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Canada

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) provide extracts of criminal records to the subject of that record upon application and the submission of fingerprints and payment of $25 Canadian.

Application procedure

The individual must obtain a full set of fingerprints, including rolled impressions and flat impressions. The RCMP will accept a full set of fingerprints taken on a standard UK fingerprint card (Further information can be obtained by emailing the CRB at overseas@crb.gsi.gov.uk). Sufficient evidence of identity as may be required by the person taking fingerprints must be produced, including a passport (photocopies not acceptable). The completed fingerprint form must then be sent to the following address:

Royal Canadian Mounted Police
Civil Fingerprint Screening Services
P.O. Box 8885
Ottawa, Ontario
K1G 3M8

The position of employment that is being sought must be specified on the fingerprint card.

If the subject of the record wishes the information to be sent to a third party (i.e. the prospective employer) then they must attach a signed statement to that effect, stating the name and address of the exact person to whom the information should be sent.

Cost

An application must be accompanied by a certified cheque or money order for $25 Canadian (or equivalent value in £ sterling according to prevailing exchange rate) made payable to the Receiver General for Canada.

Content of certificates

Certificates issued by the RCMP detail all current convictions. However, Canada has provisions for the ‘purging’ and ‘pardoning’ of offences that may appear on an individual’s criminal record.

Purging of a record occurs if an individual has not offended in the ten years since an offence was recorded against them. Essentially, the process of ‘purging’ entails the offence being deleted from the individual’s record. An individual’s record is also purged when they reach the age of eighty.

Individuals can also apply for and receive ‘pardons’ for offences they may have committed. A pardon serves as recognition that an individual is of good conduct. The granting of a pardon by the National Parole Board (NPB), under the Criminal Records Act (CRA), means that any federal agency or department that has records of convictions must keep those records separate and apart from other criminal records. The information will be taken out of the Canadian Police Information Centre (CPIC) computer system and will therefore not feature on a criminal record extract. It is important to note that even relatively serious offences (e.g. statutory rape) can receive a pardon.

If you were convicted solely in a youth court then your record will be destroyed as set out in the Young Offenders Act.

Certificate format

The cover sheet of the certificate would be the original fingerprint card that was submitted by the applicant. If there was no criminal record associated with the fingerprints submitted then the following form of words would be stamped on the certificate:

“This certifies that a search of the national criminal records repository maintained by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) concerning the person whose fingerprints, name and date of birth appear above could not be associated to any existing criminal record of conviction.”

If on the other hand a criminal record was found to exist then a list of those convictions would be attached to the original fingerprint card.

Turnaround time

According to the RCMP website (new window) it is currently taking in excess of 120 days from receipt of an application. Note that processing time can vary due to incoming workloads.

The CRB has taken all reasonable steps to ensure that the information contained herein is as accurate and comprehensive as possible. In order to maintain the accuracy of the information, the CRB will update the information periodically.

However, the CRB cannot be held responsible for the level of service provided by overseas authorities. As such, please do not contact the CRB regarding applications submitted to overseas authorities.