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Applying for Record Suspensions (Pardons) and Expungement in Alberta - alis
Having a criminal record can make job searching more difficult than it already is. You can make it easier if you qualify to have your record suspended (formerly called a pardon) or expunged (erased). Not everyone with a criminal record is eligible. But if you’ve served your time and lived responsibly, or if you were wrongly prosecuted, you’ve earned a second chance to be an employer’s first choice.
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Applying for Record Suspensions (Pardons) and Expungement in Alberta

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A record suspension (formerly called a “pardon”) does not erase your criminal record. Instead, your record is removed from the active Canadian Police Information Centre (CPIC) database and kept separate from other criminal records.

In many situations, if an employer asks whether you have been convicted of a crime, you can answer “no” once your record has been suspended. Canadian human rights law limits when employers may ask about criminal convictions, and in most cases they may only ask about convictions that have not been suspended.

Look for Work

Finding Work With a Criminal Record

If you’ve been convicted of a criminal offence, you may have a record and may even have served time. Learn how you can find work and excel in a job interview with a criminal record.

An expungement, on the other hand, is the permanent destruction of certain convictions that the Canadian government has recognized as historically unjust. These include certain offences related to abortion and consensual same‑sex activity. If you are granted an expungement, you are deemed never to have been convicted.

Record suspensions (pardons)

A record suspension does not erase your criminal record. It is removed from the Canadian Police Information Centre (CPIC) database and kept “separate and apart” from other records.

Once your record has been suspended, you are generally not required to disclose your criminal record in most situations.

To have your record suspended, you must have:

  • Served your custodial or probationary / parole sentence

  • Paid any fines associated with your conviction

  • Completed a waiting period based on the severity of your crime

  • Demonstrated good conduct since completing your sentence

  • Applied to the Parole Board of Canada (PBC) to have your sentence suspended

  • Paid the $50 application fee

Summary and indictable offences

A summary offence is generally a less serious offence, such as shoplifting or property damage. Convictions can result in fines up to $5,000, up to 2 years in jail, and probation orders. The waiting period to apply for suspension is 5 years. It can take up to 6 months for the PBC to respond to your request, and longer if they propose refusing your application.

An indictable offence is more serious, such as assault causing bodily harm or financial crimes over $5,000. Convictions can lead to large fines and up to 14 years in prison, especially for financial crimes. You must wait 10 years to apply for suspension. It can take up to 12 months for the PBC to respond to your request, longer if they propose refusing your application.

The waiting period may differ if you committed your offence before March 12, 2012. For information, go to the question page at canada.ca and click “What is the waiting period to apply?”

Cannabis record suspension

Before it became legal, simple possession of cannabis was a summary offence. Now that it is legal, you can apply to have your criminal record suspended with no waiting period and no application fee. Use the streamlined Cannabis Record Suspension process to apply quickly and easily.

Fees to apply for record suspensions

There is a $50 application fee to apply for a record suspension. You may also need to pay for requirements such as fingerprinting, police records checks, and court documents. The Calgary Police charge $80 for a police information check and $50 for fingerprinting (full set). Certain prints will require a $25 Receiver General fee. Costs vary by location.

Ineligibility and revocation of record suspensions

You are not eligible for a record suspension if you’ve been convicted of 3 or more indictable offences, with each conviction resulting in a prison sentence of 2 years or more.

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The PBC can revoke your suspension if you are convicted of a new crime, you are no longer found to be “of good conduct,” or you lied or hid information when applying for your suspension.

Your record might be revealed in specific, rare cases if ordered by the Minister of Public Safety.

Expungements

An expungement involves the permanent destruction of criminal records for something that is no longer considered a crime. This primarily relates to:

  • Homosexuality

  • Operating or using bawdy houses, including gay bathhouses, nightclubs, and other locations offering safe spaces for the 2SLGBTQI+ community

  • Acts related to the above but listed under the National Defence Act

  • Abortion—obtaining one for yourself or providing one to another person

Once a record has been expunged, the PBC notifies federal, provincial or territorial, and municipal departments to destroy all documents related to the conviction. After that, the person is considered never to have been convicted of that crime.

Applying for a record suspension

  1. Book an appointment with an RCMP‑accredited fingerprinting company or a police service. They will take your fingerprints and transmit them electronically to the RCMP’s Canadian Criminal Real Time Identification Services (CCRTIS) in Ottawa. The CCRTIS will provide your criminal record to you.

  2. Take your criminal record to every police jurisdiction in which you’ve lived for the past 5 years (summary offence) or 10 years (indictable offence) to request a police information check (PIC).

    For an Edmonton Police PIC, apply here ($80).
    For a Calgary Police PIC, apply here ($80).


    For a PIC from the RCMP (rural Alberta) or other municipal (e.g., Lethbridge, Medicine Hat) or Indigenous (e.g., Blood Tribe, Tsuut’ina Nation) police services, download the Local Police Records Check Form. Print a separate form for each jurisdiction. Complete the personal portion and take the form and your criminal record to each police detachment. They will submit the completed form to the PBC. Costs vary. Results can take from 3 to 120 business days, depending on the complexity of the search.

  3. Using the Court Information Form, collect the paperwork for each conviction (dispositions, proof of fine or restitution payment, summary or indictable offence). Check that this information matches the PIC and includes all your convictions from that court. Ensure that the court has signed, dated, and stamped the form. Obtain extra copies of all documents.

  4. Complete the Record Suspension Application Form (including the Measurable Benefit/Sustained Rehabilitation Form and the Schedule 1 Exception Form, where required), pay the fee, and submit to the PBC.

Avoid scams

You do not need a lawyer or a third‑party company to apply for record suspensions or expungement. The PBC warns about fraud and provides free, official forms and checklists.

The cost for a record suspension is $50. There is no cost for an expungement or to suspend a record for simple cannabis possession.

For more information or help, contact the PBC directly:

If you choose to hire help, verify their credentials (for example, not‑for‑profits like the John Howard Society and Elizabeth Fry Society). They can prepare and submit the forms for you, but they cannot supply approvals.

Applying for an expungement

  1. Check the relevant criteria for your eligibility:

  2. Obtain court and police documents for each conviction you are asking to be expunged, and a fingerprint-based copy of your criminal record.

  3. If you are unable to obtain these documents, produce a sworn statement describing the offences for which you were convicted and the efforts you’ve made to obtain the court documents.

  4. Get a photocopy of a government identity document (driver’s license, health card, or passport).

  5. Fill in the Expungement Application Form and submit to the PBC.

After approval: what changes—and what doesn’t?

If your application for expungement is approved, your criminal record will be erased.

If your application for record suspension is approved, your record will be removed from CPIC, which is the central database for criminal records in Canada.

You may now be eligible for employment or volunteer positions that were previously closed to you. You may be able to obtain a firearms licence or a driver’s licence.

You will be able to obtain a Canadian passport, but that does not mean you will be admitted to any country. A Canadian record suspension is not recognized by US authorities, so you may still be inadmissible and require a US entry waiver to enter the country.

Even though Canadian authorities have hidden your criminal convictions, US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) may be able to access older records to see that you had a conviction.

Where to get trusted help in Alberta (at low cost or no cost)

  • John Howard Society of Grande Prairie – Record Suspension Program
    There is currently a waitlist, but they still provide information and initial guidance.

    Call: 780-228-6162
    Email: rspnorth@johnhowardgp.ca

  • Native Counselling Services of Alberta (NCSA)
    Province‑wide court support and referrals, culturally grounded services: overview.

    Call: 780-451-4002
    Email: info@ncsa.ca

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