Arrested but not convicted: Pardon Services Canada advises clients to purge their criminal record

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Do you have a criminal record?

...petition to have fingerprints and photographs destroyed and to have the record of the charge removed...

(PRWEB) June 11, 2014

Here are two scenarios which we often hear when clients contact us:

Scenario 1: They are applying for a job believing they have never been convicted of any offences. When their record check comes back positive, they are shocked!

Scenario 2: They are trying to travel to the United States for some holidays, shopping or a business trip. The border officials say they won’t let them cross because they have a criminal record. Again, they are shocked by this information.

Although a person may never have been convicted or found guilty of an offence, they may still have a criminal record in Canada. If they were charged and fingerprinted for an offence such as possession of marijuana or drinking and driving, and their charges were later dropped, a record of the charged is kept, as well as their fingerprints and photographs. The police do not remove these charges from the Canadian Police Information Centre (CPIC) database when the charges are dropped. A dropped charge or non-conviction refers to any criminal charges with a court decision other than guilty. These include decisions of withdrawn, stay of proceedings, dismissed, or acquitted. All of these become part of an individual’s criminal record.

The issue becomes how to remove a criminal record that exists even if the person was never convicted. Pardon Services Canada can request the destruction of such a file on a client’s behalf. The purge services petition to have fingerprints and photographs destroyed and to have the record of the charge removed from the local and national CPIC databases.

Be aware that some records are exempt from the purge process. For instance, police incident reports are different from a record created when an individual is charged and fingerprinted. These reports would not appear on a record check for employment or when crossing the U.S. border and cannot be removed through a file destruction process. In addition, absolute and conditional discharges do not require a purge or file destruction process. These files will be removed automatically after 1 year for absolute discharges and after 3 years for a conditional discharge.

If you are unsure whether a previous charge may be creating a criminal record, simply call Pardon Services Canada toll free at 1-866-972-7366.

About Pardon Services Canada
The industry leaders in helping Canadians overcome the obstacles of a criminal record. Since 1989, Pardon Services Canada has successfully assisted over 100,000 Canadians exercise their lawful rights under the Criminal Records Act of Canada, and the Immigration and Nationality Act of the United States. Services include US Entry Waivers, Record Suspensions (formerly called pardons), and fingerprinting. Offices are located in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Edmonton, Ottawa and Montreal. Call toll free 1-866-972-7366 or visit the website Pardon Services Canada

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