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February 9, 2024

Dear CPIO Members,

It gives me great pleasure to announce that the CPIO Designation Program has cleared another major hurdle and has now, unquestionably, been established as the premier, and most prestigious, designation program exclusively for Private Investigators in Canada, and arguably, in North America.

I want to thank all the great investigators who hold various Designation levels for supporting the program and proudly using their post nominals to promote their level of expertise and professionalism to the marketplace.

When the CPIO started this journey three years ago, there was some doubt that the industry would accept the Designation Program, that the “old school” would prevail and reject the idea of formal education aimed specifically at Private Investigators. I am immensely proud of each one of you for dispelling those doubts. In this age of digitalization (i.e. our new PI Licenses) and transparency, we need to show that we are educated professionals who know what we are doing and can explain how and where we came by information obtained. The image of the lone wolf flying by the seat of their pants, giving a wry smile, and tapping the side of their nose when asked how certain information was obtained, is long gone.

Being taught by recognized professionals in the various fields, collaborating with peers, and operating as a team, is the new world in which we live and thrive in. I, for one, have seen many changes since I was first licensed in Ontario in the late 1980’s: changes to legislation, privacy, interview techniques, trademark acts, human rights acts, and all the changes to workplace health and safety. Computers, cellphones, the internet, cybersecurity, geotagging, facial recognition, crypto currency and AI, all terms with a very science fiction ring when I started but are now in mainstream use. These, and many other changes, are why we need to learn, continue to learn, and be seen to be learning, in our ever-evolving industry. These are the reasons why the CPIO has the CPE requirement for all Designation holders, new and Grandfathered. These are also the reasons why the CPIO Designation Program is the most prestigious of its kind in Canada and becoming increasingly recognised by our clients as such. The requirements for attaining and maintaining CPIO Designations does not involve simply asking for a couple of references, handing out certificates and demanding money like most of the so-called qualifications bandied around in our industry. Those “qualifications” are just the smoke and mirrors of a bygone era.

With very few exceptions, Designation holders have sent in their CPE Compliance Forms, attesting to achieving the required CPE Credits for maintaining their designations. Random verification of the attestations will take place over the next few weeks, but I am sure that few, if any, discrepancies will be found. The CPIO offers ample opportunities to obtain the required CPE Credits at little or no cost and it is inspiring to see how many of you are willing to invest in your ability to do your job, earn money for your families and promote the professionalism of your chosen industry.

If you have yet to apply for your Designation, now is definitely the time to register. All courses are discounted by 50% until the end of March 2024, which will also allow those who need extra CPE Credits to do so at minimal cost.

In other business, we needed to rewrite the By-laws governing the CPIO to be compliant with changes to the Ontario Not-for-Profit Corporations Act. A virtual Special Members Meeting will be called to vote on the amended By-laws, which will be circulated in advance of this meeting. The AGM will be held after the Special Members Meeting, sometime in the Spring. It will be in-person, with a networking and fellowship event to follow. Please monitor the website for details as they become available.

We are also calling for Members to apply to join the Board of Directors, as a few positions will be coming available. Please think about joining the Board and doing your part to help grow the CPIO and make it even better. Stay tuned for Nominating Committee contact details.

It remains only for me to reiterate my thanks to you all for your continued support and to say that I look forward to meeting all of you, personally, at the AGM.

Be well and stay safe!

Yours Respectfully,

James Meadway President, CPIO

    

Please fill out the form below if you'd like your vote to count in the CPIO Special Members Meeting. 

CPIO Proxy Vote Form-Special Members Meeting 2023.pdf

October 29, 2023

Dear CPIO Members,

I trust everyone is well, busy, and enjoying a good work/life balance.

As we are nearing our Professional Development Day (PD Day), not to mention the tail end of 2023, there are a few things I wanted to bring to your attention:

1. Private Investigator License Cards
2. CPIO Designation CPE (Continuing Professional Education) Credit Requirements
3. Membership Benefits

As some of you are aware, the last PI License cards were printed and sent out by the Ministry at the end of September 2023. From October 1, 2023, onwards, all licenses will be digital. This has caused a number of complaints, some more serious than others. Our major concern is the ease with which the existing digital licenses can be manipulated by unscrupulous actors. Another flaw is the reliance on a charged, operative cellphone in a good reception area with sufficient data. Bad reception and/or a dying battery are commonplace.

