Response to Edmonton City Hall Incident

We are aware of the incident that took place at City Hall during the morning of January 23, 2024. We were relieved to learn that nobody was injured or harmed and our thoughts are with those who were affected by this incident.

We would like to thank our partners at Edmonton Police Service, the RCMP, Community Peace Officers as well as First Responders for their rapid response and support in this incident.

Commissionaires have been providing security services in the Edmonton region for the past 85 years. Our security services at Edmonton City Hall include video monitoring, access control, static security, and foot patrols throughout the building, as well as security screening for people entering Chambers.

One of our employees on site was involved in detaining the armed individual and went above and beyond his normal duties as a Commissionaire. We are very proud of him and thank him for taking such bold and brave action to protect the public. He has been an employee with our Division since February 2023 and is a veteran of the Canadian military, having served as an infantry soldier for seven years.

All members of the Commissionaires security team at Edmonton City Hall performed their duties in a professional manner and demonstrated fearless efforts to protect the public and help secure the situation. We are proud of each of them and thank them for their personal efforts.

We are aware of the identity of the individual who was arrested by police and can confirm that he was an employee of the Corps of Commissionaires. He had been employed by Commissionaires since 2019 and was assigned to a variety of locations within the Edmonton area but was never assigned to the security detail at City Hall. Given the nature of this incident and the ongoing police investigation, we are not able to provide any further comment on this individual.

We are proud to work alongside our public safety partners in the region and look forward to continuing our important relationship with the City of Edmonton. We will participate in any review or investigation on this matter as needed as we continually look for opportunities to improve our services and learn from these experiences.

For all inquiries, please contact Nick Grimshaw, Chief Executive Officer ngrimshaw@commissionaires.ab.ca.