COMMISSIONAIRES MANITOBA
SAFETY, SECURITY AND SERVICE — TRUSTED, EVERYDAY, EVERYWHERE Commissionaires deliver a range of services, backed by rich history and experience
B ryan Payne remembers his first interaction with a Commissionaire, back when he was a 12-year-old Air Cadet meeting a “sage and wise Commissionaire sitting at the front gate at the Armoury, with a row of ribbons on his white shirt.” Fast forward to today, and Payne, the new Chief Executive Officer of the Canadian Corps of Commissionaires Manitoba Division, knows there is so much more to the organization and its people. More than 1,000 Commissionaires – many of them veterans of the Canadian Armed Forces, RCMP or Municipal Police Services — serve the province with security guarding, fingerprinting, rapid RCMP- accredited criminal record checks, video security monitoring, property management, investigations, and training, including first aid, drug awareness and loss prevention. “There’s a sense of duty, honour and commitment that many of our team would like to pay forward. As a not-for-profit enterprise, that is the value we bring to our clients — that background, experience, learning environment and spirit of continuous improvement, contribution, and partnership,” says Payne, a 22-year veteran of the Royal Canadian Navy. Payne became CEO in January 2020, just before COVID-19 hit. Commissionaires Manitoba had to pivot, offering pandemic- related services including protocol compli- ance monitoring, screening, and education. “Our team is highly adaptable, and we embrace lifelong learning with a focus on being prepared, so we were able to quickly integrate COVID-19 awareness and precautions within all of our staff and activities,” Payne says. The team is also looking forward to adapting to its new, larger home, in the former Klinic building at 870 Portage Ave. in Winnipeg.
“This move reflects our ongoing commitment to providing meaningful employment to veterans and other Manitobans, focused on the safety and security of their fellow citizens, while also recognizing the growing needs of our clients,” Payne says. “With the very latest in technology and an expanded Identification Services space, we can provide rapid and responsive services to a broader range of individuals and businesses that have rapidly changing security requirements in response to provincial or federal government regulations.” The new location, right next to Vimy Ridge Park and its war memorials, also under- scores a commitment to the organization’s history and heritage of service, while build- ing new and enhanced partnerships with
local businesses and the community. Despite the challenges of the pandemic, the organization has continued to grow its workforce, proudly returning 91.3% of its revenue in 2020 to its team as wages, ben- efits, and training. That team is made up of a diverse mix of cultures, ages, and back- grounds with nearly 25% of security guards who are women and 40% who are veterans. “It’s really important for our clients to know their security is not being delivered by a remotely managed response centre somewhere else in the world,” Payne says. “It’s Manitobans, right here, who understand the local environment as well as having the right combination of technical know-how and experience.” ■ To learn more, visit https:// commissionaires.ca/en/manitoba/home
Bryan Payne, Chief Executive Officer of the Canadian Corps of Commissionaires Manitoba Division.
SPRING 2021
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