Record Suspensions (Pardons)

Last revised April 23, 2026

Effective March 13, 2012 the Safe Streets and Communities Act,  S.C. 2012, c. 1, s. 109 amended the Criminal Records Act, R.S.C. 1985, c. C-47, to substitute the term 'record suspension' for the term 'pardon'.

A record suspension allows people who were convicted of a criminal offence, but have completed their sentence and demonstrated they are law-abiding citizens for a prescribed number of years, to have their criminal record kept separate and apart from other criminal records.

Under the Criminal Records Act,  the Parole Board of Canada (PBC) may order, deny, or revoke record suspensions for convictions under federal acts or regulations of Canada.

Record Suspension application guide and forms are available from Parole Board (linked below).   An applicant does not need a lawyer or representative to apply for a record suspension.  For assistance, call the Records Suspension number at the Parole Board of Canada at 1-800-874-2652.

A person does not need to apply for a record suspension if their criminal record consists only of absolute or conditional discharges. Absolute or conditional discharges handed down by the court on or after July 24, 1992 will automatically be removed from the CPIC computer system one year (absolute discharge) or three years (conditional discharge) after the court decision.

A person must contact the RCMP for discharges given before July 24, 1992 to be removed from the record.

Courts and police services, other than the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), are under provincial and municipal legislation. This means that they do not have to keep records of convictions separate and apart from other criminal records.

If you have been convicted of an offence, you may subsequently be refused entry into another country, even if you have since been granted a record suspension in Canada.

Entering the United States

Under U.S. law, a pardon issued by Canadian authorities is not recognized for purposes of entry into the United States. If you have any criminal record, no matter how minor or how long ago the offense, you may be refused a visa or entry to the United States. There may also be problems in traveling through U.S. airports.  Even though you may have entered the United States without hindrance in the past, you may be denied entry at a future date based upon disclosure/discovery of your criminality.

Not all criminal convictions create an ineligibility to enter the U.S., but any past criminal record must be declared. Attempting to gain entry without declaring that you have been arrested could result in a permanent ineligibility and/or detention.

Canadian citizens with any criminal record should contact the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) or Customs and Border Protection (CBP) at a Port of Entry well in advance of travel to the United States to determine whether their criminality makes them ineligible for admission without a waiver of ineligibility.

Applying for a waiver of inadmissibility to enter United States

To apply for a waiver, you must submit the following documents to Customs and Border Protection (CBP). Completion of a 1-192 waiver application is a complex process and the below list is not intended to be a comprehensive checklist.

• form I-192 – Application for Advance Permission to Enter as Non-Immigrant
• form G325A – Biographic Information (residency and employment)
• a set of your fingerprints on RCMP C216 form
• a certified criminal record document from the RCMP in Ottawa
• you may be asked to provide a local court document if there are charges involved
• if there are pardoned criminal convictions involved, a request can be made through the federal Privacy Act for a certified document of pardoned offences.

Form I-192 and G325A are United States government forms and are available on the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) websites.

Content reviewed April 16, 2026