Criminal Record Suspension and Travel After a Case

A criminal record suspension is the formal way a conviction stops showing on a Canadian criminal record check. It is what used to be called a pardon, and it is granted by the Parole Board of Canada rather than by a court. Before you need one, it is worth knowing what your case actually left behind, because several outcomes leave no conviction to suspend.

What Each Outcome Leaves

A withdrawal, a stay, a completed diversion and a peace bond leave no conviction. A conviction leaves a permanent entry until it is suspended. A discharge sits between the two, and the paths to each are set out in resolution without a trial. What a court imposed at the sentencing hearing decides which of these you are dealing with.

Discharges Clear on Their Own

Under section 6.1 of the Criminal Records Act, a record of an absolute discharge is removed from the national database one year after the discharge, and a conditional discharge three years after the probation order was made. No application is needed. This is one reason a discharge is often the real objective in a defended file that is not going to end in an acquittal.

The Criminal Record Suspension Waiting Periods

Section 4 of the Criminal Records Act sets the wait at ten years for an offence prosecuted by indictment and five years for a summary conviction offence. The clock starts when the whole sentence has expired according to law, which includes finishing probation and paying every fine. A person convicted of an offence listed in Schedule 1, or with more than three indictable convictions each carrying two years or more, is ineligible, subject to narrow exceptions in the section.

The Record Is Held in More Than One Place

A suspension deals with the federal record held by the RCMP. Local police forces keep their own occurrence records, and non conviction entries such as a withdrawn charge or a contact with police can still surface on a vulnerable sector check. Removing those is a separate request to the force that holds them.

Travel Is Decided by the Other Country

A Canadian record suspension does not bind United States authorities, and border officers may already hold information they collected before it was granted. Entry decisions are made under American law, and a waiver process exists for people found inadmissible. Do not treat a suspension as a guarantee at a border, and get advice specific to the crossing you plan.

This is the last chapter of the criminal process guide. The firm’s criminal defence lawyer page lists the charges it defends in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, and you can contact the firm about a record that is causing a problem now.