Who's Who Better Business Bureau

Who's Who Special Edition BBB MAGAZINE 7 ommissionaires Manitoba is celebrating its 80th birthday this year, but the non-profit service organization is showing no signs of slowing down with age. In fact, the storied institution seems to have an extra spring in its step as it continues to grow and expand its services. Commissionaires Manitoba was created in 1938, with a mission to provide meaningful employment for veterans, including former members of the Canadian Forces and RCMP. While helping veterans is still a primary focus — more than 60 per cent of its employees are veterans — its mandate has evolved over the years. Membership is open to anyone who wishes to contribute to the safety and well-being of their fellow Canadians. They may be working as security guards, performing criminal record checks or in non-core policing roles such as guards at one of the province's 65 RCMP detention facilities. And Commissionaires Manitoba has rolled out new services such as an alarm monitoring and response centre that dispatches its own security responders. "I think the fact we've been around 80 years says we run a good organization," says Commissionaires Manitoba chief executive officer Tom Reimer, who had a 30-year career with the Royal Canadian Navy before joining the Commissionaires in 1998. "We only hired veterans back then. We were a substantially smaller organization then. In order to expand the business, we didn't have enough veterans so we hired others. We've become a business-oriented organization and a more successful business." It's also become a more diverse organization. More than 50 per cent of employees are of Indigenous descent and nearly half are female. "It's not a case of we've provided initiatives to (achieve) this. It's just a reflection of our community. Our makeup just reflects the cultural mosaic that is Manitoba," Reimer says. "We take the best people for the job." Many of those people have been with the organization for 20 years or more. Even more impressive, the turnover rate is just 14 per cent, compared to the national rate of 65 to 70 per cent for most private security firms. "A lot of it has to do with the fact we treat them as adults. Plus, we believe in giving them outstanding training," says Reimer, adding Commissionaires Manitoba provides an additional 40 hours of training over and above the 40-hour provincially mandated security guard training course. There's something else that sets Commissionaires Manitoba apart. "Interestingly, we're the only guard company that is an accredited Better Business Bureau business," Reimer says. "We're governed by ethics and so is the Better Business Bureau. That's why they're a natural fit for us." ❙ Learn more at commissionaires.ca/en/manitoba. C Commissionaire Joseph Do keeps an eye on security monitors at Commissionaires Manitoba's monitoring and response centre. Photo by Darcy Finley COMMISSIONAIRES MANITOBA A Secure Foundation PROTECTING AND SERVING FOR 80 YEARS BY JIM TIMLICK

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