People who contact our office are often concerned about getting a criminal record, but very few understand what the consequences of one actually are.
A criminal record is forever. If you get a criminal record, it will follow you for the rest of your life.
The current laws in Canada relating to pardons don’t eliminate your criminal record. Instead, what happens is you are given something known as a record suspension where it is essentially put in a box and stored away from other information about you, but it still exists.
Who can access your criminal record?
Your criminal record can be viewed by multiple levels of law enforcement including border officials, particularly when you travel to the United States, or police officers, who pull you over or are responding to a noise complaint that you make or see you as a witness in a criminal trial.
It can also be accessed by prosecutors and will show up on a criminal record check, so if you require a criminal record check for employment, volunteering, education or certain licensing applications, your criminal conviction will be disclosed.
What requires a record check?
A criminal record check will be required when obtaining something like a liquor license or a taxi license, or a license to drive a ridesharing vehicle. So, the consequences can be quite significant.
It has been estimated that the existence of a criminal record may cost a person, in lost opportunities, over a million dollars in the course of their lifetime. It also limits your volunteering, travel and employment opportunities, and as a consequence, your possibilities for advancements.
Becoming a member of a professional regulatory body like a lawyer, a relator, or an accountant can all be impacted by a criminal record. These professional bodies and others too, such as doctors, nurses and veterinarians, all require the disclosure of criminal record information.
For people who are already working in these capacities, if you are charged with, or convicted of a criminal offence, you have certain disclosure obligations to your professional regulatory body, which may trigger lengthy and expensive investigations to determine whether to allow you to keep your professional license.
If you have an established career, a criminal record may signal the end of that career.
Other consequences of criminal records
Criminal records also have other collateral consequences. For example, if you are not a citizen of Canada, certain criminal convictions can trigger removal proceedings or automatic deportation, depending on the conviction and your status in Canada.
If your criminal conviction relates to an offence for driving, the criminal conviction will also trigger certain automatic driving prohibitions, automatic requirements that you install an ignition interlock in your vehicle, requirements that you take remedial driving courses and requirements that you pay more for your insurance.
Similarly, they can potentially impact your ability to vote. While a criminal record does not prevent you from participating in a federal or provincial election, certain municipalities have laws that prevent individuals from voting if they are incarcerated. Similarly, if you commit an offence under the Elections Act, some of those offences do carry consequences that prevent you from being permitted to vote.
These convictions can also attract certain types of fines, such as mandatory victim fine surcharge under the Criminal Code, which can be waived in certain circumstances. This means that you effectively have to pay because you received a criminal record.
Depending on what you’re convicted of, you may also be required to register yourself on certain registries. Certain offences carry mandatory or discretionary requirements that you provide a sample of your DNA, and the order can be made by the court for you to give your DNA to the police at a specific date and time.
You may be required to register on the sex offender registry in Canada, for a period of 10 or 20 years depending on your conviction.
Certain criminal convictions will also prevent individuals from participating on juries, and possessing firearms and can have consequences related to your ability to use explosives in the capacity of your work.
And while it may not seem like a lot of people need to use explosives, if you’re working in situations where you are required to engage in blasting, drilling or forestry work, you may need to obtain an explosives ticket which may be affected by a criminal record.
The consequences of a criminal record can be significant and wide-ranging, so it is in your best interest to contact a lawyer who understands the consequences and knows what they are to best try and help you avoid the impact of this on your future.