Criminal Record
A criminal record is the official record of a person's criminal convictions, maintained by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in the Canadian Police Information Centre (CPIC) database. The record is created when a court enters a conviction following a finding of guilt. It is accessed by police agencies across Canada and, in regulated ways, by other authorized parties — employers, professional bodies, immigration officials, and border agencies.
The best protection against the consequences of a criminal record is avoiding the conviction in the first place. Mass Tsang's lawyers approach every case with that long-horizon view. For more, see our blog post on how criminal records work in Canada.
What's on a criminal record
A standard criminal record contains: the name and identifying information of the offender; each criminal conviction; the date of conviction; the sentence imposed; and any ancillary orders (probation terms, weapons prohibitions, SOIRA orders, driving prohibitions). It does not include cautions, withdrawn charges, acquittals, or stays of proceedings — though traces of charges can remain in police databases at the local level.
Discharges and the one/three-year removal
Absolute discharges are automatically removed from CPIC one year after the date of the finding of guilt. Conditional discharges are removed three years after the end of the probation period. No application is required for either. Until removal, the discharge is still visible in CPIC but is not treated as a conviction for most purposes.
Background check types
Different background checks reveal different information. A standard criminal record check shows convictions and any unremoved discharges. A criminal record and judicial matters check adds outstanding charges and certain release-order information. A vulnerable sector check is the broadest — used for work with children, vulnerable adults, and people with disabilities — and can include some discharges, peace bonds, and other non-conviction outcomes.
Consequences
A criminal record affects: employment (most jobs ask, and many require a clean record); professional licensing; volunteer work; immigration status; travel (particularly to the United States, which has its own rules on admissibility); insurance; child custody and access; housing in some configurations; and personal reputation. The cumulative impact is often the most important consequence of a conviction.
Sealing the record
Record suspension — formerly called a pardon — seals a Canadian criminal record from routine background checks. Eligibility waiting periods are five years (summary) or ten years (indictable) from completion of all sentence components. Some offences are entirely ineligible. See our glossary entry on Record Suspension for the full process.
Related glossary terms
