Record Suspension in Canada: Who Qualifies, What It Costs and What It Hides

By Robb MacDonald · Updated 12 October 2026

You can apply to the Parole Board of Canada for a record suspension five years after your sentence ends for a summary conviction, or ten years after it ends for an offence prosecuted by indictment. The application fee is $50. Once the Board accepts the application, a decision takes up to six months for summary offences and up to twelve for indictable ones. A suspension keeps your record separate in federal databases. It does not erase the conviction, and the United States does not recognize it.

What is a record suspension?

A record suspension is an order of the Parole Board of Canada under the Criminal Records Act. It requires that your conviction record "be kept separate and apart from other criminal records," which in practice means it no longer appears on a standard search of the national police database (CPIC). Parliament replaced the word "pardon" with "record suspension" in March 2012, and many people still use the old term.

It does not erase anything. The Parole Board describes it as setting the conviction aside rather than deleting it, and there are exceptions, set out below.

How long do I have to wait?

The waiting period in section 4 of the Criminal Records Act starts when your whole sentence is finished: any jail term, any probation, and payment of every fine, surcharge and restitution order. It is not counted from the date of the conviction.

• Five years for an offence prosecuted by summary conviction.
• Ten years for an offence prosecuted by indictment.
• Service offences under the National Defence Act: ten years if the punishment was a fine over $5,000, detention or imprisonment over six months, or dismissal; five years otherwise.

Many offences are hybrid, meaning the Crown can choose either route. What counts is how your case was actually prosecuted, which the court records show. That single detail can be the difference between a five-year and a ten-year wait.

Three more rules affect the date:

• A jail sentence counts to its full end date, even if you were released earlier on parole or statutory release.
• Firearms and driving prohibitions do not have to run out first. They are not part of the "sentence" for this purpose.
• Older offences can have shorter waits. The Board applies the rules that were in force when your first offence was committed. For offences before 29 June 2010, that meant three years for summary and five for indictable. Offences between June 2010 and March 2012 fall under transitional rules, which the Board's eligibility guidance works through.

Who is not eligible?

Two groups cannot get a record suspension at all (s. 4(2)):

• People convicted of a Schedule 1 offence, which covers most sexual offences against children. There is a narrow exception: the Board must be satisfied that the applicant was not in a position of trust or authority, used no violence, intimidation or coercion, and was less than five years older than the victim. The applicant has to prove all of it.
• People convicted of more than three offences that were each prosecuted by indictment and each carried a sentence of two years or more.

The Parole Board applies both bars only where the first offence was committed on or after 13 March 2012.

You are also not eligible while any part of the sentence is unpaid or unfinished, or if you were convicted of anything during the waiting period. A new conviction restarts the clock.

What does the Parole Board look at?

For every application, the Board has to be satisfied that you have "been of good conduct" during the waiting period and have not been convicted of a new federal offence (s. 4.1). For an indictable offence, there is a second test. You must show that a suspension "would provide a measurable benefit" to you, "would sustain [your] rehabilitation in society as a law-abiding citizen," and "would not bring the administration of justice into disrepute."

The measurable benefit part is where applications are won or lost. Specific, documented reasons work better than general ones. A job offer that depends on a clear check, a professional licence, a volunteer role with a vulnerable-sector screen, or a rental that needs a background check are all examples.

If the Board refuses, you have to wait one year before applying again.

How do I apply, and what does it cost?

You apply directly to the Parole Board of Canada. The application package includes:

1. The application form.
2. Your RCMP criminal record, obtained by electronic fingerprints. The fingerprint submission must say it is for a record suspension.
3. A Court Information Form for each court where you were convicted, showing the sentence, proof that fines were paid, and whether the case proceeded summarily or by indictment.
4. A local police records check from where you live now, and from anywhere you lived for three months or more in the past five years. Each check is valid for twelve months.
5. A copy of government photo ID.
6. The Measurable Benefit and Sustained Rehabilitation form.
7. A Military Conduct Sheet, or the Schedule 1 Exception form, if either applies.
8. The consent and privacy form, and the fee.

The Parole Board's processing fee is $50, the figure on its fee page as of October 2026. You also pay the other costs yourself, such as fingerprinting, court documents and local police checks. These vary by provider and city.

