The results are confidential and either mailed to the applicant or sent to their prospective employer, if requested.

Several other companies also provide the service.

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