Company History

The Beginnings

It all started in a downtown Toronto parking lot on a snowy day in 1980. This was when Douglas McInroy and Ben Lee first discussed the possibility of a business partnership aimed at providing bespoke physical security services to a Toronto that was emerging and developing into a cosmopolitan city both in architecture and infrastructure. Douglas was no stranger to public safety and security. A regular force, decorated Canadian military officer who served in Korea, Cyprus and had seen other overseas duty as a member of Canada’s multinational peacekeeping contingent; Doug as he preferred to be called, knew the dynamics of providing safety and security under varying circumstances and to cross-cultural communities. Upon receiving an Honourable Discharge from the Canadian Armed Forces (Army), he founded Atlas Protection Services Limited in the late 1960’s, which would have offices in Toronto and Montreal. In the early 1970’s he formed a partnership with another small Canadian security firm, Alert Security & Investigations which later, through a further partnership, became Atlas-Alert Security. In the latter part of the 1970’s he sold his interest in Atlas-Alert and found himself discussing the possibility of forming yet another security firm on that snowy day in 1980 with Ben Lee.

Ben Lee left his home in South Korea at an early age to emigrate to Canada. Interestingly, it was in the winter of 1974 in Toronto when Ben would get his first experience in public safety. It was at this time, Ben heroically assisted police in the apprehension of a criminal and in recognition of his actions, was one of a very few to receive a Civilian Citation from The Metropolitan Toronto Board of Commissioners of Police. Ben and his family represented generations of successful business and entrepreneurship start-ups and established several small family based business initiatives. Both Ben’s father and grandfather were successful businessmen in their own right, as being the founders of many successful business ventures in a diverse area of sectors. Not to be content with the practical, day to day experience of running a business passed down from his father, Ben pursued formal academic studies in business and accounting. Ben later took his family tradition of entrepreneurial spirit married with his academic business knowledge to realize success in the small market retail and service sectors in Canada. It was in the very parking lot where the meeting of Doug and Ben took place, owned by the Lee family where Magnum Protective Services Limited would be an idea, a concept whose time had come.

With the business plan, incorporation, licensing and registration papers in hand, Magnum Protective Services Limited opened in a small postwar brownstone office building at 27 Carlton Street just a stone’s throw away from Toronto’s historic Maple Leaf Gardens in May 1981. Douglas McInroy assumed the role of President, while Ben Lee filled the role of Vice President. It was with sincere regret and great loss that Douglas McInroy passed away in 2011; the 30th year of the firm that he co-founded. Ben Lee assumed the office of President of the firm and continues in this role today. From the year of the firm’s humble beginning to the current year, Magnum Protective Services Limited has been a part of the respected, trusted, reliable support services that have actively contributed to the growth of many of Toronto’s landmarks that the world and local residents associate with our cosmopolitan city. From The Toronto Convention Centre, the expanded Toronto Subway system and re-vitalization of Toronto’s centre core to luxury residences on Toronto’s waterfront and suburban retail malls; Magnum’s presence as a security and support provider has been and continues to be there.