We have been advised by the Director/Registrar of the Private Security and Investigative Services Branch (PSISB) of the Ministry of the Solicitor General (SOLGEN) that our primary concern is being addressed. The Ministry is currently designing a new type of digital license that will be far more difficult to manipulate. In conjunction, there will be changes to the Service Ontario portal used to confirm the validity of a license. The information is to include the name under which the license is held, the category and the status of the license.

With respect to other concerns, apparently, we can expect our driver’s licenses to become digital in the near future and it is anticipated that everyone will have a digital wallet on their cellphones, with all their ID, credit cards, etc.

We are monitoring the situation and have a good relationship with SOLGEN. We will keep you updated with any developments.

CPIO Designations. A little over two years ago, we unveiled the CPIO Designation program, and it has been a huge success. For the first time in Canada, it is possible to differentiate a Professional Investigator from a Senior Investigator from a Master Investigator. Previously, anyone with a few years of surveillance experience under their belt was marketing themselves as a senior investigator, irrespective of their training, ability to write reports, ability to do a background check or even use a computer to advance their investigations. Now, a CPIO Certified Senior Investigator really is a senior investigator. They have a minimum of 5 years field experience, they have completed the Toddington OSINT and SOCMINT courses (with an 80% or greater passing grade in the CPIO exam), they have completed the Report Writing and Note Taking course and they have completed two other industry related courses of their choice. I think you will agree that from an employment perspective, a professional perspective and from the perspective of our clients, a CPIO Certified Senior Investigator is the person you want on your side.

To keep your Designation, you need to be a licensed PI, a CPIO Member in good standing and you need to obtain 20 CPE Credits per year. In January 2024, you will be asked to attest that you have acquired your CPE Credits and, if not, you will be given until the end of March to do so. It has been said that it is too expensive to maintain the CPIO Designation. Membership fees have not been increased for many years. Members get a minimum of 10 free webinars per year, which equates to 10 CPE Credits. Professional Development Day (Thursday, November 16, 2023) carries another 6 CPE Credits and is free for Members who pay for an Agency Membership. The FIT conferences carried another 7 to 8.5 CPE Credits. The cost of maintaining the Designation is designed to be based on how professional the designation holder wants to be, not how deep their wallets are (digital or otherwise!).

To assist those who are behind in their CPE Credits, the CPIO will offer all courses at a 50% discount for Members, until the end of March 2024. The dates of the 2024 courses are being arranged and will be advertised shortly. Each course carries 14 to 16 Credits and can be used to advance through the Designations or as a special interest course, whichever is applicable.

Let me ask you: Would you hire an electrician, for instance, who says they are a professional? Or would you rather hire an electrician that you know did 8,160 hours as an apprentice and received their certification by passing their exams? Why is the PI industry any different to many other industries (including legal, medical, insurance, police, teachers, to mention a few) that require their Members to have continuing education and attain a certain number of CPE Credits, or the like, each year? And why should our clients not demand the same? I would like to believe that we, as professional investigators, are willing to build the experience necessary, seek out new training opportunities and strive to be the best we can be so that we can be recognized by our peers and our industry as being worthy of the title: Professional, Senior, or Master Investigator.

So, I urge you to attend our PD Day and to take one (or more) of the many courses offered; your total cost will be equivalent to a reasonable night out and you will learn from experts as well as retain your professional designation for 2024. For those of you who have yet to commence the designation process, this is an ideal time to start.

What about membership benefits? In addition to being a Member of the largest professional organization in our industry in Canada; in addition to free webinars and professional courses specifically designed for PIs; in addition to the three-tier designation program; and in addition to the CPIO working with SOLGEN and other government entities on our industry’s behalf; Members can now go to the Community Partners section of the CPIO website to access affordable healthcare insurance, as well as obtain discounts from Kal-Tire and Henry’s!

