By Jason White, Manager, Strategic Initiatives

Video conferencing is now the norm. Whether connecting with friends or family, or for work, Zoom and FaceTime calls are filling our days. So, it is not surprising that every public relations and communications professional worth their salt has blogs and YouTube videos on best practices. Out of the near bazillion social media posts on how to Zoom like a pro, a few common sense recommendations stood out. These are very appropriate for any ASP related video conferences, including the townhalls and Diversity Committee events.

The first suggestion is to arrive early to establish a connection with the people on other side of the screen. If it is a small group, introduce yourself and break the ice with some small talk. Ask where the other participants are located, what the weather is like, about a sports team or if they have seen your favourite TV show. This is a chance to show you care. If it is a meeting with lots of people like an ASP townhall, being early lets the organizers know that you are taking the meeting seriously and that it is important to you. Also, refer to people by name, and not just because it is polite. We’ve all been in those meetings where there is confusion around who is talking to who. This is especially true in large meetings where there may be multiple people with the same name. The next recommendation is to draw a smiley face on a post-it note and put it next to the camera on your computer or phone. When on a conference call, we tend to look at our own image when we are talking. This means we are not making eye contact with the folks on the other end. The post-it note is a reminder to look at the camera so you are making eye contact with the other people on the call – like we would do in a face to face meeting. The smiley face is also a reminder to smile! Because we are separated by pixels, it is very important to smile and put on a warm, friendly demeanor. Jokes, tone, and subtlety can easily be lost in electronic communication but a genuine smile, is always a smile. Finally, if you are presenting, people have joined the video conference to see you – not a PowerPoint presentation.

A good rule of thumb is that when the presenter shares, the audience cares. Facts and figures may be important, but too many and they become boring quickly. To engage the folks on the conference call, tell stories that are impactful to them. Before getting on Zoom, think about what is important to your audience, and build narratives around their priorities. Ask yourself, what do I want people to take away from the meeting. Three takeaways is a good goal. And the last item is to enjoy yourself because, through digital osmosis, the participants will also enjoy themselves. Good luck and happy conferencing

The best way to get a person’s attention is to tell relevant stories.


By Neeru Panjwani, Manager, Human Resources

Kimberly Hefferman – Service Delivery Manager, Res/CIC Kimberly

(Kim) joined us as SDM for the Res/CIC division and reports to John Stolte, Director Res/CIC. In her role, Kim is responsible for managing the Respite Center contract primarily, and ensuring compliance with contract requirement and government legislation. Kim has over twenty years of security experience in various industries like mining , hospitality and healthcare. She is certified in many prestigious security related certifications such as use of force, emergency first aid and CPR, basic emergency management, terrorist event pre[1]incident indicators etc. With such a versatile background, both in terms of education and experience, Kim shall play a lead role in contributing to the success of the division

Kirti Khatri – Onboarding Specialist, Res/CIC division

Kirti is our latest member in the HR team and has joined us as an Onboarding Specialist in the Res/CIC Division. She will report to Sean Gallagher, Recruitment Manager. Onboarding Specialist is a new title for the division and the position was created to bridge the gap between a new hire’s onboarding / training and placing them on an open schedule as per availability. Kirti will take up the responsibility to ensure that all new hires in the division are connected with the scheduling team and given a shift schedule as soon as their in-house onboarding and training is completed. This will support the operations in filling the open shifts faster and also help the new hire employees in becoming operational sooner.

Dave Harris – Assistance Customer Service Manager, Crossing

Guards Department Dave has joined ASP as Assistant Manager in the Crossing Guard Department and reports to Sarah Miller. Dave has worked in various customer centric roles in his past experience and has a progressive career history in building relationships to foster client success. In his position at ASP, Dave will provide critical employee support to over 300 crossing guards, manage the day-to-day operations in collaboration with internal support departments and monitor and enforce all designated safety, security and operational procedures / regulations applicable to the performance of the service

