Inside Terminal 3 of the Lester B. Pearson Airport (Milan Suvajac)
Photo by. Milan Suvajac (Wikimedia Commons)

5 Questions for a P.I. – Whitney Joy Smith

An occasional series in which we ask P.I.s around the globe the same 5 questions and get a multitude of different answers.

Q1: Who are you?

My name is Whitney Joy Smith. I was born in Orilla, Ontario, and hail from three generations of entrepreneurs. I studied business at Northwest Florida State College and emergency management at George Brown College, started my career as a repo specialist, and then got my P.I. license about 20 years ago. I’ve since become our family’s fourth-generation business owner, launching companies that specialize in training, security, and investigations, and serving clients all over the world.

Q2: How did you become a private investigator?

I lived in the States and did repossessions at the beginning of my career. When I moved back to Canada, I’d planned to enter the bailiff world in Canada, but they required a two-year apprenticeship; I wanted to avoid apprenticing since I had already worked in that world. In the same licensing office, they had P.I. licenses, since the industries are similar. I got my P.I. license and began working in the field immediately. 

Q3. What’s your specialty now?

Primarily, I specialize in investigative research and surveillance. We conduct research for lawyers who deal with wills and estates to locate missing beneficiaries, missing debtors and a variety of other research services. With our surveillance, we work in the corporate and legal sectors. 

Q4. What’s the craziest case you have ever worked on?

One of the most interesting cases we had required multiple investigators to cover two provinces and two countries to catch the subject. 

A client called from a province in Canada; she suspected her husband of cheating. We had investigators tail the subject. They followed him into the airport and found out that he was flying to Toronto. We got our Toronto team set up to meet the flight and keep an eye on him as he moved around the city.

The subject was only in Toronto for the day before heading back to the airport. Our investigators followed him into the terminal and observed him buying a ticket to a U.S. city.

This file had us scrambling to communicate with the client in real time as the situation unfolded. Following the subject to an international destination could quickly become a costly endeavour, but we got the OK from the client. Our investigator quickly checked on joining the same flight, but the ticket price was sky-high. As it turned out, I just happened to be in the U.S. on vacation with my family, so it was much cheaper for me to catch up with the subject at the destination airport than for one of our team members to get on the plane with him.

I caught a flight to the destination city. The only kick was that my plane was due to arrive about 30 minutes after the subject’s flight. So I called in a favour from a PI buddy of mine. He caught up with the subject at the terminal and got video of him being picked up by a female — complete with a very friendly hug and kiss — before they got in her vehicle and left.

I landed shortly thereafter, got my rental car, and followed them for the next few days as they galavanted around town without a care in the world. They spent several days together in a seaside town, and we got it all on camera. The day the subject left, I tailed him to the airport to see them say goodbye. The subject seemed to be smitten. He gave his paramour a huge hug and kissed her goodbye before entering the airport.

I had to quickly get the video ready for the client so she could confront her partner when he returned home later that day. We never heard what the outcome was for them. But for us at least, the outcome was excellent, considering the challenges of following a subject to multiple cities and across an international border. We were proud to have gathered the evidence of what our client suspected to be true. It wasn’t a “happy” ending exactly, but it was at least a successful file closure. I missed part of my family vacation, but it was worth going the extra mile.

Q5. What advice do you have for your colleagues about how to do this job well, make a living, and stay sane?

Be radically empathetic and dogged: Work every file like the personal and legal issues at stake are your own. Imagine that the details you observe and the evidence you collect could resolve your case or give you the peace of mind that you need. Treat every file with excellence, respect, confidentiality, and common sense — as you would if it were your own case.

When it comes to making a living at this, if you are good and go above and beyond, it will show, and clients will hire you. Expect to miss some family vacations. Be prepared for long sits on surveillance. I recommend incorporating audiobooks into your routine to keep your mind stimulated and in tune with current topics.


About the investigator:

Whitney Joy Smith is the founder & CEO of the Smith Investigation Agency, Smith Security Inc., and Training Centre Canada. Her companies offer premium private investigative services, security services, and training for the investigative and security industry. They operate in six provinces in Canada.