CATSA renews its airport screening services agreements for five years

The Canadian Air Transport Security Authority (CATSA) today announced the renewal of its Airport Screening Services Agreements (ASSAs) with all of its screening contractors for a period of five years.

“The renewed agreements allow us to continue to build on past successes and continue to work with our screening contractors and industry partners to realize continuous improvements in the security screening services we offer to the travelling public, said Angus Watt, President and CEO, CATSA. Both CATSA and its screening contractors will continue to invest in front-line personnel and training.”

The initial five-year contracts took effect on November 1, 2011 with an option to extend for up to five additional years. CATSA conducted a thorough assessment of each contractor’s performance over the initial term. The results from these evaluations indicated that the current screening contractors delivered on their contract commitments and met CATSA’s expectations. By exercising its renewal options, CATSA is extending the contracts until March 31, 2022. The approximate value of the contract extensions is $2.6 billion.

The following companies will continue to provide screening services:

• G4S Secure Solutions (Canada) Ltd. in the Pacific Region (B.C., Y.T.); contract value: $510 M;
• GardaWorld in the Prairies Region (Alta., Sask., Man., N.W.T); contract value: $586 M;
• GardaWorld in the Central Region (Ont.): contract value: $838 M;
• Securitas Transport Aviation Security Limited in the East Region (N.L., P.E.I., N.S., N.B., Que., Nvt.); contract value: $632 M.

CATSA operates under a third-party business model. It realizes its mandate by contracting the delivery of screening services to private screening contractors. These contractors are responsible for employing the screening workforce and performing screening operations at designated airports in Canada.

CATSA is a Crown corporation responsible for:

– Pre-board screening – the screening of passengers, their carry-on baggage and their personal belongings;
– Hold-baggage screening – the screening of checked baggage;
– Non-passenger screening – the random screening of non-passengers; and
– Restricted Area Identity Card – the administration of access control to airport restricted areas through biometric identifiers.