Antree Demakos - Canadian Criminal Records: And How to Start Fresh

Contents

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

FOREWORD

- What is a Criminal Record?

The Creation and Storage of Criminal Records

What is a Criminal Record?

Who can have a Criminal Record?

What steps are involved in creating a criminal record?

Are provincial or municipal offences included in criminal record files?

How long are criminal records kept?

Quiz

End Notes

- Who Can Access Criminal Records And How?

Accessing your own criminal record

What is Local Police Records Check

What is Parole Board of Canada Police Check

What is CPIC Check

What is Certified RCMP Criminal Record Report

What is Freedom of Information request

What is Vulnerable Sector Check

What is not disclosed in a Police Records Check?

Quiz

End Notes

- Youth Criminal Records

What is a youth criminal record?

Who creates youth criminal records, and where are they stored?

What information can be included in a youth criminal record?

How long are youth criminal records retained?

Who can access youth criminal records?

How are youth criminal records sealed or destroyed?

Do youth records created under previous laws still exist?

Quiz

End Notes

- How Criminal Records Affect Peoples Lives

Obstacles Created by Criminal Records

Employment and Education

Volunteering

Family Matters

Housing

Discrimination and Peace of Mind

Quiz

End Notes

- Criminal Records and Canadian Immigration

Visit | Work | Study in Canada

Legally Entering Canada with a Criminal Record

Temporary Resident Permit (TRP)

Rehabilitation Certificate (RC)

Convention Refugees

Permanent Residents

Canadian Citizenship

Quiz

End Notes

- Travelling to the U.S.A. with a Criminal Record

I-194 Entry Waivers

Inadmissibilty and Being Denied Entry at the Border

Crimes Involving Moral Turpitude

Effect of a Canadian Pardon or Record Suspension

U.S.A. Entry Waivers

Eligibility

Application

Process

Expiration and Renewal

Effect of Waiver

Quiz

End Notes

- Removing Criminal Records

Local Police Destructions and Purges

RCMP Destructions and Purges

Parole Board of Canada (PBC) Pardons & Record Suspension for Convictions

New Pardon LAW - BILL C-10

Pardons and Record Suspensions

Effect of Pardon or Record Suspension

Eligibility

Application

When a Pardon or Record Suspension Ceases

Success of Pardon Program

Quiz

End Notes

- Criminal Record Statistics

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

RCMP and Police Services (rcmp-grc.gc.ca) (torontopolice.on.ca)

Yves Marineau, RCMP, Access to Information and Privacy Coordinator, and Cpl. Mel Abramovitch, RCMP, for providing me with the raw data for 3 million individual criminal files available in the RCMP database.

To the provincial and municipal police services nation-wide, who have always been generous with their knowledge, and supportive of public education with regards to criminal records. And a special thanks to Chief Bill Blair, Toronto Police Services whose encouragement is much appreciated.

Correctional Service of Canada and Ministry of Probation and Parole (csc-scc.gc.ca) (mcscs.jus.gov.on.ca)

Correctional Service of Canada and Ministry of Probation and Parole, for recognizing the value of rehabilitation, and for promoting education through Ian Levines seminars at their training facilities.

Courts (attorneygeneral.jus.gov.on.ca)

To the many provincial and federal court officers, and in particular Paul Vincent, Ontario Court, Consulting Manager, Operational Support, who, over the years, have provided detailed answers to my numerous questions regarding court policies and procedures.

And to my friends the Honourable Mr. Justice Marvin A. Zuker, Ontario Criminal Court Judge, and Larry Banack, Certified by the Law Society of Upper Canada as Specialist in Civil Litigation, Bencher of the Law Society, Former Chair of the Law Commission of Ontario, Chair, Board of Trustees of the Law Foundation, for their encouragement and words of wisdom.

Youth Justice Ontario (youthjusticeontario.ca)

Don Adam, Executive Coordinator, Youth Justice Ontario, for his insight and help with Chapter 3.

Parole Board of Canada (pbc-clcc.gc.ca)

Parole Board of Canada, Record Suspension Division, for their continued help over the years and in particular, for providing valuable information about the practical implications of the new Pardon legislation (Record Suspension).

Pardons Canada (pardons.org)

Ian D. Levine, Founder and Board of Advisors; Andrew Tanenbaum, Program Director; Jodi Tanenbaum, Director of Operations; and Marisa Cutter, Director of Policies and Procedures, for providing current information about the effects of the recent legislative changes brought about by Bill C-10, for sharing their statistical data, and for reviewing Chapter 7.

Canadian Immigration Law (migrationlaw.com)

Guidy Mamann, Certified by the Law Society of Upper Canada as an Immigration Law Specialist, former Immigration Officer, weekly Columnist and widely Published Author, for his detailed review and suggestions for Chapter 5.

Statistics Canada (statcan.gc.ca)

Samuel Bernadin, Information officer /Agent dinformation Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics/Centre Canadien de la Statistique Juridique, for providing incident based crime statistics, Canada.

Shannon Brennan, Senior Analyst for the Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics, and Mia Dauvergne, Senior Analyst, Policing Services Program, Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics, at the Justice and Human Rights Committee, for their comprehensive Crime Report of Police-reported crime statistics in Canada.

Dr. Kent Campbell, Ph.D. for his detailed analytical work with the statistics in Chapter 8; and in particular, for taking the RCMPs raw data and turning it into something we can all understand.

Beth Ellen Rossen, RN, M.Sc., Ph.D., and Arnold H. Rossen, MBA, P. Eng., for their scrutiny of the statistical analysis in Chapter 8, and for making valuable suggestions.

Omnibus Crime Bill Discussion Panel - 2011

Thank you to the Discussion Panel and the Sponsors for taking the time to conduct an in-depth and comprehensive review of Bill C-10.

Moderator: Maureen Brosnahan, CBC

Panelists:

• Patricia Allard, Deputy Director, Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network
• Caleb Chepesiuk, Director, Canadian Students for Sensible Drug Policy
• Eugene Oscapella, Lawyer; Founder, Canadian Foundation for Drug Policy
• Greg Simmons, Prisoners Rights Expert
• Steve Sullivan, Director, Ottawa Victims Services; First Federal Ombudsman for Victims of Crime
• Krysta Williams, Native Youth Sexual Health Network

for being so awesome while I wrote this book.

FOREWORD

As Co-founders of Pardons Canada, and having been involved with the removal of criminal records for 20 years, Antree Demakos and I have helped more than 250,000 of the nicest criminals youd ever want to meet. Now, with the immeasurable and far-reaching effects of the new Pardon law, Antree felt that it was time for her to write this book.

In Canada, 4.5 million adults (1 in 5) have been charged with a crime. More than 500,000 people are charged each year, and in the year 2011, more than 2 million crimes were reported by the police. This means that you, or one of your family members, a friend, a neighbour, or someone else you care about either has a criminal record, has already removed it, or will inevitably acquire one. Therefore, whether directly or indirectly, the ramifications of having a criminal record affect us all.