I hope to see you all at the Professional Development Day on Thursday, November 16, 2023.

Stay safe everyone!

Yours sincerely,

James Meadway, CPIO-MI, CFE

President, CPIO

Dear CPIO Membership,

Please see the following news article

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-lawyers-charged-by-regulatory-body-after-investigation-into/

Lawyers charged by regulatory body after Manitoba judge followed during churches' COVID-19 court challenge | CBC News

Please click the PDF below to access the document. 

Xpera-Nino Calabrese Mar 2023.pdf

January 20, 2023

Dear CPIO Members,

I trust this letter finds you and yours in good heath and looking forward to all that 2023 has to offer! 

While I am happy to welcome new Board Members Andrew Robichaud and Jeff Crowley, I am sad that we had to say good-bye to James Winter, Manish Patel and Boaz Lapointe. They have all moved on to new and exciting chapters in their lives and I cannot thank them enough for everything they did for the CPIO and you, our membership!

2022 was a fantastic year for the CPIO, perhaps even a pivotal year. Following on our successes from 2021, we have introduced a regular stream of courses from Toddington International (discounted for members); launched our own Note Taking and Report Writing course (free to members); continued with the monthly webinars (free to members); had two successful conferences (F.I.T. and Professional Development Day); and, of course, established the CPIO Designation program. As promised, we are now advertising to the insurance industry and other sectors, promoting the designation program, and asking the big question, “Is your investigator a CPIO Certified Professional Investigator?”

We are excited to hear that members have been successfully using the designations to promote their businesses and add weight to their RFP’s. We have Agency Members that have fully embraced the designation program and ensured that all their staff are enrolled, which is tremendous.  For the first time in Canada, there is a three-tier Professional Designation program in place, backed by a solid training platform, aimed at making our industry more knowledgeable and professional in both practice and appearance.

Like all professional designations, on-going educational training is required to both legitimise the designation program and to continue on our path of increasing the knowledge and professionalism in our industry. As outlined in the CPIO Designation Protocols, it is necessary for each designation holder to obtain at least 20 hours of continued professional education (CPE) per year. This total may be achieved by attending our webinars and conferences, although, it is hoped that you will avail yourselves of the courses we have arranged for your benefit.

Former OPP Detective Sergeant Jim Smyth’s interviews are probably the most widely viewed examples of how to conduct an interview. His successes on the Tori Stafford case and with Russel Williams are legendary. It gives me great pleasure to inform you that Jim has agreed to conduct a 2-day Basic Interview Techniques course in June 2023, as well as a 2-day Advanced Interview Techniques course in September 2023. We are also expecting to have a Statement Analysis course this year, as well as other courses of general interest to PI’s, to compliment the ongoing Toddington International Courses.

We will be continuing with our industry promotion of the Designation Program.  Keep an eye out for us at the various golf days and conferences this year, as well as in publications such as WP!

CPIO membership cards will be sent out when you renew your membership. The first cards should be shipped next week. We are also exploring avenues that will allow us to use the membership cards to obtain industry related discounts (hotels, restaurants, rental cars, etc.).

I have mentioned the Eugene François Vidocq in previous letters. Eugene Vidocq taught himself and was famous for developing new methods of detection and procedures to follow. We have the good fortune of being able to benefit from what he started nearly 200 years ago. We are investigators, we are inquisitive, we want to know, it’s in our very nature! With your help we can take the CPIO to the next level!

I end this letter by sincerely thanking my colleagues on the CPIO Board for all their hard work and dedication. Without the team effort, none of this would be possible.

Thank you for your continued support and stay safe everyone!

Yours respectfully,

James Meadway, CFE, CPIO-MI

President, CPIO

This is an important follow-up notice to our members about foreign agencies hiring private investigators.

Please see the article below for the American perspective:

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/13/nyregion/china-iran-private-detectives.html

If the above link doesn't work, then please view the article below:

Iran and China are hiring private eyes to spy on dissidents in America | Daily Mail Online

Please see important information attached.

