You MAY NOT be eligible for a record suspension if your first offence was committed on or after March 13, 2012 and you:
have been convicted of an offence found in Schedule 1 of the Criminal Records Act and do not meet the exception criteria. What is a Schedule 1 offence? Click here for the list.
And/Or
have been convicted to a prison term of 2 years or more for more than three indicatable offences.
Under the Criminal Code of Canada, there are three types of offences. RobichaudLaw* has an easy to understand description.
- Summary conviction offences include the least serious offences under the Criminal Code of Canada. Relatively speaking to the number of offences under the Criminal Code, there are actually very few pure summary conviction offences. Those pure summary conviction offences include: possession of marijuana under 30 grams, solicitation of prostitution, being found in a common bawdy house, etc. There are unique aspects that apply to summary conviction offences that do not apply to indictable offences.
- Indictable offences, and those offences where the Crown may elect to proceed by summary conviction or by indictment. Indictable offences are the most serious of criminal offences and would include murder, acts of terrorism, robbery, drug trafficking, treason, certain types of sexual assault, and other very serious criminal acts. As one could imagine, the sentences for these types of offences are very serious and often carry a potential maximum penalty of life imprisonment.
- Crown-electable offences are often referred to as “hybrid offences”. Hybrid offences are those offences where the Crown may choose to proceed by either indictment or summary conviction. These types of offences cover the majority of Criminal Code of Canada offences. They include, but are not limited to: assault, sexual assault, fraud under $5000.00, theft under $5000.00, assault with a weapon, assault causing bodily harm, possession of cocaine (simple possession), and many more.
A person is ineligible to apply for a pardon until the following period has elapsed after the expiration according to law of any sentence, including a sentence of imprisonment, a period of probation and the payment of any fine, imposed for an offence:
The length of time you have to wait to apply for a pardon is based on the offence:
Waiting period chart from the Government of Canada website at https://www.canada.ca/en/parole-board/services/record-suspensions/who-is-eligible-for-a-record-suspension.html
Please note: *we are not affiliated with Robichaud LAw