Do You Legally Have To Stop and Comply With Security Guards In Canada?

So you’re walking out of a store and a security guard comes up to you say, “Stop. I want to check your bag. I demand that I check your bag.” What are your rights in this situation? Can you keep going? Do you have to comply? Great question.

Welcome back to the Kruse Law YouTube Channel, where we break down and answer complicated legal questions in plain, simple languages. Do you have to comply with the security guard who stops you in this situation? Well, it’s a very nuanced answer. It depends on the situation. It’s not a simple yes or no. And I’m going to give you examples. Well, first of all, a private security guard, even though they have a nice, fancy uniform on, guard, security, big tough guy. Want to be a cop maybe. They are not police. They are private citizens who work for a store, or they’re on private property.

And it’s a very nuanced situation. Where does their authority flow from? Well, it flows from a couple sources, the trespass to Property Act of Ontario number one and number two, the right to citizens arrest under Section 494, the Criminal Code, which everyone has, by the way. So, for example, if they find you committing a crime, they saw you committing a crime under Section 494, the Criminal Code, they’re allowed to stop and arrest you and detain you pending the police arrival, they typically would call the police, for example. They’re allowed to do that, and you should comply, because you’ve stolen something, obviously, and you have to be very careful in this situation, you don’t have to give them any ID if you don’t want to, you don’t have to answer any questions. You have a right remain silent, and you should simply wait for the police and then exercise your right to call a lawyer and stay silent. So that’s a situation where they can stop you.

Let’s give you some other ones. Let’s say you’re going to a concert. We’ve all been to concerts.

A private tenant who is a private owner. They have a right to demand to check a bag. That’s your right. You don’t have to go in, but they can check bags. And you know, prevent alcohol or drugs from coming in so a security guard can do that. It’s your right to say no, but if you want to get into the concert of course, you’re going to comply. Another situation is they have a right to tell you to leave a property. For example, you’re doing something wrong on the property under the trespass Property Act you have to leave, and you should leave right away, because if they don’t, they can use some degree of force to force you to leave.

They can’t be excessive, though, but a situation where you’re minding your own business and leaving the store, and some security guard just comes up to you and says, “Can I check your bag?” What I would so say is, “no, Am I under arrest? Am I under detention?” And they say, “No”, “you have no right to do that,” and I just simply walk away. And you know, that’s the situation in Canada. But of course, in many situations, the person’s seen a shop lifter or they have grounds, they stop and detain them. And they do have a right to do that, using reasonable force in a situation, to put their hands on the person, arrest them, stop them, and you don’t want to fight back in that situation. Now you’re going to be in a brawl. Who are they going to believe? The police are going to believe the security officer, of course, even though they might not even be telling the truth, but you got to be very careful the situation.

So breaking it down then, you do have rights. It depends on the situation, whether you have to comply. What I would do, of course, if you’re stopped by security guards ask questions, “am under arrest? Am I under detention? No, I am leaving.” “Yes, you’re under arrest for shoplifting.” Okay, stay polite. Stay quiet. Don’t say anything. You don’t even have to give your ID at that point, but you probably should, because you’re going to have to give it to the police anyway, but you don’t have to give it the security but I probably would, because you just want to be compliant in that situation, polite, respectful, wait for the police to come.

Maybe there’s been a misunderstanding, maybe you shoplifted, maybe you didn’t, but you don’t want to make your situation worse by telling your version of events at that point, because that’ll be used against you. You can never, I’ve done other videos of this. You can never tell the same version of events, even the truthful version events, the same way, you’re not going to talk to yourself or the situation. Just shut up. Ask to speak to a lawyer. Talk to that lawyer. That lawyer is going to give you legal advice in that situation. So there you have it. That’s my little summary on the law with respect to security guards, it’s really nuanced. It depends on the situation. Stay polite, stay respectful and know your rights.