Rendering of the CIBC Pan Am / Parapan Am Athletics Stadium, which will host track and field events.
Contemporary Security Canada has been awarded an $81-million contract to provide private security services for the 2015 Pan Am Games and Parapan American Games in Toronto. The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) reviewed the proposals and, ultimately, CSC was selected. The OPP-led Integrated Security Unit (ISU) will provide the services of sworn police officers during the games.
Sgt. Pierre Chamberland of the OPP media relations department said that private security represents 66 percent of the security workforce for the Pan Am Games and Parapan American Games, which involves screening, access and safety personnel at venues across a wide swath of the greater Toronto and Hamilton area over a 4-6 week period. Dollarwise, private security is 33 percent of the cost. Overall security for the games is budgeted at $239 million, Chamberland said.
The ISU is composed of security partners representing all the jurisdictions where the Games events will be held including the OPP, the Toronto Police Service, Hamilton Police Service, Durham Regional Police Service, Peel Regional Police, York Regional Police, Niagara Regional Police Service, Halton Regional Police Service, South Simcoe Police Service, and the RCMP.
For CS Canada, planning has already begun, with a projected need of more than 5,000 security personnel by the time the games run July 10-26 and Aug. 7-15 respectively in 2015, said Damon Zumwalt, chairman of Contemporary Security Canada and CEO of Contemporary Services Corp., an affiliate of the Vancouver, B.C.-based CS Canada. Contemporary Security Canada also provided security for the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, an $80-million contract.
Zumwalt had just returned from Sportaccord 2014 in Istanbul, Turkey, April 6-11, when interviewed by Venues Today. No major bids took place at Sportaccord this year, he said. “The big bids haven’t come out yet,” Zumwalt added. But that conference and its trade show are a catalyst for several international sporting event contracts.
Steven V. Mirabile, president and CEO of Contemporary Security Canada, is taking the lead on the Toronto games, as he did in Vancouver.
Mirabile said the official presentation for the security contract for Toronto took place before Thanksgiving, in November 2013. CS Canada was officially selected March 14.
Stephen V. Mirabile
He has already submitted CS Canada’s detailed project plan to provide security across 51 venues, including arenas and stadiums, hosting 10,000 athletes participating in over 40 sports during 49 calendar days. It is a massive undertaking, which will involve 125 managers by the time the games commence, he said.
CS Canada has also submitted a timeline. “We will review and subtract as we go along, but it is basically a road map to 2015,” Mirabile said. The Pan Am Games 2015 will be spread out around Lake Ontario, stretching from Oshawa to Welland to Minden Hills and including some new construction.
The private security project is being led by CS Canada’s top Canadian event professionals, including Derek Gagné as the project director and Trevor Walsh as vice president.
“We are very excited to work together with our client on this important project. We are currently building our team of talented event professionals and will bring our experience from past Canadian projects including the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games and the G8 and G20 Summits,” Mirabile said. The company and its affiliates have provided security for more than a dozen international sporting events, he said.
Interviewed for this story: Stephen Mirabile, (801) 635-5139; Damon Zumwalt, (818) 885-5150 x135; Sgt. Pierre Chamberland, (705) 329-6878