The Supreme Court of Canada says a Quebec law governing private security activities does not apply to two firms involved in work that falls under federal responsibility.

In a unanimous judgment, the top court took issue with aspects of a licensing scheme established by Quebec’s Private Security Act that effectively gives a provincial administrative body the final say on security activities that come under an exclusive federal power.

The court found the provincial law is inapplicable to Opsis Airport Services Inc. and Quebec Maritime Services Inc. due to a doctrine, rooted in the Constitution, that protects the core of an exclusive power — either federal or provincial — from being impaired by the other level of government.

Opsis, which runs the emergency call dispatch centre at Pierre El

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