John Stolte – Director of Operations, Res/CIC Division

John will lead and support the high-quality service delivery to our residential and commercial clients. John’s experience as a proven operations strategist and people[1]focused leader for world-class hospitality organizations will be an asset at ASP as we stabilize, build on ASP’s past success, and continue to grow the commercial division. In his last role as Resident Manager for Aramark, John successfully lead his teams through the challenges and changes both before and during the pandemic in an industry which was impacted as dramatically as ours. Past success as a service provider with the City of Toronto and as a Six Sigma Certified Green Belt, he brings a fresh and effective approach to problem solving that will benefit our operations. John is results driven, strategic, and skilled at analyzing key business performance indicators, and we’re excited to have John join our talented team

Jeremy Knott – Director of Information Technology

Jeremy will lead ASP’s technology strategy, services, and programs. He holds a diploma in Network Systems and Computer Engineering and is a Lean Six Sigma Blackbelt (LSSBB). In his seventeen years of interdisciplinary IT experience, Jeremy has continuously generated tangible business results through fostering adherence to standards, loss awareness, effective problem solving, and implementation of sustainable solutions. His extensive IT management experience, including vendor management and systems integration, will be an asset in the design, implementation, and delivery of our internal and external technology solutions

Eryn Henry – Senior Manager , Resource Planning

Eryn has joined us as the Senior Manager of Workforce Scheduling and will report to Trisha Murray, Director of K9 and Resource Planning. Eryn is a hands on high[1]performing workforce management and contact center professional with over twenty years of successfully leading teams, outperforming targets, and building customer support programs. Eryn’s core competencies are in capacity planning, resource optimization, reporting and analytics and process mapping and improvement. Eryn is a honorary veteran from the Canadian Armed Forces after which she has worked in senior positions at companies like Scotia Bank and Nestle. Eryn’s rich experience and her vision and passion for improving the workplace environment and client communications will play a critical role in the success of the department.

Stephanie Ferjak, Amy Benjamin & Brennan Benoit – Workforce Schedulers

Our Workforce Scheduling team resource planning team is expanding to support the growing needs of our operations and support the frontline: Stephanie, Amy and Brennan joined us on the Workforce Scheduling team. Stephanie will support the Aviation Division and will report to Andrew Catney, Lead for Aviation. Amy will support the crossing guard operations and will report to Eryn Henry, Senior Manager, Workforce Management. Brennan will support the Res/CIC division and will report to Hardeep Khaneja, Lead RP for the Res/CIC division. Stephanie, Amy and Brennan come with relevant experience and knowledge required for their role at ASP. Their customer service focus, technical expertise, and effective team work skills will further support our employees in their duties

Munazha Mahfooz & Mohammed Khan

Recruiters at Res/CIC

Munazha and Mohammed recently joined the Recruitment team at Res/CIC and report to Ms. Keba Walters, Asst Manager, Recruitment. They will work closely with the Operations team to gain a comprehensive understanding of the department’s hiring needs for each position and meet hiring goals and expectations. They manage the full recruitment cycle across a variety of open roles helping management find, hire, and retain quality talent. Munazha and Mohammed have worked at security companies prior to joining ASP both in operations and in recruitment and therefore have a perfect understanding of the needs from both sides which has helped them immensely in adapting to ASP’s requirements. In their short stint, they have both played a pivotal role in filling open positions in critical client locations


By Rama Malkapuram, Manager, Acting Operations Manager

Monique Radway has been with ASP since March 2021. She originally joined the ASP team as a crossing guard. Prior to joining ASP, she successfully completed a certificate program in Hospitality and Tourism Management from the University of Technology in Jamaica. She has 2 years experience in customer service and 1 year of office administration experience. She is very professional while discharging her duty and always followed proper procedures as mandated by the City of Toronto. In October 2021, she temporarily moved into the role of Administrator at our North York office to assist with the Crossing Guard operations. Her role primarily was to answer phone calls from the Crossing Guards. She demonstrated a positive attitude in adapting herself to the new environment. In a short period of time, she learned about the X Guard App and started managing temporary punch ins, assigning and unassigning guards on the App with minimal support. She also started assisting with other administrative functions such as monthly uniform inventory counts, issuing ASP jackets and vests to the new hires and existing crossing guards. She became an integral part of the Crossing Guard team. Her dedication and commitment towards her job were recognized by the entire ASP team. I would like to thank her profoundly, for all the good work she put forth in last couple of months. Great job, Monique

Thank you, Roberto!

