Since 1968 — Winnipeg, MB
Five Decades of Monitoring
Nobody Works Alone
ProTELEC is a family-owned Winnipeg monitoring company — in the business of keeping people safe since 1968. In 2003, we built CheckMate because no one else was willing to take on lone worker safety the right way.
A Family-Owned Monitoring Company
ProTELEC was incorporated in Winnipeg, Manitoba on July 1, 1968. A family-owned security company from day one — alarms, monitoring, safety, and security for homes and businesses across Western Canada.
We're not a startup. We're not venture-backed. We're not a tech company pretending to care about safety. We're a security company that's been doing this work for over half a century, with an Emergency Monitoring Centre that never closes.
Family-owned and operated since 1968
Five Diamond monitoring centre — first in Canada
Sold residential in 2019 to go all-in on worker safety
First in Canada to Be Five Diamond Certified
Five Diamond is the highest certification a monitoring centre can earn in North America — awarded by The Monitoring Association to facilities that meet the strictest standards for operator training, response time, facility security, and redundancy.
ProTELEC was the first monitoring centre in Canada to earn it. Every CheckMate alert — every missed check-in, every SOS, every panic button press — goes directly to this facility. Not a call centre. Not an answering service. A purpose-built emergency operations centre staffed by trained operators around the clock.
Trained Operators
Not scripts, not bots — extensively trained before they ever take an alert
Live 24/7 Response
Missed check-in at 3am on a Sunday? A real person is already responding
Purpose-Built Facility
Emergency power, redundant systems, physical security that never goes down
Highest NA Standard
The Monitoring Association's top certification — earned and maintained since day one
From Alarms to Lone Worker Protection
Over five decades of keeping people safe — and the events that shaped what CheckMate became.
1968
1968
On July 1, 1968, ProTELEC was incorporated in Winnipeg, Manitoba. A family-owned security company from day one — alarms, monitoring, safety, and security for homes and businesses across Western Canada.
The company grew steadily through the '70s, '80s, and '90s, eventually becoming one of Canada's largest independent security and monitoring firms. But the work that would come to define ProTELEC was still decades away.
2003
2003
Canadian provinces had been tightening lone worker regulations throughout the late '90s and early 2000s. Employers were legally required to check on people working alone — but most had no system for it beyond a verbal "call me when you're done."
Most security companies ignored the problem. Not enough revenue, too much complexity, too hard to do right.
ProTELEC saw it differently. They had the monitoring infrastructure, the trained operators, and a simple belief: if someone is working alone, they shouldn't actually be alone.
CheckMate launched as a scheduled safety check-in system backed by ProTELEC's 24/7 monitoring centre. Workers check in on schedule. If they don't, real people respond — not an algorithm, not a push notification. Trained emergency operators who know what to do.
2005–08
2005–2008
Through the mid-2000s, a series of incidents involving workers left alone on the job — particularly in late-night retail — sparked a national conversation about employer responsibility. Families advocated, safety organizations pushed, and provinces started paying attention.
In October 2007, British Columbia passed Grant's Law — the first legislation in Canada to mandate specific safety protections for workers in late-night retail. Named after a young worker killed during a gas-and-dash while working alone, it took effect February 1, 2008.
The Pattern That Emerged
Lone worker legislation in Canada has been reactive, not proactive. Incidents happen, families advocate, laws pass years later — then get weakened through amendments. Provinces like Ontario and Nova Scotia still have no specific lone worker regulations at all, relying on vague "reasonable precautions" language that leaves employers guessing.
This is exactly why ProTELEC built CheckMate before most provinces even had rules. The best organizations don't wait for legislation — they protect their people because it's the right thing to do.
2010
2010
CheckMate released the Safe Alone app — bringing smartphone-based safety checks, GPS tracking, and an SOS panic button to workers' pockets. Available on iOS and Android, set up in minutes.
The app didn't replace the monitoring centre — it extended it. Every alert from Safe Alone still goes to the same Five Diamond certified operators. The technology changed, but the human response behind it didn't.
Learn about the Safe Alone App
2017
2017
After 14 years of quietly protecting lone workers across Canada, CheckMate won the Canadian Occupational Safety Readers' Choice Award for Best Lone Worker Software/Solutions.
Canadian Occupational Safety — 2017 Readers' Choice Award
Best Lone Worker Software/Solutions. Voted on by safety professionals across Canada — the people who actually evaluate and implement these systems every day.
By this point, ProTELEC's monitoring centre had also earned Five Diamond certification from The Monitoring Association — the highest standard for monitoring centres in North America, and the first facility in Canada to receive it.
2019
2019
In July 2019, ProTELEC made a decision that said everything about where they were headed: they sold their entire residential security division to a.p.i. Alarm Inc.
No more home alarms. No more residential monitoring. From this point forward, 100% of ProTELEC's focus would be on commercial security and lone worker safety.
2 Million+ Safety Checks Per Year
By 2019, CheckMate was processing over 2 million automated safety checks annually through scheduled phone calls, text messages, and the Safe Alone app. Every single missed check-in was escalated to a live operator.
This wasn't a pivot — it was a doubling down. The residential business was profitable. They walked away from it because lone worker safety was the work that mattered most.
Today
Today
Over 900 Canadian organizations trust CheckMate with their workers' safety. From utilities and oil & gas to healthcare, agriculture, property management, and municipal services — if you have people working alone, we're probably already protecting someone in your industry.
The product suite has grown — Safe Alone app, phone-based safety checks, SOS wearables, eALERT desktop panic buttons, and satellite devices for workers with zero cell coverage. But the principle hasn't changed since 2003:
When someone working alone needs help, a real person responds. In seconds.
No venture capital. No shareholders. A family-owned Winnipeg company that's been in security for over 55 years, doing the work that most companies didn't think was worth doing.
See all CheckMate solutions
One Platform, Every Way to Protect Your Team
CheckMate started as a phone-based check-in system. Today it's a complete lone worker safety suite — all backed by the same Five Diamond monitoring centre.
Phone Safety Checks
Scheduled safety checks via phone call or text message. Workers check in on time — or a live operator responds immediately.
Learn more
Safe Alone App
Smartphone-based safety checks with GPS tracking, SOS panic button, and one-tap check-ins. Set up in minutes.
Learn more
eALERT Panic Buttons
Desktop and wearable emergency buttons for fixed workplaces. One press triggers an immediate alert to the monitoring centre.
SOS Fall Detection
Wearable devices that detect falls and trigger automatic alerts — even if the worker can't press a button.
Journey Management
Track workers moving between sites with automated route monitoring and location-aware check-ins.
Admin Dashboard & Compliance
Real-time oversight, scheduling tools, and audit-ready compliance reports. Everything documented automatically.
Built for Safety Teams, Not Shareholders
Most lone worker solutions are built by tech companies first, safety companies second. CheckMate is the opposite. We built the monitoring infrastructure first — then built the tools to connect workers to it.
No admin fees, no hidden costs
No hardware to buy — use any phone
Scales from 5 workers to 5,000
In-depth onboarding and team training
24/7 customer care — not a chatbot
Fully configurable to your workflow
What You Won't Get
No long-term contracts locking you in
No automated phone trees when you need help
No "figure it out yourself" onboarding
No extra charges for support services
The Only Metric That Matters —
Your Workers Go Home Safe
We'll walk through your operations, identify where lone workers are at risk, and show you exactly how CheckMate fits. No pressure, no pitch deck — just a conversation.
Book a Free Safety Consult →