Record Suspensions

The Parole Board of Canada (PBC is the official and only federal agency for ordering, denying and revoking record suspensions under the Criminal Records Act (CRA). A police agency cannot grant a Record Suspension.

A record suspension (formerly referred to as a Pardon) allows people with a criminal record to have it set aside. This helps them access employment and educational opportunities and to reintegrate back into society.

A record suspension removes a person’s criminal record from the Canadian Police Information Centre (CPIC) database. This means that a search of CPIC will not show that you have a criminal record or a record suspension.

The Criminal Records Act applies only to records kept by federal organizations, but most provincial and municipal criminal justice agencies also restrict access to their records once they are told that a record suspension has been ordered.

Limits of a record suspension:
• Does not erase a convicted offence, but sets it aside
• Does not guarantee entry or via privileges to another country
• Suspended records of former sexual offenders are flagged in CPIC in order to conduct a vulnerable sector check should they apply to work or volunteer in such a sector

You can apply for a record suspension if you were:
• Convicted of an offence, in Canada, under a Canadian federal act or regulation; or
• Convicted of an offence in another country and transferred to Canada

Yes. You are not eligible if you have been convicted of:
• A Schedule 1 Offence (sexual offence involving a child) under the Criminal Records Act;
• More than three (3) offences prosecuted by indictment each with a prison sentence of two (2) years or more.

A person must have completed all sentences which includes:
• All fines, surcharges, costs, restitution and compensation orders
• All sentences of imprisonment, conditional sentence order;
• Any probation order(s).
Followed by a waiting period:
• For summary offences: 5 years;
• For indictable offences: 10 years;

Please visit the Parole Board of Canada web site.

The PBC charges $50 to process a record suspension application.
You are also responsible for additional fees related to getting the following:
• Fingerprints
• Copy of your criminal record
• Court documents
• Local police record checks (each jurisdiction you resided in the past 5 years)

Yes. If you are:
• Convicted of a new indictable offence, or, in some cases, a summary offence;
• Found to be no longer be of good conduct; or,
• Found to have made a false or misleading statement, or hidden information when you applied.