Please join our ASP Crossing Guard team in wishing a happy retirement to Roberto (Rudy) Soriano. Rudy has worked as a dedicated full-time member of the ASP School Crossing Guard Services since the program’s inception in 2019. Prior to working at ASP, he was a Crossing Guard with the Toronto Police Service for over 10 years. He exemplified kind[1]heartedness and was consistently reliable during his tenure with ASP. He will be sorely missed by the management team, his fellow crossing guards, and the community he served. We wish him all the best as he embarks on this new chapter of his life. Many thanks for his hard work and service

Let’s Make the Fourth Wave the Final Wave!

What Can We Do?

  • Get vaccinated – protect yourself and others
  • Be aware of risks associated with different settings
  • Wear face masks indoors – properly worn face masks are your best defense against the virus
  • Continue to wear a mask in busy outdoor areas like campgrounds, playgrounds and dog parks
  • Maintain social distancing – Health Canada still encourages us to minimize close contact with others.
  • Keep hands and surfaces clean
  • If you feel sick, even with just a sore throat, you should stay home and self-isolate if you have symptoms
  • Continue to avoid non-essential travel
  • Socialize outdoors whenever possible
  • Avoid crowded indoor spaces with poor ventilation —especially with the unvaccinated.

Take Care of Your Mental and Physical
Health by:

  • Adjusting your expectations based on what is in your control
  • Have a backup plan if something is not available (school/daycare, gym, etc.)
  • Take advantage of nice weather and spend time outdoors
  • Acknowledge that pandemic fatigue is real and make use of our EAP (LifeWorks program) if you are experiencing mental health concerns like anxiety, stress, or depression

Collectively, our actions can help prevent the spread of COVID-19 and keep our families, friends, and co-workers safe. As the pandemic drags on through a fourth, intense wave, front line hospital staff are running on empty tanks, and we owe it to them to take precautionary measures and make it through this wave without overburdening our healthcare system.


By Keba Walters, Assistant Manager, Recruitment RES/CIC

At A.S.P. Incorporated, a few of the values that drive our team are Inclusion and Empowerment, and the first step toward those values is to listen. Our recruitment team proudly At A.S.P. Incorporated, a few of the values that drive our team are Inclusion and Empowerment, and the first step toward those values is to listen. Our recruitment team proudly held our first Voices of ASP focus group across all divisions to hear straight from our employees what they wanted to change, and what we could continue to do, to make ASP a great place to work. Voices of ASP consisted of volunteers from Aviation, OSR, Canine, and Security, as well as Supervisors, Concierges, Specialists, and Crossing Guards from the Residential and Commercial Divisions.

Some areas where our employees felt we were doing well and wanted to continue were:

  • Team events such as Wonderland Day and Christmas parties
  • Employees reported that they enjoyed the types of jobs ASP had
  • Good growth opportunities and great career experience in security
  • Improvements connecting to and communicating with the management team

Constant improvement is pivotal to any growing organization, and we welcome the feedback. For those who were not able to participate in our focus group event, we will be opening the opportunity to speak with our team 1on1 to anyone interested. What you say remains completely anonymous but allows us to provide feedback directly to your managers.

Some of the feedback we received regarding areas of improvement:

  • Better acknowledgement for going above[1]and-beyond
  • Increases in pay for minimum wage employees
  • Improvements to uniform fit, quality, and ensuring all guards are wearing it properly
  • Better systems to get in touch with Scheduling Team
  • More on-the-job training

If you’d like your
voice heard, please reach
out to ASP Recruitment at
recruitment@security-asp.com
for a link to a 15-minute meeting
with someone from our team
before January 30th, 2022

Let’s Make the Fourth Wave the Final Wave!

What Can We Do?

  • Get vaccinated – protect yourself and others
  • Be aware of risks associated with different settings
  • Wear face masks indoors – properly worn face masks are your best defense against the virus
  • Continue to wear a mask in busy outdoor areas like campgrounds, playgrounds and dog parks
  • Maintain social distancing – Health Canada still encourages us to minimize close contact with others.
  • Keep hands and surfaces clean
  • If you feel sick, even with just a sore throat, you should stay home and self-isolate if you have symptoms
  • Continue to avoid non-essential travel
  • Socialize outdoors whenever possible
  • Avoid crowded indoor spaces with poor ventilation —especially with the unvaccinated.

