12 / 12 · Criminal Records Act
Record Suspensions
A criminal record can limit employment, travel, and volunteering. We review your eligibility and help you pursue a record suspension or the destruction of non-conviction records.
- Record suspension (pardon) eligibility
- Record suspension applications
- Fingerprint and photo destruction
- Withdrawn and stayed charges
What is at stake
Why this charge needs a real defence.
A record does not expire on its own. Years after a sentence ends it can still surface on employment and volunteer screening, block professional licensing, and complicate travel and immigration. Even charges that were withdrawn can leave fingerprints, photographs, and police records behind.
How it is done
How we build your defence.
- 1
Confirm eligibility
A waiting period begins once every part of the sentence is complete, including fines and probation. It is generally five years for summary offences and ten years for indictable offences, with different rules for some older convictions. Certain offences are not eligible.
- 2
Assemble the record
An application needs your certified criminal record, court information for each conviction, and local police record checks. Missing or inconsistent documents are the usual cause of delay.
- 3
Present the application
The Parole Board of Canada considers your conduct since the sentence and, for indictable offences, the benefit a suspension would bring. We present that history clearly and accurately.
- 4
Clear non-conviction records
If your charge was withdrawn, stayed, or dismissed, or resolved by a peace bond, you can ask the police service to destroy your fingerprints and photographs. We make that request for you.
What we look for
The issues that decide these cases.
- 01
Waiting periods
The clock starts only when the whole sentence is finished, and an unpaid fine can quietly keep it from starting.
- 02
Ineligible offences
Some offences, and some combinations of serious convictions, cannot be suspended.
- 03
Discharges
Absolute and conditional discharges are removed automatically after one and three years, and do not need an application.
- 04
Travel to the United States
A Canadian record suspension does not bind U.S. border officials, which may call for separate advice.
Possible outcomes
What a good result can look like.
- A record suspension that sets your convictions apart from active records
- Destruction of fingerprints and photographs after a non-conviction outcome
- A clear answer on eligibility and timing before you spend money on an application
Every case turns on its own facts. These are examples of results that may be available, not a prediction or guarantee of the outcome in your matter.
Questions
What people ask us first.
It does not erase it, but it sets the record apart so that it no longer appears on a standard criminal record check. It can be revoked if you are convicted of a new offence.
You do not have a conviction, but the police service may still hold your fingerprints, photograph, and a record of the charge, and some of that can appear on enhanced checks. You can apply to have those records destroyed.
Next step
Talk to us about your record suspensions matter.
A short conversation now can prevent mistakes that are hard to undo later. What you tell us is confidential.
