To get a pardon in Canada — now formally called a record suspension — you apply to the Parole Board of Canada (PBC) after every part of your sentence is complete and after a waiting period of 5 years for summary convictions or 10 years for indictable offences. The application costs $50 in federal fees and requires fingerprints processed through the RCMP, certified court documents from every courthouse where you were sentenced, and local police checks from every city you’ve lived in recently. Once granted, your conviction is sealed from standard background checks in the Canadian Police Information Centre (CPIC) database, though the record itself continues to exist.1Justice Laws Website. Criminal Records Act
What a Record Suspension Does
A granted record suspension keeps your conviction separate from active criminal records, so most employers, landlords, and volunteer organizations running a standard CPIC check will not see it.2Government of Canada. What is a record suspension? That’s often enough to unlock employment, licensing, education, and volunteer opportunities that a visible record would block.
It is not an erasure. The conviction still exists in the system and can still surface in specific situations. Vulnerable sector checks may flag certain sexual offences involving minors even after a suspension. A Canadian record suspension also has no legal force at the U.S. border, which is covered further down.
Do You Qualify?
Finish Your Sentence First — All of It
The clock does not start until every element of your sentence is done: jail time (including parole or statutory release), probation, and every dollar of fines, victim surcharges, and restitution.3Parole Board of Canada. Who is eligible for a record suspension? An unpaid $200 fine from years ago will hold up the whole application.
Waiting Periods
For offences sentenced on or after March 13, 2012, you wait:
- 5 years after completing your sentence for summary conviction offences
- 10 years after completing your sentence for indictable offences
Older convictions follow different rules. Convictions before June 29, 2010, carry a 5-year wait for indictable offences and a 3-year wait for summary offences. Convictions between June 29, 2010, and March 12, 2012, follow a mixed scale. If your convictions span multiple dates, each is measured against the rules in effect when it was sentenced.4Government of Canada. Determining Your Eligibility for Record Suspension or Pardon
Discharges Don’t Need a Suspension
If you received an absolute or conditional discharge rather than a conviction, no application is needed. Absolute discharges purge from CPIC automatically after one year and conditional discharges after three years. Record suspensions are only for actual convictions.
Who Can’t Apply
Schedule 1 of the Criminal Records Act lists sexual offences involving minors that generally disqualify an applicant.5Department of Justice Canada. Criminal Records Act RSC 1985 c C-47 – Schedule 1 A narrow exception exists where the applicant was not in a position of trust or authority over the victim, no violence or intimidation was used, and the age difference was less than five years. Outside that exception, Schedule 1 offences block the application entirely.
You are also permanently ineligible if you have more than three indictable offences (or equivalent service offences) where each drew a prison sentence of two years or more.
Cannabis Possession: A Separate Fast Track
If your only convictions are for simple possession of cannabis, a different process applies under Bill C-93. There is no application fee, no waiting period after completing the sentence, and the PBC must grant the suspension as long as the sentence is finished and no new convictions have been picked up.6Government of Canada. Pardons for Simple Possession of Cannabis Convictions If you have other offences alongside the cannabis conviction, the standard process and fees apply.
Documents You Need to Gather
This is where most applicants get stuck. Start collecting well before you plan to submit, because a single missing item sends the whole package back.
RCMP Criminal Record
You need a certified copy of your criminal record from the RCMP’s national repository. Visit an RCMP-accredited fingerprinting company or a police service that submits fingerprints electronically, and make clear the submission is for a record suspension application.7Government of Canada. Applying for a Record Suspension The RCMP charges a $25 federal processing fee, collected by whoever takes your fingerprints, on top of that agency’s own charges.8Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Processing times and fees
Court Information
For every conviction, you need official documents from the courthouse where you were sentenced: proof of conviction, sentencing details, and the final payment date for any fines, surcharges, or restitution. The court must complete the designated section of the PBC’s Court Information Form, sign it, date it, and stamp it with an official court seal.9Government of Canada. Step 3 – Obtain your court information If you were convicted in multiple courthouses, you need documents from each. Fees for certified court documents vary by province.
Local Police Records Checks
You need a check from the police service in your current city and from every place you have lived for three months or more in the past five years. Each service sets its own fee and processing time.
Proof of Identity
A clear photocopy of valid government-issued identification showing your name, date of birth, and signature — a driver’s licence, passport, or provincial health card typically does the job.
Completing the Application
The PBC posts an application guide and every form on its website.10Canada.ca. Official PBC Record Suspension Application Guide and Forms The core pieces are:
- Record Suspension Application Form, with your personal details and offence history
- Court Information Form, completed by each courthouse
- Local Police Records Check Form, completed by each relevant police service
- Processing Fee Form, for credit card payment of the $50 fee
- Schedule 1 Exception Form, only if your offence falls under Schedule 1 and you believe the narrow exception applies
- Measurable Benefit / Sustained Rehabilitation Form, required for indictable offences
For indictable offences, meeting the waiting period is not enough on its own. You have to show the PBC that the suspension would give you a measurable benefit, sustain your rehabilitation, and not bring the administration of justice into disrepute.11Justice Laws Website. Criminal Records Act RSC 1985 c C-47 – Section 4.1 The Board weighs the nature and seriousness of the offence, the circumstances around it, and your overall criminal history. Summary conviction applications skip this step.
Fill in every section legibly and completely. Incomplete or inconsistent applications get returned, and any waiting time on the Board’s end resets.
Submitting and Paying
Mail the complete package to the Parole Board of Canada with the $50 processing fee.12Justice Laws Website. Pardon Services Fees Order Pay by credit card using the Processing Fee Form, or by certified cheque or money order payable to the Receiver General for Canada.13Parole Board of Canada. Application Fee Reduction – Record Suspension Keep copies of everything. If the mail loses your package, you’ll have to rebuild it from scratch.
How Long It Takes
The PBC first screens your application for eligibility and completeness. Once accepted, the Board’s service standards target 6 months for summary conviction cases and 12 months for indictable ones.14Parole Board of Canada. Record Suspension Service standards Cases the Board is considering refusing can take up to 24 months. Add the weeks or months spent collecting documents beforehand, and a realistic start-to-finish timeline usually runs well over a year.
The PBC may contact you during processing for clarification. The final decision comes by mail. If you’re denied, you can reapply, but read the reasons carefully first; resubmitting the same package without addressing them wastes time and money.
How a Suspension Can Be Lost
A record suspension can be revoked, or automatically cease to have effect, if you are:
- Convicted of a new indictable offence, or in some cases a new summary offence
- Found to no longer be of good conduct
- Found to have made false or misleading statements or hidden information in your application
- Found to have been ineligible when the suspension was granted
When that happens, your original convictions return to the CPIC database as if the suspension never existed.2Government of Canada. What is a record suspension?
The U.S. Border Is a Separate Problem
A Canadian record suspension has no legal effect at the U.S. border. American customs officers keep their own records, and once a Canadian conviction has entered the U.S. system, a Canadian pardon does not remove it. If you were ever turned away, flagged, or fingerprinted at the border, that information stays with U.S. authorities regardless of what happens in Canada.
To enter the United States with a criminal history, you generally need a U.S. Customs and Border Protection travel waiver, or in some cases an I-192 Application for Advance Permission to Enter as a Nonimmigrant filed with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.15U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. I-192, Application for Advance Permission to Enter as a Nonimmigrant The I-192 has its own fees, processing time, and documentation requirements. A record suspension may support your case for a waiver by showing rehabilitation, but it is not enough on its own. If U.S. travel matters to you, plan for both processes separately.