Take Care of Your Mental and Physical
Health by:

  • Adjusting your expectations based on what is in your control
  • Have a backup plan if something is not available (school/daycare, gym, etc.)
  • Take advantage of nice weather and spend time outdoors
  • Acknowledge that pandemic fatigue is real and make use of our EAP (LifeWorks program) if you are experiencing mental health concerns like anxiety, stress, or depression

Collectively, our actions can help prevent the spread of COVID-19 and keep our families, friends, and co-workers safe. As the pandemic drags on through a fourth, intense wave, front line hospital staff are running on empty tanks, and we owe it to them to take precautionary measures and make it through this wave without overburdening our healthcare system.


By Darren Scott, Manager Resource Planning

For security reasons, every 40 days your password for the inTime app will need to be reset. Please follow the below directions to reset your password.

1. Select Forgot Your Password

2. Enter Organization ASPInc, Username
and Select Reset

A link will be emailed to you. Follow the instruction in the email. If you do not receive an email contact Human Resources to update your email address in your profile.


By Darren Scott, Manager Resource Planning

Never miss an available posting again using the inTime App. The inTime App improves communication by putting your schedule on your smart phone.

From the App you can:

  • View your schedule. No more logging on to your desktop to see what days you’re working and when you have vacations. Easily make plans around your work schedule.
  • Sign up for shifts and overtime
  • Apply for leaves
  • Sort and filter available postings
  • Receive mobile alerts and notifications. Was there a change to your shift start time? The app will send you an alert as soon as a change made.
  • Punch in and out

Have you set your Preferences?

Using your portal or inTime App you can tell Resource Planning when you prefer to work. When an individual shift is open, or a long-term assignment becomes available your preferences are reviewed to assist scheduling. Without having preferences set on your portal you may be overlooked.

For more information regarding the App or if you require assistance, please contact the Resource Planning Department.


By Debbie Ciccotelli, Vice President, Strategic Initiatives

The fourth wave of COVID-19 that public health experts warned us about for months has arrived and it is being referred to as the ‘pandemic of the unvaccinated”. Each wave of the COVID-19 pandemic raises different levels of public health and personal challenges. Public health authorities have indicated that the highly contagious Delta Variant is driving the fourth wave and that they are seeing an increase in numbers, which is mostly amongst the unvaccinated. The Delta variant has prolonged the pandemic, made daily life more difficult to navigate and has turned back the clock on our collective plans to return to a relatively normal life. Experts unanimously agree that people who aren’t vaccinated — including children under 12, are most at risk in this wave of the pandemic.

The good news is that millions of Canadians have now been vaccinated. As of September 16, 2021, provinces and territories have administered over 54 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines, with the latest data indicating that over 85% of people aged 12 years or older have received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine and over 79% are now fully vaccinated. Evidence demonstrates that full vaccination (2 doses) combined with continued public health measures provides substantial protection. As we head into the fall, it will be important to have as many eligible people as possible fully vaccinated as quickly as possible to protect ourselves and others, including those with compromised immune systems or children who are not eligible – especially as cases rise within younger populations. Because children can’t be vaccinated, it’s especially important that those around them are. It is important to ensure that information related to covid-19 vaccines comes from a reliable source, therefore please see the link to the government of Canada article https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/diseases/coronavirus-disease-covid-19/vaccines.html

Let’s Make the Fourth Wave the Final Wave!

What Can We Do?

  • Get vaccinated – protect yourself and others
  • Be aware of risks associated with different settings
  • Wear face masks indoors – properly worn face masks are your best defense against the virus
  • Continue to wear a mask in busy outdoor areas like campgrounds, playgrounds and dog parks
  • Maintain social distancing – Health Canada still encourages us to minimize close contact with others.
  • Keep hands and surfaces clean
  • If you feel sick, even with just a sore throat, you should stay home and self-isolate if you have symptoms
  • Continue to avoid non-essential travel
  • Socialize outdoors whenever possible
  • Avoid crowded indoor spaces with poor ventilation —especially with the unvaccinated.

