How many guards does a 24/7 post need?
A post staffed around the clock needs 168 hours of coverage a week. At 40 hours a week that is 4.2 full-time guards; at 44 hours, 3.8. In practice a 24/7 post runs on four guards working 12-hour rotations that average 42 hours a week.
Four is the floor, not the plan. Vacations, sick days, training and turnover all need cover, so budget relief on top: a part-time fifth guard per post, or a pool of trained floaters shared across sites. Firms that staff exactly four per post end up paying the gaps at overtime rates.
8-hour vs 12-hour rotations
| Rotation | Guards | Pattern | Average per week | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8-hour, three shifts | 5 or more | 21 shifts a week across days, evenings and nights | 40 or less | More handovers, more people to train per site |
| 2-2-3 (Panama) | 4 | 2 on, 2 off, 3 on, then the reverse, over 14 days | 42 | Weeks of 36 and 48 hours |
| 4-on / 4-off | 4 | 4 shifts on, 4 off, over 8 days | 42 over 8 weeks | Runs of four 48-hour weeks; needs an 8-week averaging period |
| 7-on / 7-off | 4 | A full week on, a week off | 42 | 84 hours in one week; needs averaging almost everywhere |
2-2-3 ROTATION (PANAMA) · one 24/7 post · 4 guards · 12-hour shifts
D = day 06:00–18:00 N = night 18:00–06:00 . = off
Week 1 Week 2
Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa Su Hours
Guard A . . D D D . . D D . . . D D 36 + 48
Guard B D D . . . D D . . D D D . . 48 + 36
Guard C . . N N N . . N N . . . N N 36 + 48
Guard D N N . . . N N . . N N N . . 48 + 36
Every day: one guard on days, one on nights.
Each guard: 7 shifts every 14 days = 84 hours = 42 hours a week on average.
Every other weekend off, three days in a row.
4-ON / 4-OFF · one 24/7 post · 4 guards · 12-hour shifts Day 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Guard A D D D D . . . . Guard B . . . . D D D D Guard C N N N N . . . . Guard D . . . . N N N N (The 8-day cycle repeats; weekdays drift.) Each guard: 48 hours every 8 days = 42 hours a week on average. Calendar weeks come in runs: four weeks of 48 hours, then four of 36. Any four-week averaging period can land on four 48-hour weeks, so the rotation only averages out to 42 over eight weeks.
Download the rotation planner
An Excel planner for one 24/7 post: pick 2-2-3 or 4-on/4-off and a start date, and it lays out eight weeks, checks every day is covered, and shows each guard’s weekly hours and overtime.
- ExcelRotation planner8 weeks, overtime by week · 17 KB
Overtime thresholds by province
Overtime is paid at one and a half times the regular rate everywhere below unless noted. None of these provinces has a general overtime exemption for security guards, and Québec guards are covered by a specific decree.
| Province | Daily threshold | Weekly threshold | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ontario | None | 44 hours | Weekly hours are also capped at 48 unless the guard agrees in writing. |
| British Columbia | 8 hours (double time after 12) | 40 hours | |
| Alberta | 8 hours | 44 hours | Whichever gives the guard more overtime. |
| Québec (security guards) | None | 40 hours | Décret sur les agents de sécurité; overtime also from the 7th consecutive day. |
| Manitoba | 8 hours | 40 hours | |
| Saskatchewan | 8 hours (10 on a 4×10 schedule) | 40 hours | |
| Nova Scotia | None | 48 hours | A bill tabled in September 2026 would lower this to 44 hours from April 2027. |
Worked example: four 12-hour shifts in one week
Daily thresholds change the picture more than anything else. Here is the same 48-hour week, four 12-hour shifts, with no averaging arrangement and no holiday, province by province.
| Province | How it is counted | Overtime hours |
|---|---|---|
| Ontario | Weekly, over 44 | 4 |
| British Columbia | Daily over 8 (4 a shift); daily hours are not counted twice against the weekly 40 | 16 |
| Alberta | Greater of daily (over 8) or weekly (over 44) | 16 |
| Québec (security guards) | Weekly, over 40 | 8 |
| Manitoba | Daily over 8, weekly over 40 | 16 |
| Saskatchewan | Daily over 8, weekly over 40 | 16 |
| Nova Scotia | Weekly, over 48 | 0 |
At $22 an hour, the half-time premium on 4 overtime hours is $44 for the week; on 16 hours it is $176, per guard. Holidays, averaging arrangements and collective agreements change the result.
