Frequently Asked Questions

Yes, you may be able to get permanent residency if you have a criminal record. However, you should apply for a Record Suspension or Criminal Rehabilitation first. Permanent residence status is a pathway to Canadian citizenship. If you are a permanent resident, you cannot vote or hold public office, but you can reside and work in Canada. You receive the protections of Canadian law and access to social benefits. There are certain criteria you must meet in order to become a permanent resident, and the status may be revoked.As part of your permanent resident application, you are required to provide a police certificate. This is used to assess whether incoming people are a security risk to the country. The kind of police certificate and criminal record check you must provide will depend on under what circumstances you are entering Canada, such as whether you plan to study or provide caregiving services.You may be denied permanent residency if you were deemed inadmissible to Canada because of serious criminality or similar reasons. You do not have to be a Canadian citizen to apply for a record suspension, also called a pardon, or criminal rehabilitation. A record suspension applies to convictions within Canada, while criminal rehabilitation covers offences committed outside the country.Clearing up your criminal record can help you move on from past mistakes that may hurt your chances of becoming part of Canadian society. You don’t have to figure things out by yourself. You can get help from people who understand the system.

You may need to have your police file deleted if it is still showing up on record checks. A Police File Deletion is a process that removes records of non-convictions such as withdrawn, stayed, or discharged offences. These records will arise as a result of a charge that, for a variety of reasons, never resulted in a finding of guilt.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 the purposes of 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) in order to have them destroy their records, as well as the federal records on CPIC.

Updated July 20, 2022Yes, in some cases a landlord can ask for a criminal record check. When applying for a new place to live, you may have some hesitation or worry if you have a criminal record. Even if you are a great tenant with good references, your criminal record may make your potential landlord think twice.Fortunately, a landlord cannot run a criminal record check without your permission. If you are asked to sign a rental application, review the provisions carefully. There may be a paragraph that says the landlord will run a record check as part of the process of reviewing your application. In most cases, that means the landlord will deny you tenancy if anything shows up.A record suspension removes your criminal record from the Canadian Police Information Centre (CPIC) database, so your landlord will not know you have any past convictions. This is one reason why requesting a pardon may be in the best interest of you and your family members. Even if you have the money to rent a nicer place, past mistakes can prevent you from getting the home you want.You have the right to not be discriminated against for convictions that have been pardoned. The process may seem overwhelming, but there is help available to get you back on track.

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Criminal Rehabilitation is a permanent waiver, issued to you in the form of a letter, that allows you to enter Canada with a criminal record. If you have been convicted of an offence outside of Canada, you may be inadmissible to enter the country. However, you have the option of applying for criminal rehabilitation, which results in your entry despite the past conviction.Past criminal activity, even if it did not result in a conviction, can make you inadmissible to Canada. Charges withdrawn or dismissed, if they occurred outside of Canada, for example, may make you inadmissible. You are generally considered inadmissible if you were convicted of a crime in Canada or outside of the country.You can overcome inadmissibility in one of two ways. You are deemed to have been rehabilitated if it has been more than 10 years since you served your sentence. You may also apply to get criminal rehabilitation if at least five years have passed since you finished doing your time. In either case, criminal rehabilitation removes the barriers of travel to Canada.Since applying for criminal rehabilitation is a technical process, you may want help. Services can help you to gather the necessary documentation for your application and ease the burden of dealing with Canadian authorities.

Yes, you can travel to Europe with a criminal record as long as the country you are visiting will allow it. A Record Suspension can increase your chances of being allowed entry.Travel is one of the great joys in life, but if you have a criminal record, you may have a constant worry that your past infractions will come back to haunt you at the airport. Each country sets the terms of entry for visitors, so it is always possible that you will be denied entry into a foreign state as a result of a past conviction.However, you do not need a visa to visit European countries such as France, as long as you do not plan to stay longer than 90 days. There is always the chance that you will be asked about your criminal record while crossing a border or before you board a plane, but this doesn’t always happen.When you apply for a visa, you may be asked about your criminal record. It will depend on the country’s specific rules about what you must disclose. Some states may ask you to identify all past convictions, even those that have been pardoned.Travel outside of Canada can be risky for those with criminal records, as political situations often change from region to region. You may enter one region with no problem, but during a side trip, end up in a country with an entirely different set of rules and regulations. Your status as a Canadian citizen may help you get assistance, but your criminal record may also cause you problems you did not anticipate.If you want to travel or plan to visit other countries in Europe at some point in the future, it is a good idea to obtain a Record Suspension as soon as possible. Since the process to have your criminal record taken out of the Canadian Police Information Centre (CPIC) database can take time, start early so your vacation plans are not delayed.

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AllCleared handles your personal information with the strictest standards of confidentiality.We guarantee absolute privacy of your personal information and are bound by the Federal Privacy Act. All documents in our client’s file are destroyed on completion of the application for a Record Suspension (pardon), US Entry Waiver or any of our related services.Pardon Services Canada offices are RCMP secure facilities, and we are regularly audited by Public Works Canada. Confidentiality and security are of the utmost importance.Our electronic information is stored in secure servers located within Canada. Thus, your information cannot be accessed by any foreign government or organization.We do not rent, sell or otherwise distribute personal information to any third party companies for any reason.

You may have a criminal record with a discharge if it happened less than three years ago. A conditional discharge is not a conviction, but it is evidence of guilt. As a matter of law, it will appear on your criminal record for three years. An absolute discharge will remain on your record for one year. If you do not comply with the conditions of a discharge, it can be revoked and replaced with a conviction.A conditional discharge does appear on criminal record checks, including pre-employment screening, during the one- or three-year period before it is purged from the Canadian Police Information Centre (CPIC) database. It can appear if you travel outside the country, even though the discharge is not the same as a conviction.You do not have to ask for your discharge to disappear from your criminal record. That should happen automatically once the one-year or three-year period, calculated from the date of sentence, is complete. However, discharges that were registered before July 24, 1992, are removed only upon request to the RCMP.If you are not sure if an old discharge is still on your criminal record, you should take steps to verify its removal. There are services to help you make sure your record is clean and you do not face barriers to employment or travel because of an old mistake.

No, you may not be bondable with a criminal record. However, you may be able to become bondable with a Record Suspension. You may have come across job postings with the requirement that you be “bondable” as a condition of employment. This requirement is usually for the company’s protection. In order for the company to get insurance, it needs to demonstrate it has not hired anyone who creates risk for the organization so it can recover if there is theft or loss to the company.Many jobs may want you to be bondable. If you handle cash, sensitive company information, or client financial information, you may have to pass a background check and credit check. The background check includes your criminal record, and any convictions will prevent you from being bonded. If a company asks if you are bondable, therefore, you must answer “no” if you have a criminal record.In order to open up job opportunities, you may want to apply for a Record Suspension. This does not erase your criminal record, but it sets it apart from other criminal records. Since it will not show up in the Canadian Police Information Centre (CPIC) database, it will not prevent you from being bonded by an employer.Applying for a Record Suspension can be a lengthy process, but it is worth it to ensure no opportunities are closed to you. You can get help with your pardon application and be on your way to a new life without the black mark of a past infraction.