Ottawa ending Commissionaires’ contracting right

The largest private sector employer of veterans in Canada is calling on the Liberal government not to end a federal contracting entitlement which gives it first dibs on security guard services.

The Canadian Corps of Commissionaires is taking the federal government to court over the loss of its contracting entitlement, claiming it is at risk of losing some $330 million a year in revenue.

Michel Charron, the CEO of the Commissionaires, says he was surprised and disappointed when he received notice out of the blue that Ottawa will terminate his firm’s first right of refusal.

The firm received a letter from Veterans Affairs Minister Jill McKnight in February saying its preferential contracting right will end next year in order to create a more “competitive procurement process.”

Charron says he hasn’t been able to secure a meeting with McKnight and he does not understand why the government is doing this now.

Canada’s only national not-for-profit security company has enjoyed the legal contracting right since the Second World War to help secure employment opportunities for Canadian veterans.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 24, 2026.

By Kyle Duggan | Copyright 2026, The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.