Averaging agreements: the fix, and the fine print
A 2-2-3 rotation averages 42 hours, but how those hours fall into your payroll weeks depends on where the cycle starts. Aligned as in the template above, a guard works 36 and 48 hours in alternating weeks; start the same cycle two days earlier and the weeks become 60 and 24. In Ontario, without an averaging agreement, a 48-hour week carries four hours of overtime and a 60-hour week sixteen. With a two-week averaging agreement, the guard averages 42 hours, under the 44-hour threshold, and there is no overtime at all. At $20 an hour, that is about $4,000 a year per 24/7 post in overtime premium you don’t need to pay.
The rotation has to fit the averaging period, too. A 4-on/4-off rotation produces runs of four 48-hour weeks followed by four 36-hour weeks, so it only averages 42 hours over eight weeks. Where averaging is capped at four weeks (Ontario, British Columbia, Saskatchewan and Québec guards), some four-week periods still average 48 hours and carry overtime; Alberta’s and Manitoba’s longer periods can absorb it. A 2-2-3 rotation balances out every two weeks, which is why it is the safer choice where averaging periods are short.
Averaging also only gets you down to the threshold, not below it. In British Columbia, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and for Québec guards, the weekly threshold is 40 hours, so a rotation that averages 42 still produces about two hours of overtime a week even under a valid averaging agreement. Price it into the bill rate rather than hoping it disappears.
Every province that allows averaging sets conditions, and getting them wrong means paying the overtime anyway. Employees can’t waive their employment-standards rights, so a guard saying “I don’t mind” is not an agreement.
| Province | Longest period | Conditions |
|---|---|---|
| Ontario | 2 to 4 weeks | Written or electronic agreement with an end date no more than 2 years away (non-union). No ministry approval needed since April 2019. Keep it for 3 years after the last day worked under it. |
| British Columbia | 1 to 4 weeks | Signed before it starts; the guard gets a copy. |
| Alberta | 1 to 52 weeks | In writing; the employer can also impose one with 2 weeks’ written notice. |
| Québec (security guards) | Up to 4 weeks | By collective agreement or under the decree’s conditions, with written notice to the comité paritaire at least 60 days ahead. |
| Manitoba | Up to 12 weeks | In writing at least a week before the schedule starts, signed by the guard or by 75% of those affected. |
| Saskatchewan | Up to 4 weeks | Modified work arrangement, signed, expires after 2 years; a permit is needed for longer cycles. |
| Nova Scotia | Fixed cycle | Written and signed before it starts, and it must give extended time off. |
In provinces with a daily threshold, read the averaging rules closely before building a 12-hour rotation: how hours beyond the daily limit are treated inside an averaging arrangement differs from province to province.
Call-in pay when a client cuts a shift
When a client sends a guard home early, most provinces still require a minimum payment. Put a matching minimum billable shift in your client contracts, or you will pay for those hours yourself.
| Province | Minimum | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| Ontario | 3 hours | At the regular rate, for guards who regularly work more than 3 hours a day. |
| British Columbia | 2 hours, or 4 | 4 hours if the guard was scheduled for more than 8; at the regular wage. |
| Alberta | 3 hours | At minimum wage. |
| Québec (security guards) | 4 hours | Under the security guard decree (the general rule is 3 hours). |
| Manitoba | 3 hours | Or the full shift if it was shorter; at the regular wage. |
| Saskatchewan | 3 hours | At the hourly wage. |
| Nova Scotia | 3 hours | At minimum wage. |
Rest between shifts, weekly rest and meal breaks
Meal breaks are 30 minutes after five hours of work in all seven provinces. The detail that catches security firms is pay: a guard alone on a post who must stay there and respond is not really on a break, and British Columbia and Alberta say such a break is paid. In Québec, the security guard decree goes further and makes the 30-minute meal period paid in every five-hour work period.
