Canada Security Clearance

1. What is a Police Certificate?
All applicants for Canada Immigration (Permanent Resident) Visas, 18 years of age and older, must submit a Police Certificate from each country in which they have lived in for 6 months or more since their 18th birthday as part of the security clearance process. Police Certificates may go by different names in different countries. They are official documents that indicate any prior criminal activity.

If officials in a particular country refuse to issue a Police Certificate, it would be helpful if you could obtain a written statement from them confirming that they refused to issue the certificate.

2. When must I submit the Police Certificate?
This depends on the category of Canada immigration under which you are applying and the Canadian Immigration Visa Office to which your application is being submitted. Police Certificates are only valid for a limited period of time.  For more detailed information, you should seek expert advice or get instructions from the Canadian Immigration Visa Office where you will submit your application.

3. How do I obtain a Police Clearance Certificate?
It depends upon the country from which you require a Police Clearance Certificate. View detailed instructions on how to obtain a Police Clearance Certificate from each country.

4. Can I omit a Police Certificate from one or more countries?
If a Police Certificate is not forthcoming from a particular country, a written statement from the police officials of the country confirming their refusal to issue the certificate may be required. Citizenship and Immigration Canada may even waive this requirement altogether if a clear obstacle can be demonstrated.

Applicants should assume that certificates must be obtained.

5. What is a background clearance?
A background clearance detects applicants who "are, or have been, involved in espionage, subversion, or terrorism." It is separate from and in addition to a Police Certificate. The background clearance is conducted by the Canadian government without the participation of the applicant.

6. What kind of criminal history would cause an applicant to be inadmissible to Canada?
Individuals wishing to enter Canada, either permanently or temporarily as visitors, foreign workers or international students, may be denied entry if they or their dependents are deemed criminally inadmissible.

A person may be considered inadmissible on the grounds of either:

• Criminality
• Serious criminality

7. What is criminality?
Criminality is:
Within Canada:
A conviction of an indictable offence punishable by a sentence of less than ten years; or
A conviction of two or more summary offences

Outside Canada:

• A conviction of an act that, if committed in Canada, would be equivalent to an indictable offence punishable by a sentence of less than ten years; or
• A conviction of two or more acts that, if committed in Canada, would be equivalent to summary offences;
• A conviction of an act that, if committed in Canada, would be equivalent to a hybrid offence punishable by a sentence of less than ten years; or
• The commission of an act that, if committed in Canada, would be equivalent to an indictable offence punishable by a sentence of less than ten years.

8. What is serious criminality?
Serious criminality is:
Within Canada:

• A conviction of an act punishable by a maximum sentence of at least ten years; or
• A conviction that has led to a prison term of at least six months.
• Outside Canada:
• A conviction of an act that, if committed in Canada, would be equivalent to an indictable offence punishable by a maximum sentence of at least ten years; or
• A conviction of an act that, if committed in Canada, would be equivalent to a hybrid offence punishable by a maximum sentence of at least ten years; or
• The commission of an act that, if committed in Canada, would be equivalent to an indictable offence punishable by a maximum sentence of at least ten years.

9. What is a hybrid offence?
A hybrid offence is an offence that may be prosecuted in Canada either by way of indictment or summary conviction.

A conviction for an act outside Canada that is equivalent to a hybrid offence in Canada will be considered an indictable offence for Canada immigration purposes. Even if the conviction was a summary conviction in the location where it occurred, it will still be considered an indictable offence by Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) as long as the offence is equivalent to a hybrid offence in Canada.

10. May I still enter Canada if I am criminally inadmissible?
If you are otherwise qualified but are criminally inadmissible, you may be allowed to enter Canada if Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) considers you criminally rehabilitated under either:

• Deemed rehabilitation
• Individual rehabilitation

11. How do I qualify for deemed rehabilitation?
Persons who are inadmissible on grounds of may still be permitted to enter Canada if they qualify for deemed rehabilitation

Persons qualify for deemed rehabilitation if they have:
Been convicted outside Canada of an act that, if committed in Canada, would be equivalent to an indictable offence punishable by a sentence of less than ten years, and they meet the following requirements:
Ten years have elapsed since the completion of their sentence;
They have not been convicted of any indictable offence or summary offence in Canada in the last ten years, or more than one summary conviction in the ten years before that; and
They have not been convicted outside Canada of an offence in the last ten years that, if committed in Canada, would constitute an indictable offence, or of more than one summary conviction in the ten years before that.
Or
Been convicted outside Canada of two or more acts that, if committed in Canada, would be equivalent to summary offences, and they meet the following requirements:
Five years have elapsed since the completion of their sentences;
They have not been convicted of any indictable offence or summary offence in Canada in the last five years, or more than one summary conviction in the five years before that; and
They have not been convicted outside Canada of an offence in the last five years that, if committed in Canada, would constitute an indictable offence, or of more than one summary conviction in the five years before that.
Or
Committed an act outside Canada that, if committed in Canada, would be equivalent to an indictable offence punishable by a sentence of less than ten years, and they meet the following requirements:
Ten years have elapsed since the completion of their sentence;
They have not been convicted of any indictable offence or summary offence in Canada in the last ten years, or more than one summary conviction in the ten years before that; and
They have not been convicted outside Canada of an offence in the last ten years that, if committed in Canada, would constitute an indictable offence, or of more than one summary conviction in the ten years before that.

12. How do I qualify for individual rehabilitation?
Persons who are inadmissible on grounds of serious criminality cannot qualify for deemed rehabilitation; that is, simple passage of time after the completion of their sentence does not alone qualify them for rehabilitated status.

However, persons who fall under the serious criminality classification, as well as others who do not qualify for deemed rehabilitation, may still qualify under the individual rehabilitation category.

To qualify for individual rehabilitation, the person must:
Wait five years after the completion of their sentence before applying; and
Demonstrate that they have been rehabilitated and are no longer a risk for criminal activity. This may require demonstrating:

• A stable lifestyle
• Community ties
• Social and vocational skills
• That the criminal offence was an isolated event