Speeding up the security clearance process

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This article was published 19/10/2022 (1114 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Neil Murray likes to joke about the fact that while there’s usually more than an hour’s wait in the queue to apply for criminal background checks at the police station, there’s no line-up at his company, FastCheck.

His company, that has been operating since 2014 doing all the different forms of criminal record checks — there are four different types — started doing fingerprinting in 2017. FastCheck is one of the only third-party operators in Manitoba that can do RCMP-certified fingerprinting.

There are a growing number of jobs and volunteer positions that require criminal background checks, but the process to obtain them can be complicated and time consuming. FastCheck can reduce wait times, usually getting clients their record checks the same day as their appointment.

When the federal government started demanding tighter security clearance for people entering federal government buildings in 2017, demand for fingerprinting started picking up.

Sub-trades doing work in federal government buildings now may need that type of security clearance.

“We will go to an electrical company and fingerprint the whole staff in a matter of minutes, as opposed to several hours of unproductive time for the staff,” Murray said.

He first became exposed to the security clearance business in his other life as the owner of a small telco company called NRM Telecom. It had a contract with a mining company in northwestern Ontario to install telephones some years ago and that company required thorough police checks for anyone entering the site.

After finding out it might take months to get it done he found a service in Thunder Bay that did it much quicker.

Murray eventually bought that business.

Now he does plenty of work with new Canadians who, he believes appreciate the customer service FastCheck provides.

“The police have their own customer service protocols and they do a good job, but there are some people who may have had experience with the police in their home country and appreciate the friendly, quick service we provide,” said Murray.

Jacques Therrien of Canada Connect Immigration Consulting Services, sends all his clients to FastCheck.

“As part of the immigration process, individuals need to provide RCMP police clearances,” Therrien said. “My clients are well respected at FastCheck and provided with quick service and they do not have to experience any intimidation they might feel if they had to go to the police station.”

Murray said that when the federal government opened up about 90,000 student permanent resident applications in the early summer of 2021, his business doubled, to more than 400 transactions per month.

While there are on-line portals now available where you can apply for most of these security checks, there is virtually no customer service.

“That’s the value-added we provide,” Murray said. “A family can come in, the kids can eat my candy, and they can get the work done reliably.”

FastCheck charges a little more than the police would charge — about $70 for fingerprinting.

“I tell people all they need to bring is two pieces of ID, a photograph and a thumb and a finger,” he said.

The company has a couple of dozen corporate clients, including that same northwestern Ontario mine that Murray dealt with before he bought the Thunder Bay company.

The federal government lists more than 200 accredited fingerprinting services across the country, but there are only a few in Manitoba.

While the RCMP does not charge a processing fee for criminal record check for fingerprints taken for federal employment or contracts, Murray believes the customer service he provides is worth the modest fee.

Some people might be concerned about taking on construction work at a federal government building if it means their fingerprints will now be on file, but the RCMP does not keep copies of the fingerprints in their system if there is no match with ones that belong to people with a criminal record.

martin.cash@freepress.mb.ca