 Need To Know_2022 04 07.pdf

The CPIO has been made aware that there have been reports of individuals using counterfeit licenses to apply to licensed agencies in Ontario. As per section 31 of the Private Security and Investigative Services Act, 2005, licensed agencies may only employ licensed security guards (SG) and/or private investigators (PI) and it is the agency’s responsibility to ensure that none of their SGs and/or PIs are working without a valid license.

You are encouraged to use the online license registry to confirm the status of the individual licensee or contact PrivateSecurity@ontario.ca. 

December 1, 2021

Dear CPIO Members,

There is no better way to start this letter than to state that it has been an honour, and my privilege, to work with such a group of consummate professionals as the current CPIO Board of Directors. Volunteers, who over the last year, have given so much of their time and knowledge to benefit the CPIO and our industry. Thank you, Boaz Lapointe, Brian Zeng, Shelley Collins, Manish Patel, James Winter, Vanessa Greenblatt, Nino Calabrese and Martin Jaekel for your hard work, dedication, and continuing support. I would like to introduce and welcome Michael Sherrard of Sherrard Kuzz LLP to the Board, as CPIO Counsel. Michael joined us earlier in the year and has proven himself to be an invaluable asset. I would like to make special mention of the significant contributions made by Junior Williams, who stepped down from the Board earlier this year. Lastly, I welcome Nigel McCoy to the Board, our newly elected Board Member. 

Last year, I said that the CPIO was taking the initiative to try and raise the general level of knowledge and the standard of professionalism in our industry. We at the CPIO felt that this was not only important but imperative. As I also mentioned in my address a year ago, Private Investigation Agencies, previously known as Private Inquiry Agents, pre-date what we now recognize as organized, investigative police services.  Despite this, it appears there has never been a recognised standard of training or recognition of expertise, exclusively applied to our industry. The CPIO is changing that.

The CPIO has been offering educational webinars since May 2020.  During 2021, we introduced world class courses and designed a three-tier designation program, the post nominals of which are trademark protected. Over the course of the next twelve months, we will be introducing courses in Note Taking & Report Writing, Ethics & Legislation, Interviewing and many more. The purpose of the courses is to introduce a standard of training to our industry. New and seasoned investigators will receive recognized, relevant training, and only those who achieve 80% or more on their tests will attain CPIO Certification. Employers will know that a prospective employee with CPIO Certification has demonstrated a high level of understanding and the ability to apply the training they have received.          

The designations are designed to promote excellence in our industry. Investigators can now aspire to an organized program of professional recognition based on knowledge and experience. From this point on, when a person claims to be a Senior Investigator, for instance, they will be able to proudly present their CPIO Designation to support their claim.

Some of you will have seen representatives of the CPIO at events such as an OIAA Golf Day, this year. Attending events is part of a program to expand CPIO’s visibility within the insurance and legal industries. In 2022, we will begin an advertising campaign through media sources to promote the training and Continued Professional Education (CPE) offered by the CPIO. We will also be encouraging the insurance and legal professions to take note of the CPIO Designations and understand what they mean. It is our hope and expectation that CPIO Members will benefit from these initiatives and those with CPIO Designations will be recognized for their achievements and awarded work accordingly.

Until the end of December 2021, any private investigator who meets the minimum criteria described in the Designation Protocols (available on the CPIO website) could be entitled to claim a designation though the Grandfathering clause.  I would strongly encourage any of you with the relevant experience to apply today by sending a resumé of your experience to info@cpiontario.ca with “Designation Application” in the subject line. I also advise employers to urge their employees to join the CPIO, so they too may benefit from the Designation program.

It only remains for me to say that you can be assured that your CPIO Board of Directors will continue to strive to bring new initiatives and value to the CPIO and our industry in general. 

On behalf of your CPIO Board, I wish you and your families a safe and festive holiday season!

Yours faithfully,

James Meadway

President

Council of Professional Investigators of Ontario.