Pursuant to section 11 of the Criminal Records Act (CRA), the Parole Board of Canada (PBC) must submit a report on the record suspension program to the Minister of Public Safety within three months after the end of each fiscal year. The report must contain the following information:
the number of applications for record suspensions made in respect of offences referred to in each of paragraphs
4(1)(a)Footnote 1 and (b)Footnote 2 ;
the number of record suspensions that the Board ordered or refused to order in respect of offences referred to in paragraphs 4(1)(a) and (b);
the number of record suspensions ordered, categorized by the offence to which they relate; and,
the number of record suspensions ordered by the province or territory of residence of the applicant.
Due to a Federal Court (FC) decision in March 2020Footnote 3 , the PBC no longer retrospectively applies legislative amendments made to the CRA in 2010 and 2012. In applying this court decision, the PBC processes pardonsFootnote 4 and record suspensions. This report also contains information related to the above with respect to pardons processed by the PBC during fiscal year 2023-2024. More information on the court decision can be found on page 3 of this report.
Background
The PBC (or the Board), as part of the criminal justice system, contributes to the protection of society by facilitating, as appropriate, the timely reintegration of offenders and the sustained rehabilitation of individuals into society as law-abiding citizens. The Board makes independent, quality conditional release, record suspension and expungement decisions, as well as clemency recommendations, in a transparent and accountable manner, while respecting diversity and the rights of offenders and victims. The PBC is headed by a Chairperson who reports to Parliament through the Minister of Public Safety.
The record suspension program supports the successful reintegration of an individual into society, as it can assist them in accessing employment, educational and volunteer opportunities. It is a formal attempt to remove the stigma of a criminal record for people found guilty of an offence under an Act of Parliament and who have completed their sentence and demonstrated law-abiding behaviour for a prescribed number of years.
A record suspension restricts access to records under federal jurisdiction, removes disqualifications that would result from a conviction under federal statute or regulation, such as the ability to contract with the federal government, or eligibility for Canadian citizenship. It does not, however, guarantee either entry or visa privileges to another country nor does it have effect on a prohibition order under section 109 of the Criminal Code of Canada. Although the CRA applies only to records kept by federal organizations, many provincial, territorial and municipal criminal justice agencies also restrict access to their records once they are informed that a record suspension has been ordered.
A record suspension does not erase the fact that an individual was convicted of a crime. The criminal record is not deleted/purged, but kept separate and apart from other (non-suspended) criminal records. Through the program, the PBC reviews record suspension applications for completeness and eligibility and collects information for investigation and decision-making. The Board has exclusive jurisdiction and absolute discretion to order, refuse to order, or revoke a record suspension under the CRA.
A record suspension / pardon can be revoked. The process for revocation is started when the Board is notified, usually by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, that the person is subsequently convicted of an offence referred to in paragraph
4(1)(b) of the CRA, other than an offence referred to in subparagraph 7.2(a)(ii) of the CRA.
A record suspension / pardon can also be revoked on evidence establishing, to the satisfaction of the Board, that:
the person is no longer of good conduct; or,
the person knowingly made a false or deceptive statement in relation to the application for the record suspension / pardon, or knowingly concealed material in relation to that application.
The CRA authorizes that a record suspension / pardon ceases to have effect if a person is subsequently convicted of an indictable offence under a federal act or regulation of Canada or certain other types of offencesFootnote 5 that are punishable either on indictable or summary conviction. A record suspension / pardon can also be ceased if the Board is convinced by new information that the person was not eligible for a record suspension / pardon at the time it was awarded.
On December 21, 2021, the Minister of Public Safety announced that effective January 1, 2022, the record suspension application fee would be reduced to $50. It is not subject to Consumer Price Index (CPI) adjustments. By lowering the application fee, access to record suspensions increased for a greater number of individuals, facilitating access to employment, housing, education and other necessities that support sustained reintegration. The reduction in fee helps alleviate pre-existing barriers for those disproportionately affected by the criminal justice system.
Although there are no legislated service standards attached to the $50 application fee, the PBC continues to process applications in a timely manner and endeavours to adhere to established processing times. Specifically, applications involving summary convictions are to be processed within six months of the date of acceptance of the application, while applications involving indictable offences are to be processed within 12 months of the date of acceptance.
Applications for which the Board is proposing to refuse to order/deny a record suspension / pardon may require up to
24 months to process after the date of application acceptance. The reason for this is that under the CRA, the Board must notify the applicant in writing of its proposal to refuse/deny, and advise them that they are entitled to make, or have made on their behalf, any representations to the Board that they believe relevant. In some cases, the Board may authorize a hearing.
As part of the record suspension program, the CRA provides for a no-cost record suspension for those with only simple possession of cannabis convictions. Individuals previously convicted of only simple possession of cannabis who have completed their sentence (excluding payment of fines and victim surcharges) can apply to the PBC for a record suspension with no application fee or waiting period. PBC staff members administratively order record suspensions for applicants with only simple possession of cannabis convictions.
On March 19, 2020, the Federal CourtFootnote 6 declared the transitional provisions of amendments to section 4 of the CRA, namely, section 10 of the Limiting Pardons for Serious Crimes Act and section 161 of the Safe Streets and Communities Act, unconstitutional. The Court concluded that these provisions infringed on subsections 11(h) and 11(i) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (the Charter) because they add to the punishment imposed at sentencing, and deprived applicants of the benefit of the lesser punishment available at the time the offence was committed.
Because of this decision, the PBC no longer retrospectively applies legislative amendments made to the CRA in 2010 and 2012 (as it relates to eligibility periods and criteria) for all record suspension applicants who committed their first offence prior to the coming into force of these changes. This means that applications are being processed using the CRA eligibility criteria in place at the time of an applicant’s first offence.
Findings for 2023-2024
Number of applications
In 2023-2024, the Board received 17,572 record suspension applications and accepted 12,785 (73%) as eligible and completeFootnote 7 . There were 3,748Footnote 8 applications (21%) that were rejected at screening due to ineligibility, missing payment, wrong processing fee and/or missing documentation. Of the applications rejected at screening, 23% were returned as ineligible/no jurisdiction/discontinued and 77% were returned for reasons related to missing documents/fee, etc. At the end of the fiscal year, there were 1,039 applications (6%) that had been received, but not yet processed. In the previous fiscal year, 2022-2023, the Board received 16,121 record suspension applications and accepted 11,617 of them (72%) by year-end. The increase in application volumes can be attributed to both the reduction in application fee and more individuals becoming eligible under the current CRA.
Following the Federal Court decision in March 2020 that resulted in record suspension applications being processed using the CRA eligibility criteria in place at the time of an applicant’s first offence, there continue to be fewer applications processed as record suspensions under the current CRA. The majority of applications received in 2023-2024 were processed as pardons under previous versions of the CRA (as it relates to eligibility periods and criteria).
The chart below indicates the number of record suspension applications received in each fiscal year over the last five years: 2019-2020 to 2023-2024.
