Record suspension: PBC's nine steps, and your waiting period from your own dates

This guide does not assess anyone's eligibility. Below is the Parole Board of Canada's own wording, quoted from its eligibility page, which is linked at the end of this section.

Who may apply, in PBC's words

A person may apply if convicted "of an offence in Canada under a federal act" (or transferred to Canada under specific offender-transfer legislation).

The waiting period, by the date of the conviction

PBC's words: "The waiting period starts after you have completed all of your sentences", which the page states includes fines, imprisonment, conditional sentences, parole, statutory release, and probation. The three groups are keyed to the conviction date, not the application date; PBC does not publish a single current waiting period without reference to when the conviction occurred.

Who is ineligible, in PBC's words

PBC's eligibility page states that a person is ineligible if they:

• "were convicted of an offence found in Schedule I of the Criminal Records Act and do not meet the exception criteria" (PBC's own parenthetical for Schedule 1: "sexual offence involving a child")
• "have been convicted to a prison term of 2 years or more for more than three indictable offences"

Schedule 1 of the Criminal Records Act itself opens: "1 Offences (a) under the following provisions of the Criminal Code: (i) section 151 (sexual interference with a person under 16)" and continues through further sections. Schedule 1 on the Justice Laws site →

The Schedule 1 exception, as PBC's form states it

The Schedule 1 Exception Form (PBC/CLCC 0009e) applies only where the applicant was:

• not in "a position of trust or authority towards the victim"
• did not use "violence, intimidation or coercion" against the victim
• was "less than five years older than the victim"

This exception applies only where the qualifying Schedule 1 conviction occurred on or after March 13, 2012. The guide states the applicant must complete this form personally.

The full text of Criminal Records Act section 4, the ineligibility section itself, is not quoted here. Above is the Parole Board's own wording of who is ineligible; the section is on the Justice Laws site. Criminal Records Act section 4 on the Justice Laws site →

Who is eligible for a record suspension (Parole Board of Canada) →

The Parole Board of Canada's record suspension has a waiting period keyed to the conviction date and counted from the completion of all sentences; PBC's eligibility wording and its nine application steps are on the record suspension guide. Employment termination in Canada →

The PBC's application guide numbers nine steps. Its own sentence for each:

1. "Get your criminal record (convictions, conditional and absolute discharges form) from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police."
2. "Get your court information using the Court Information Form."
3. "Get your Military Conduct Sheet (if you are a current and former member of the Canadian Armed Forces)."
4. "Get your local police records check(s) using the Local Police Records Check Form."
5. "Provide a photocopy of your document to support your identification."
6. "Fill in the Schedule 1 Exception Form (if applicable)."
7. "Fill in the Record Suspension Application Form."
8. "Fill in the Measurable Benefit/Sustained Rehabilitation Form (if applicable)."
9. "Provide the payment of the Application Processing Fee."

Step 1: the RCMP certified criminal record

Obtained by having fingerprints taken and submitted so the RCMP can search its national repository. The guide's words: "Get your fingerprints taken. Visit an accredited fingerprinting company or a police service", and the submission "must clearly state you are applying for a record suspension". The RCMP's own fee: "The federal processing fee is 25 Canadian dollar for each criminal record check." ($25 per check). Fingerprinting is section 4 of this guide.

Step 2: the Court Information Form (PBC/CLCC 001-1e)

Per the guide, it must show, court by court:

• "proof and date of last payment for any fines, victim surcharges, restitution, and compensation"
• "the method of trial for each conviction (either summary, indictable or unknown)"

Step 3: the Military Conduct Sheet, if it applies

Required only for current or former members of the Canadian Armed Forces. Who to ask, by branch and discharge date:

• Current members: request it from their Commanding Officer.
• Former regular members who left on or after January 1, 1998: contact the Department of National Defence's ATIP Section.
• Former regular members who left before January 1, 1998: contact Library and Archives Canada.
• Former reserve members: follow an equivalent split at a March 1, 2008 discharge-date threshold.

Step 4: local police records checks (PBC/CLCC 002-1e)

Checks are required for: "The city or town where you live now (your current address); AND Each city or town where you lived during the last 5 years (if you lived in that place for 3 months or more)." Each check is "only valid for 12 months from the date it was issued". The free checklist has a blank address-history table with a column for the date each check was issued and the date it stops being valid.

Step 5: proof of identity

The guide's words: "a clear photocopy of a document which supports your identity": a "valid government issued (Federal, Provincial or Municipal) document" that "must include your name, date of birth and signature".

Step 6: the Schedule 1 Exception Form (PBC/CLCC 0009e), if it applies

The guide states the applicant must complete this form personally. Its three conditions are in section 2.

Step 7: the Record Suspension Application Form (PBC/CLCC 003-1e)

The application itself.

