Most security companies will not publish prices. Ask for a rate card and you get a contact form.
We understand why. Every site is different, and a number without context invites a bad comparison. But it leaves buyers guessing, and guessing is how people end up with a quote they cannot judge.
So here is the honest version: what security work costs in British Columbia, what sits behind each number, and where the ranges come from.
Read this before the numbers
Three things make any published rate approximate.
Your site sets the price as much as the service does. A single-entrance retail unit and a four-building industrial campus are different jobs.
Notice changes everything. Booking three weeks ahead costs less than booking tomorrow, because we can roster rather than scramble.
And hours matter more than people expect. Overnight, weekends and statutory holidays all carry premiums.
Treat what follows as planning figures. Use them to sanity-check a quote, not to replace one.
Standing guard work
From around $28 per hour. This is the floor for a licensed guard through a properly insured company in BC.
Concierge and front-desk coverage usually sits at the lower end. Straightforward overnight static posts sit a little above it. Complex sites, short notice and specialist settings push higher, into the $40s.
Four hours is the standard minimum shift across the province. If you need two hours, you will still pay for four.
Mobile patrol
Priced per visit or per month, not per hour.
Because the vehicle and officer cover several properties in a night, patrol costs a fraction of a staffed shift. For most commercial buildings, a nightly patrol arrangement costs less than one overnight guard shift per week.
The variables are how many visits you want and how long each takes.
Event work
Mid-$30s per hour and up, four-hour minimum per officer.
Events price higher because they are short, intensive and often at awkward hours. Alcohol service usually means more officers. Last-minute bookings carry real premiums, particularly in Vancouver between July and September.
Close protection
This one does not fit an hourly comparison well.
Executive protection costs more per hour than any guarding service, and the driver is the length of the engagement rather than the number of officers. Advance work, route planning and venue checks are billable labour that happens before anyone arrives.
Ask for a quote against the itinerary. A quote with no advance work in it is quoting a lesser service.
Round-the-clock cover
Worth doing the arithmetic, because this is where people get surprised.
Continuous coverage is 168 hours a week. One person does not work that. In practice it takes four to five guards on rotation, plus relief for sickness and holidays, and a large share of those hours attract premium rates.
So 24-hour security is not the hourly rate times 24. It is a staffing model, and it lands in the thousands per week.
Almost everyone who asks for it actually needs a defined window instead. Our cost guide works through that in detail.
What the rate covers
This is the part worth understanding, because people compare a contract rate to a wage and conclude security is expensive.
They are not the same kind of number.
An hourly contract rate includes the licensed guard, supervision, relief cover when someone is sick, liability insurance, WorkSafeBC, scheduling, training and reporting. A wage includes the wage.
Our in-house versus contract comparison sets out the full stack.
Why a cheap quote should worry you
If one quote comes in well under the rest, something has been removed.
Guards in BC must be licensed. A licensed company must carry insurance, pay WorkSafeBC, and pay enough to keep people worth having. Those costs are fixed.
A rate well under $28 an hour usually means underpaid guards who leave constantly, thinner insurance than you want, or work quietly handed to a subcontractor you never checked.
Ask for the business licence number, the individual worker licences, and the liability certificate. We carry $2M CAD in comprehensive general liability.
How to spend less without buying less
Find your actual exposure window first. A fortnight of patrol reports usually shows the risk is narrower than assumed.
Then ask about a hybrid: staffed across the risky hours, patrolled either side. Most providers will not suggest it, because one continuous post is simpler to quote and bigger to invoice.
Give notice where you can. Bundle multiple sites onto one route. And get a site assessment before buying anything, because sometimes the answer is lighting and a new lock.
Getting a number for your site
Send us the property type and size, the hours you want covered, whether it is ongoing or one-off, the duties, and any insurer conditions. You will get a quote you can actually compare against the ranges above.
Fireball Security has operated across British Columbia since 2020, serving 100+ clients in 11 cities with 100+ licensed guards.
Send us the details or call 250-899-6620. We come back within 60 minutes during business hours.
