Does Your Criminal Record Clear After 7 Years?

Welcome back to the Kruse Law YouTube Channel. I’m really glad you could join me today. I have a great question for you. It’s a common misconception. And the question is, does your criminal record in Canada clear after seven years?

Unfortunately, the answer is, it does not magically disappear. You have to take steps to do that. And what it’s called is a record suspension. It was formerly called a pardon. So if a person, say, has a conviction, you’ve got to apply for the record suspension. And there’s timelines for this. First of all, if it’s a summary conviction offence say like theft under the timeline is you have to wait five years from the end of your sentence before you’d apply for a record suspension. If it’s an indictable offense such as sexual assault, you have to wait 10 years. Now, unfortunately, if you get the pardon of record suspension and you reoffend, it’s going to revoke your pardon record suspension. That’s the former term. We still call it a pardon, though. But the thing is, in Canada, once a person turns 80, though, if you haven’t had a conviction last 10 years, then it magically disappears. So it takes a long time, and it’s quite a process. You have to comply with the parole board and get fingerprints through an application fee, and do the appropriate timelines for waiting, and then hopefully, the parole board will decide to suspend your conviction.

So that’s the message I’m sending to you today. It’s, it’s really a misconception based on credit history in Canada, and the States, certain credit histories in the States, for example, will disappear after seven years. And there’s timelines in Canada which are similar to for credit history falling off the map. So that’s the source of misconception. So anyway, again, if you have a criminal record, make sure you apply to get it revoked, after five or 10 years depending on whether it’s a summary, conviction, or indictable offence. Thank you for watching.