Step 8: the Measurable Benefit/Sustained Rehabilitation Form (PBC/CLCC 0007e), if it applies

Filled in where it applies.

Step 9: the Application Processing Fee, as of September 2026

PBC's words: "As of January 1, 2022, the fee to apply for a record suspension is $50.00." The fee before that was $657.77 (raised from $644.88 by $12.89 on March 31, 2021 under the Service Fees Act's annual adjustment); it dropped to $50.00 on January 1, 2022. The application guide's nine steps name a single Application Processing Fee; no second PBC-payable fee (for the Schedule 1 Exception Form or the Measurable Benefit form, for example) appears on any PBC fee or application-guide page. Separate, non-PBC fees are payable elsewhere in the process: the RCMP's own fee and police-service or fingerprinting-company charges. source

The official PBC application guide and forms →

The guide's words: "Get your fingerprints taken. Visit an accredited fingerprinting company or a police service". The submission "must clearly state you are applying for a record suspension".

The RCMP's own fee and times

The RCMP's words: "The federal processing fee is 25 Canadian dollar for each criminal record check." The RCMP states "3 business days or less" when there is no match, and "120 business days" if manual processing or a possible match is required. source

Two accredited companies' published prices (commercial, not official)

Quoted from each company's own price page on September 2026. These are commercial sources, listed as the research labelled them, not a recommendation of either; a police service can also take fingerprints.

The published service standards, as of September 2026, in PBC's words:

• Summary offences: 6 months. "processed within 6 months of application acceptance"
• Indictable offences: 12 months. "processed within 12 months of application acceptance"
• Cases heading toward refusal: up to 24 months. "up to "24 months" after acceptance"

Application acceptance is the point at which the PBC has determined the application is "eligible and complete"; the service-standard clocks run from that acceptance date, not from the date the application is first mailed in or received. source

Before that clock, the RCMP's own check: The RCMP states "3 business days or less" when there is no match, and "120 business days" if manual processing or a possible match is required.

Set aside and kept separate

A record suspension "sets it aside" and removes the record from the Canadian Police Information Centre (CPIC) database rather than destroying it. The stream that permanently destroys or removes a record is a separate one, in section 8 of this guide. source

A record suspension sets a conviction record aside and removes it from the CPIC database; a common trigger for applying is a police record check tied to employment or volunteering. The vulnerable sector check guide →

Revocation, in the Criminal Records Act's words (section 7)

"A record suspension may be revoked by the Board (a) if the person to whom it relates is subsequently convicted of an offence referred to in paragraph 4(1)(b) ... (b) on evidence establishing to the satisfaction of the Board that the person to whom it relates is no longer of good conduct; or (c) on evidence establishing to the satisfaction of the Board that the person to whom it relates knowingly made a false or deceptive statement ..."

Cessation of effect (section 7.2)

"A record suspension ceases to have effect if (a) the person to whom it relates is subsequently convicted of (i) an offence referred to in paragraph 4(1)(a) ... or (b) the Board is convinced by new information that the person was not eligible ..." source

Other countries, including the United States

canada.ca's words: "Other countries may not recognize Canadian record suspensions/pardons. As such, the fact that Canada has ordered a record suspension or granted a pardon for an offence does not guarantee entry into another country." The RCMP's words: "Other countries, including the United States, may not recognize a record suspension issued in Canada."

A record suspension is a Canadian mechanism: canada.ca states that other countries may not recognize Canadian record suspensions or pardons, so a record suspension ordered here does not guarantee entry into another country. New to Canada: the paperwork guide →

Nothing in the guide requires using a paid preparer; a person may apply to the PBC themselves for the application fee alone.

PBC's own warning, in its words

"If you choose to use a third-party service provider, you should be aware that these companies charge anywhere between several hundred dollars to more than a thousand dollars for their services, on top of the $50.00 application fee that the PBC charges to process your application. Using these companies will not give your application a special status, get it processed faster, or guarantee you a record suspension." source

A record suspension is applied for directly to the Parole Board of Canada for its application fee alone. PBC's own page warns that third-party companies charge several hundred dollars to more than a thousand dollars on top of that fee and cannot get an application processed faster. After a scam: what to do, in order →

PBC's definition: "To expunge something is to permanently destroy it or remove it." It is ordered under the Expungement of Historically Unjust Convictions Act, which PBC frames as the "destruction or permanent removal of judicial records of historically unjust convictions", and PBC describes itself as "the official and only federal agency responsible for ordering or refusing to order expungement".

Expungement is ordered under the Expungement of Historically Unjust Convictions Act for specific, listed historically unjust convictions. It is a narrower, separate legal mechanism from a record suspension: a record suspension sets a conviction record aside and keeps it separate, while expungement permanently destroys or removes the record and is available only for the specific historically unjust offences named in that Act, not for criminal convictions generally. source