Charges that did not result in a conviction can appear on some forms of criminal record checks. By law, anyone who is not convicted of an offence is deemed to be innocent as per the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Unfortunately, those who do not necessarily possess an understanding of the process of law, such as a potential employer, may still perceive these charges negatively. Therefore, there can still be a heavy personal cost associated with these records if they are not promptly deleted.

These records are stored both with the arresting police force, as well as on the federal CPIC database. The process of a file deletion will ensure that this charge is removed from the federal records, and as a result, will no longer appear if the individual conducts a criminal record check. The File Deletion process will also take the extra step of ensuring that all files held with the arresting police force such as photographs, fingerprints, or incident reports, will also be destroyed. The exception to this is that serious charges including sexual offences may be retained for a vulnerable sector check.

The process for a record purge involves us obtaining a copy of your criminal record so that we may confirm the location of your offence and the arresting police force. This is important information because different police detachments have varying criteria for conducting a record deletion. We will then correspond with the individual police detachment(s) to have them destroy their records, as well as the federal records on CPIC.

If you have a police file that needs to be deleted, check your eligibility for a record suspension.