Take Care of Your Mental and Physical
Health by:

  • Adjusting your expectations based on what is in your control
  • Have a backup plan if something is not available (school/daycare, gym, etc.)
  • Take advantage of nice weather and spend time outdoors
  • Acknowledge that pandemic fatigue is real and make use of our EAP (LifeWorks program) if you are experiencing mental health concerns like anxiety, stress, or depression

Collectively, our actions can help prevent the spread of COVID-19 and keep our families, friends, and co-workers safe. As the pandemic drags on through a fourth, intense wave, front line hospital staff are running on empty tanks, and we owe it to them to take precautionary measures and make it through this wave without overburdening our healthcare system.


By Laurel Woodhouse, Manager Health and Safety

Why Get Vaccinated for COVID-19?

Vaccines Work

Scientific and medical evidence show that vaccination can help protect you against COVID-19. Studies are also showing that vaccinated people may have less severe illness if they do become ill from COVID-19.

Vaccines Are Safe

Only vaccines that are proven to be safe, effective and of high quality are authorized for use in Canada. The COVID-19 vaccines have been rigorously tested during their development and then carefully reviewed by Health Canada. The vaccines cannot give you COVID-19 because they don’t contain the virus that causes it. The vaccines also cannot change your DNA.

Types of Vaccines

mRNA vaccines provide instructions to your cells for how to make a coronavirus protein. This protein will trigger an immune response that will help to protect you against COVID-19.

Viral vector vaccines use a virus that’s been made harmless to produce coronavirus proteins in your body without causing disease. Similar to mRNA vaccines, this protein will trigger an immune response that will help to protect you against COVID-19.

Continue to Follow Public Health Measures

COVID-19 vaccines are important tools to help us stop this pandemic. Right now, we still need to follow public health measures to reduce the spread of COVID-19 and save lives.

Federal, provincial and territorial governments will continue to assess the risk of COVID-19 spread in communities. Measures will be adjusted over time as more people are vaccinated. Everyone is looking forward to a future when we can be together.

Until then, we need to protect each other, especially those who are still vulnerable to severe disease from COVID-19.

Get the facts. Visit Canada.ca/covid-vaccine to learn more.


By Trisha Murray, Director Canine and Resource Planning

The canine unit is thrilled to count 23 commercial/cargo K9 handlers and 4 Aviation K9 handlers as Transport Canada certified. Our trainers, led by Russ Fox, have been busy for the past several months tweaking and fine tuning our training regime to ensure success at the government test site, and the hard work is paying off!

Our trainers also just completed another training course in Ottawa preparing six new K9 handlers for the field. Within this group, 2 handlers are entering the Toronto mix and 4 are off to Montreal and Quebec City. Our next course starts in October where we will be training another six handlers for Toronto and Moncton, NB. Congratulations to our newest grads!

“After a busy and hot summer, our pups are ready for some crisp Fall air! We hope everyone has a terrific Autumn and spooky fun filled Halloween!”


By Daniel McCormack, Training Coordinator

Hello ASP! Welcome to the Autumn edition! YYC has been ramping up a lot over the summer; things are re-opening, volume is increasing and as such, so is our workload. The feedback from the client has been positive on our continued dedication to getting the job done. One way that we are executing this is through new training that will continue to further hone our skills.

The staff at YYC have been especially aware of the changes made to training over the last year, which has received extremely positive review from the staff (a 4.8/5 average on iSpring!) and it is just the first step on the track to continue to raise the bar.

One of the major changes this quarter came in the form of a new daily post inspection — staff here have made note that they appreciate the increased interaction with the supervisors. It includes a random question near the end of the inspection which is generally themed toward the most recent operational information that we have received. The response from staff is that they appreciate the new snippets of information that help them do the job better. It’s been helping to ensure that everyone has all the information.

“We have been expanding the training to include de-escalation training, breach response and we are moving towards more in-depth security theory across all the roles we have in Calgary.”

Some of the in-class training has been put on hold due to COVID restrictions, but with the positive outlook on vaccination rates across the staff, and across the country, we are all optimistic that in person training will be able to resume soon. Some of the training cued for staff include patrol theory and incident response. I know I’m excited to deliver the new training! Until next time, take care of yourselves!