Corporate Undercover Surveillance

Corporate undercover surveillance puts a trained investigator inside a workplace or close to a crew as an apparent colleague, contractor, or customer. It is used when cameras, audits, and interviews have failed to explain shrinkage, collusion, drug activity, or sabotage. Investigations Plus designs these files so the investigator can observe and document without becoming part of the misconduct and without creating an entrapment story for later.

When this service is the right file

• Inventory, cash, or tools disappear on specific shifts and cameras never quite catch the hand-off.
• A clique appears to control overtime, vendors, or receiving, and honest staff will not speak on the record.
• You suspect kickbacks between a buyer and a supplier.
• Safety or harassment complaints point to a culture that sanitizes itself whenever a manager walks in.
• A previous internal investigation collapsed because everyone already knew the investigator.

How the investigation is done

The cover story, start date, and reporting line are built with HR and counsel so the investigator has a real reason to be on site. We agree in writing what the investigator will and will not do: no stealing ‘to prove it’, no drug use, no sexualized play, no breaking safety rules. Daily notes leave the site securely. If the assignment requires joining a unionized workplace, we address that constraint up front — many files are better as contractor or customer covers. Duration is measured in weeks, not hours. Extraction is planned so the investigator is not left exposed when the client finally acts on the report.

What you receive

• Shift-by-shift observation notes
• Names, times, and methods of theft or collusion witnessed
• Photographs or recovered samples only where lawful and safe
• Vendor or customer meeting notes
• A briefing document for HR and counsel before interviews begin

Legal and ethical limits

Undercover work still sits under PSISA, employment law, and privacy. Recording in private areas, washrooms, or locker rooms is off limits. We do not induce a crime that would not otherwise occur. If the client wants a ‘test’ that is actually entrapment theatre, we refuse. Union environments, human-rights issues, and occupational health rules can all change the plan. Counsel should be in the room at scoping.

Who typically retains this work

Owners, loss-prevention leads, and employment lawyers. This is not a tool for spying on a union drive or on protected leave. We will decline political or retaliatory mandates.

Where we handle these files

Placements are available across Ontario. Multi-site companies in other provinces are staffed through planned travel, not through duplicate city service URLs.

Related services

These investigations are often used together. Open any service to see how we handle it.

• Workplace Theft Investigations
• Surveillance
• Employment Checks

If cameras already exist and the loss continues, undercover may be the only way to see the social layer of the theft. Book a confidential scoping call with someone who can say no to a bad cover.

Typical fact patterns

Inventory, cash, or tools disappear on specific shifts and cameras never quite catch the hand-off. A clique appears to control overtime, vendors, or receiving, and honest staff will not speak on the record. You suspect kickbacks between a buyer and a supplier. Safety or harassment complaints point to a culture that sanitizes itself whenever a manager walks in. A previous internal investigation collapsed because everyone already knew the investigator.

Deliverables in practice

Shift-by-shift observation notes Names, times, and methods of theft or collusion witnessed Photographs or recovered samples only where lawful and safe Vendor or customer meeting notes A briefing document for HR and counsel before interviews begin The cover story, start date, and reporting line are built with HR and counsel so the investigator has a real reason to be on site. We agree in writing what the investigator will and will not do: no stealing ‘to prove it’, no drug use, no sexualized play, no breaking safety rules. Daily notes leave the site securely. If the assignment requires joining a unionized workplace, we address that constraint up front — many files are better as contractor or customer covers. Duration is measured in weeks, not hours. Extraction is planned so the investigator is not left exposed when the client finally acts on the report.

Owners, loss-prevention leads, and employment lawyers. This is not a tool for spying on a union drive or on protected leave. We will decline political or retaliatory mandates. Placements are available across Ontario. Multi-site companies in other provinces are staffed through planned travel, not through duplicate city service URLs.

If cameras already exist and the loss continues, undercover may be the only way to see the social layer of the theft. Book a confidential scoping call with someone who can say no to a bad cover. Undercover work still sits under PSISA, employment law, and privacy. Recording in private areas, washrooms, or locker rooms is off limits. We do not induce a crime that would not otherwise occur. If the client wants a ‘test’ that is actually entrapment theatre, we refuse. Union environments, human-rights issues, and occupational health rules can all change the plan. Counsel should be in the room at scoping.