| Province | Between shifts | Weekly rest |
|---|---|---|
| Ontario | 11 consecutive hours off each day; 8 hours between shifts unless the two total 13 hours or less, or both agree in writing | 24 hours a week, or 48 every 2 weeks |
| British Columbia | 8 hours | 32 consecutive hours |
| Alberta | 8 hours | 1 day a week, or 2, 3 or 4 consecutive days over 2, 3 or 4 weeks |
| Québec | No between-shift rule in the decree | 32 consecutive hours (general labour standards) |
| Manitoba | No between-shift rule | 24 consecutive hours |
| Saskatchewan | 8 consecutive hours in any 24 | 24 hours for guards working 20 hours a week or more |
| Nova Scotia | No between-shift rule | 24 consecutive hours in every 7 days |
Paid time you might be missing
Training you require is work. Ontario’s ministry says so explicitly for training that the employer, or the law, makes a condition of the job, and that covers site orientation and shadow shifts. Other provinces apply similar principles; check before you schedule unpaid orientation.
The same goes for time guards spend on your instructions before or after the shift: picking up keys or equipment, a mandatory briefing, a handover that runs past the end of the shift. If the schedule doesn’t include it, your timesheets should.
Why spreadsheet schedules leak margin
- Overtime is discovered at payroll, after the shift was worked and billed at the regular rate.
- Call-off replacements ignore rest rules, because the guard who answers the text first is the one who gets the shift.
- Licences expire unnoticed, until a client or an inspector notices first.
- Nobody can see the whole week, so a guard picks up shifts at two sites and crosses 44 or 48 hours without anyone deciding to pay for it.
- Planned and actual hours drift apart, and the invoice no longer matches what the client’s own access logs show.
How GuardDesk schedules guards
In GuardDesk, every assignment, shift offer and swap goes through the same eligibility check. On Pro, that check includes licences and permits, rest between shifts, overtime and the seven-day maximum, so a dispatcher filling a call-off at 5 a.m. sees who can legally take the shift before offering it.
Timesheets come from actual clock-ins and clock-outs, set against planned hours, and supervisors approve them before the payroll export.
See also: Scheduling and dispatch in GuardDesk · Plans and pricing
Questions owners ask
How many security guards are needed to cover one 24/7 post?
At least four guards on 12-hour rotations averaging 42 hours a week, plus relief for vacations, sick days and training. Many firms add a part-time fifth guard per post or a shared pool of floaters.
Do security guards get overtime on 12-hour shifts in Canada?
It depends on the province. Ontario and Québec count overtime weekly (44 and 40 hours), so a single 12-hour shift isn’t overtime there. British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba and Saskatchewan also have an 8-hour daily threshold. A written averaging agreement can remove most overtime from 12-hour rotations if it meets the province’s conditions.
What is the minimum pay if a client cancels a security guard’s shift early?
Usually two to four hours. Ontario, Alberta, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Nova Scotia require three hours; British Columbia two hours, or four for shifts scheduled over eight hours; and Québec’s security guard decree requires four hours.
Do security companies have to pay guards for site orientation and training?
In Ontario, yes, when the employer or the law requires the training as a condition of the job. Other provinces apply similar principles, so treat required orientation, shadow shifts and mandatory meetings as paid work unless your province clearly says otherwise.
How many hours of rest are required between security guard shifts?
Eight hours in British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario (with exceptions in Ontario), and eight hours in any 24 in Saskatchewan. Weekly rest ranges from 24 hours (Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Nova Scotia) to 32 hours (British Columbia, Québec).
Sources
General information for security firm owners and managers, not legal advice. Rules change: confirm with the regulator or your lawyer before relying on them. Checked October 14, 2026.
- Ontario: hours of work and overtime (information sheet)
- Ontario: overtime pay and averaging
- Ontario: three-hour rule (policy manual)
- Ontario: when work is deemed performed (training)
- British Columbia: hours of work and overtime
- British Columbia: averaging agreements
- Alberta: overtime and averaging arrangements
- Alberta: hours of work and rest
- Québec: Décret sur les agents de sécurité
- Québec: Act respecting labour standards
- Manitoba: averaging agreements
- Saskatchewan: work schedules and breaks
- Nova Scotia: overtime
- Nova Scotia: proposed Labour Standards Code changes (September 2026)