WHO: Kevin Bousquet

OCCUPATION: Private investigator and owner of The Corpa Group Inc., a Burlington, Ont.-based agency that tracks down lost relatives and investigates mortgage, insurance and financial fraud.

HIS CLIENTS: Insurance companies and banks that don't want to wait a year and a half for police to investigate. "There are more private investigators combatting fraud than police officers," Bousquet says.

CAREER PATH: He did a law enforcement course, and at age 19, got an internship at an investigation agency. One early career highlight was gathering evidence for the defence in Helmuth Buxbaum's murder trial.

DAY IN THE LIFE: In his office, Bousquet, now 44, works the phones and searches government documents. "In the olden days, there was a lot of surveillance," he says, "but these days, I can do more on the phone."

CAREER HIGH: "I've reunited hundreds of families. Once I was working for woman and I located her sister in the Ukraine. She was pregnant and she named her baby after me."

FRUSTRATIONS: "A lot of times we push things forward, but the perpetrators spend virtually no time in prison." Another concern is privacy legislation, which Bousquet says is cutting off access to vehicle records, land titles and credit-bureau information. "I see the doors closing," he says. "It's becoming impossible."

Jenny Wagler