New security screening in place at Canada Life Centre

There’s a new starting lineup at Canada Life Centre, which hockey fans and concertgoers will notice as soon as they walk in.

People will no longer have to empty their pockets or get their bags searched when going through security.

True North Sports + Entertainment (TNSE) announced this week, it has started using contactless security screening.

“Nothing has changed with what is allowed or not allowed. It's just how we look for it has changed,” said Dawn Haus, TNSE senior vice president of culture and guest experience.

The new system TNSE has installed at major entrances uses artificial intelligence-based technology, allowing people to walk through screening naturally while sensors pick up on what’s being carried into the building.

“Most people will get here and they can just walk right in,” Haus said.

She expects the new system will lead to shorter lineups and a better overall guest experience.

“Anyone who's been here and comes here regularly in the winter months knows, sitting here, standing in the vestibules, can get really, really cold,” she said.

“We hope to alleviate those long waits and the lineups at our major gates.”

Haus said sensors in the new system can tell the difference between threatening objects and everyday objects like cell phones, wallets, or keys.

If the sensor is triggered, the person who set it off will be pulled aside and put through secondary screening, a bag search, and a walk through an airport-style metal detector.

Haus said the sensor does not keep the photos it takes, but it does keep the data the photos collect like how many people came through that gate and how many people were flagged for secondary screening.

Haus said the system has already been used at Jets’ preseason games and a few concerts. She said people have mostly been pleasantly surprised.

“Some people have even asked like, ‘When do I go through security?’” she said. “They don't even realize that they have cleared security when they're coming in, and for the most part, when they do realize that, then they're in, and they're very happy and have smiles on their faces.”

So Jets fans can keep their hats on unless someone scores a hat trick.