What is a record suspension?

A record suspension (formerly called a "pardon") is the formal Canadian process for sealing a Canadian criminal record. Granted by the Parole Board of Canada after a defined waiting period without further offences.

For Canadian immigration purposes, a record suspension can resolve Canadian-record-based inadmissibility under IRPA s.36 — though it doesn't apply to foreign convictions.

How record suspensions work

• Applicant must have completed all sentences (jail, probation, fines paid)
• Wait the statutory waiting period without further offences:
  • 5 years for summary offences
  • 10 years for indictable offences
• Submit application to the Parole Board of Canada with supporting documentation (court records, completion of sentence proof, police certificates from every province/country lived in)
• Pay application fee (currently CAD 50, though additional administrative costs apply for the full process)
• Parole Board reviews and decides

Some offences are ineligible

Record suspensions are not available for:

• Schedule 1 offences (sexual offences against children)
• Indictable offences with 4+ convictions of indictable offences each with sentences of 2+ years

These cases are categorically barred from record suspension.

What a record suspension does

• Seals the Canadian criminal record in the federal CPIC database (police can still see it in limited circumstances)
• Does NOT erase the conviction — it removes it from public access
• May resolve Canadian-record-based immigration inadmissibility under IRPA s.36(1) / 36(2)
• Allows the holder to answer "no" to questions about criminal record in most contexts
• Travel restrictions to the US do not automatically lift — US has its own immigration consequences

Record suspension vs deemed rehabilitation

• Record suspension: Canadian process for sealing Canadian records
• Deemed rehabilitation under IRPA s.36(3): 10 years after sentence completion for foreign convictions (single non-serious offence) — automatic for immigration purposes

For applicants with foreign convictions, individual rehabilitation (a separate IRCC application) is typically the relevant remedy — not record suspension.

Halani's note

Record suspensions are highly specialized and time-intensive — typical processing 6-12 months. We work with specialists when client circumstances require record suspension as part of broader rehabilitation strategy.