How to Get a Criminal Record Suspension (Pardon) in Canada (2026)

For many people, the hardest part of a criminal conviction is not the sentence — it is the record that follows. A criminal record can surface on employment and volunteer checks, affect professional licensing, and complicate travel long after a fine is paid or probation ends. In Canada, the main remedy is a record suspension, the legal term that replaced “pardon” in 2012. This guide explains how record suspensions work in 2026, who qualifies, and how the process unfolds.

What is a record suspension?

A record suspension is granted by the Parole Board of Canada under the Criminal Records Act. It does not erase a conviction, but it orders that the record be kept separate and apart from other criminal records. Once a suspension is ordered, the conviction generally will not appear on a standard criminal record check, and federal agencies cannot disclose it without the Minister’s approval. For most practical purposes — job applications, volunteering, rental applications — that is what matters.

Do you even need one?

Not everyone with a criminal matter needs to apply. You do not need a record suspension if:

• You received a discharge. An absolute or conditional discharge is a finding of guilt without a conviction. These records are removed from the national police database after a set period (one year for an absolute discharge, three years for a conditional discharge) — no application to the Parole Board is required.
• Your charges were withdrawn, stayed, or ended in an acquittal. There is no conviction to suspend. You may, however, want to ask the police service to destroy fingerprints and photographs taken at the time of the charge.
• The matter was a youth record. Records under the Youth Criminal Justice Act are destroyed or archived automatically once the applicable access periods expire.

This is one reason the outcome of the original case matters so much: a well-negotiated discharge or withdrawal can save years of waiting later. See our guide to how criminal charges get withdrawn in Ontario.

Who is eligible?

To apply, you must have completed every part of your sentence — fines, victim surcharges, restitution, any jail or conditional sentence, and probation — and then waited the required period. The waiting period starts only once the whole sentence is finished.

For a first offence committed on or after March 13, 2012, the waiting period is:

• 5 years for an offence prosecuted summarily; and
• 10 years for an offence prosecuted by indictment.

Since March 2020, the Parole Board applies the rules that were in force when your first offence was committed, so people whose first offence pre-dates 2010 or 2012 may face shorter waiting periods. If the court cannot confirm how the offence was prosecuted, the longer period applies.

Some people are ineligible — for example, where the first offence was committed after March 13, 2012 and the person was sentenced to two years or more for more than three indictable offences, or where the conviction is for certain sexual offences involving minors listed in Schedule 1 of the Act (subject to narrow exceptions).

How the application works

A record suspension application is document-heavy, and incomplete applications are returned. In broad terms, you will need to:

1. Obtain your criminal record and certified conduct documents from the RCMP, which requires submitting fingerprints.
2. Get court information confirming each conviction, the sentence, and that it has been completed.
3. Obtain local police record checks from every place you have lived during the relevant period.
4. Complete the Parole Board’s application forms and pay the application fee.

The Parole Board then reviews the file. For summary offences the process is largely administrative; for indictable offences, the Board also considers whether you have been of good conduct and whether a suspension would provide a measurable benefit and sustain your rehabilitation. Processing takes months, so starting early matters. Separate, expedited and no-fee processes exist for simple cannabis possession convictions.

What a record suspension does — and doesn’t do

• It does remove the conviction from standard criminal record checks and from the national database’s routine disclosure.
• It does not erase the conviction, and it can be revoked if you are later convicted of a new offence or are found not to have been of good conduct.
• It does not lift driving or weapons prohibition orders.
• It is not recognized by the United States. U.S. border authorities may already hold information about your conviction, and a Canadian record suspension does not change your admissibility there; a U.S. entry waiver may still be required.
• Vulnerable-sector checks (for work with children or vulnerable people) can still disclose suspended records for certain sexual offences.

Common mistakes that delay an application

Most delays and refusals come from avoidable problems. The most frequent are an unpaid victim surcharge or restitution order that resets the clock, court documents that do not confirm the sentence was completed, missing local police checks from a city where the applicant once lived, and miscalculating the waiting period by counting from the conviction date instead of the end of the sentence. Each of these sends the application back to the start of the queue, so it pays to check every document before filing.

Frequently asked questions

Will a record suspension show up on a police check? Generally no. Once a suspension is ordered, the conviction is kept separate and should not appear on a standard criminal record check. Vulnerable-sector checks are the main exception for certain sexual offences.

Can a record suspension be revoked? Yes. It can be revoked if you are later convicted of a new summary offence, if the Parole Board learns you were not of good conduct, or if you made a false statement on the application; a later indictable conviction generally cancels it automatically.

Do I need a lawyer to apply? Not necessarily — many people apply themselves. A lawyer can help where the record is complicated, where eligibility is unclear, or where you need advice on whether an old matter ended in a conviction at all.

The better strategy: avoid the record in the first place

A record suspension is a valuable second chance, but it comes years after the fact. If you are facing a charge right now, the best time to think about your record is before the case is resolved. An experienced criminal lawyer can often steer a first-time matter toward an outcome that never creates a conviction at all — a withdrawal, a peace bond, diversion, or a discharge.

Aaron M. Spektor has spent 30 years helping clients protect their records across the Greater Toronto Area. If you have a charge before the courts, read about our criminal defence practice areas or request a free, confidential consultation — call (416) 599-1900, 24/7.

Sources

• Criminal Records Act — Justice Laws
• Record suspensions — Parole Board of Canada
• Who is eligible for a record suspension? — Parole Board of Canada
• Criminal Code (R.S.C. 1985, c. C-46) — Justice Laws

This article is general information about Ontario criminal law, not legal advice. Every case turns on its own facts; speak with a lawyer about your specific situation.