The Board's service standard counts from the date it accepts your application as complete and eligible. From then, a decision takes up to six months for a summary offence and up to twelve months for an indictable one. Where the Board proposes to refuse, it can take up to twenty-four months. Gathering the documents beforehand often takes several months as well, so most people should plan on more than a year from start to finish.

You do not need a lawyer or a paid service to apply. Private companies sell the same application for many times the government fee, and paying them does not speed up the Board's decision.

What does a record suspension hide, and what does it not?

What it does:

• Your record is kept separate in CPIC, and federal agencies cannot disclose it without the Minister's approval.
• In Ontario, the Police Record Checks Reform Act, 2015 stops police from disclosing a conviction with a record suspension on any of the three levels of police check, except where federal law allows it.
• Under the Canadian Human Rights Act, federally regulated employers and service providers cannot discriminate against you for a conviction that has been suspended. In Ontario, the Human Rights Code gives the same protection in employment.

What it does not do:

• It does not erase the conviction. Police who match your fingerprints to the suspended record are told it exists, and it can still be disclosed with the Minister's approval.
• The Criminal Records Act binds federal bodies. Provincial and municipal agencies usually restrict access once told about the suspension, but you may need to tell them.
• For sexual offences listed in Schedule 2, the record carries a flag that can come up on a vulnerable sector check, with the Minister's approval.
• Firearms prohibitions, driving prohibitions and sex offender registration orders stay in force.
• Other countries are not bound by it, and that includes the United States.

Do I need one for a discharge, a youth record or a drug possession conviction?

Discharges. Usually not. Under section 6.1 of the Criminal Records Act, an absolute discharge cannot be disclosed after one year, and a conditional discharge after three years. The RCMP is required to remove it from CPIC at that point. It is still worth getting a fingerprint check to confirm that it was actually removed.

Youth records. No. Records from the youth justice system are destroyed or archived under the Youth Criminal Justice Act on their own schedule.

Cannabis possession. If your only record is simple possession of cannabis, there is no waiting period and no fee, and the Board must grant the suspension. Unpaid fines for that offence do not block it.

Simple drug possession. Since November 2022, section 10.6 of the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act requires records of simple possession convictions to be kept separate automatically. For newer convictions this happens two years after the conviction or after the sentence ends, whichever is later. A fingerprint check will show whether yours has been set aside.

Can a record suspension be taken away?

Yes. The Board can revoke it if you are later convicted of a summary offence, are found to be no longer of good conduct, or are found to have made a false statement in the application (s. 7). It ends automatically if you are convicted of a new indictable offence, or of most hybrid offences under the Criminal Code or the federal drug, cannabis and firearms laws (s. 7.2). A new charge is therefore a threat to the suspension as well as a case in its own right, and it is worth defending properly.

Can I travel to the United States with a record suspension?

A record suspension does not change your status at the US border. The US State Department's own manual says foreign pardons are not effective for US immigration purposes. If US authorities saw your record before it was suspended, they may still have it.

If your offence makes you inadmissible, the route in is a waiver on Form I-192, filed with US Customs and Border Protection. The US government filing fee is US$1,100. CBP says processing takes 90 to 120 days after biometrics, and to allow at least 180 days before asking about status. Not every conviction makes a person inadmissible, and whether yours does is a question of US law.

Is anything changing?

Not yet. The waiting periods have not changed since 2012, apart from the cannabis and drug possession rules above. A Senate bill, S-207, proposes that criminal records expire automatically, but it has been at second reading since October 2025 and is not law.

How Robb can help, wherever you are in Canada

Record suspensions run under federal law, which is why Robb takes calls on them from across the country. He can review your record, confirm how each conviction was prosecuted and when you become eligible, and defend a new charge that could cost you a suspension you already have. If you are facing a charge now, see the criminal charges Robb defends.

Robb MacDonald has practised criminal defence for more than twenty years. He earned his J.D. at Queen's University in 2006 and was called to the Ontario bar in 2007. Call (416) 315-1505 or email rm@lawintoronto.com. The office is at 130 Spadina Ave. #606, Toronto, ON M5V 2L4, and Robb answers day and night.

This article describes the law and Parole Board fees as of 12 October 2026. It is general information, not legal advice for a particular case.