Does a Pardon clear your record in Canada?

Does a pardon clear your record in Canada?

1/ Does a Pardon, which is now called a Record Suspension, clear your criminal record in Canada?

• Yes, a Pardon or Record Suspension effectively hides your criminal record from the public.
• That means when someone conducts a background check on you – such as an employer or a border agent when you’re travelling to the United States – they will not see any traces of your criminal activity.
• So, the effectiveness of a Pardon or Record Suspension in Canada is to remove the barriers you face because of your criminal record.

2/ What happens when you get a Pardon in Canada?

• The Parole Board of Canada is the government body responsible for granting a Pardon or Record Suspension.
• When your Pardon is approved, the Parole Board of Canada will send a direction to the RCMP to remove your criminal record from the criminal records database known as CPIC.
• So when anyone searches the criminal records database, you will come back clean.
• However, that does not mean your criminal record has been deleted.  
• Your criminal record still exists, but it is effectively hidden from the public.

3/ Will a Pardon show up in a background check?

• The fact that you got a Pardon will not appear on a background check.  
• The results of your criminal background check will be clean, revealing no traces of your criminal activity or the fact that you got a Pardon.
• But there is an exception.
• If you have been convicted of a sexual offence for which you received a Pardon, your Pardon will be revealed on a specific type of background check called a Vulnerable Sector check.
• The Canadian government created the Vulnerable Sector check to protect children and the vulnerable.
• And a Vulnerable Sector Check is required for people who volunteer or work with children or vulnerable people.
• And the results of your vulnerable sector check will show that you were convicted of a sexual offence for which you received a Pardon or Record Suspension.