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RCMP on patrol at Vancouver Intenational airport on January 12th, 2010.Simon Hayter For The Globe and Mail

Garda World Security Corp. is expanding its airport screening business with the acquisition of Aeroguard, which is set to provide pre-board screening services at facilities in Calgary, Edmonton and Winnipeg.

The deal, valued at $16-million in cash and shares, comes a week after Montreal-based Garda said it was clamping down on its security screening staff at Toronto's Pearson International Airport, calling them "malcontents" for their continued work-to-rule action despite an injunction from the Canada Industrial Relations Board.

The protest resulted in lengthy lineups and flight delays, prompting Garda to suspend 74 screening officers at Pearson.

The unionized workers are upset at Garda plans for a new bidding process for work shifts.

Aeroguard employs about 1,200 people.

In August, Aeroguard won a five-year contract with the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority to provide screening services at several locations in the Prairies.

"Our experience in the most important airports of Canada, including Calgary and Edmonton – the two largest in the Prairies region, gives us a unique in-depth knowledge of the operations," Chantal Baril, vice-president of aviation security solutions at Garda, said in a news release.

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