Overview: What is a Criminal Offence?
The term criminal offence is mistakenly used to mean many things. In Canada, there are two main categories of criminal offences: summary conviction offenses and indictable criminal offences.
1) What Are Summary Convictions?
Summary offenses are the less serious ones. In Canada, summary conviction cases are heard in provincial court. Persons charged with summary convictions aren’t usually arrested unless they are found committing the offences.
Offenders are usually given notices to appear in court at a specific date/time. However, a lawyer can appear in court on behalf of an offender unless the judge specifically requires the offender to appear in person.
Common Examples of Summary Offences
The most common include, but aren’t limited to:
- Public disturbance, i.e., yelling, and fighting in public places and any other related offense against society.
- Trespassing (being on someone’s property without permission)
- Public nudity
- Soliciting prostitution
- Deliberate destruction of property (causing damage to someone else’s property)
- Making harassing phone calls
- Stealing (under $5,000)
- Traffic violations, i.e., speeding, driving without a valid driver’s license, failing to stop, etc.
- Offenses for possession, i.e., minor drug possession and small amounts of a controlled substance for personal use.
Consequences of Summary Offences: Will a Summary Offence Show Up in Your Criminal Record?
YES! Besides being fined a maximum of $5,000 and/or being imprisoned, you also have to deal with a criminal record in most cases.
Minor offences are automatically recorded, especially when they result in convictions. The records are maintained by the court and police. If you have been convicted, you can rest assured that your record will show in background checks.
If you are acquitted (found innocent), there may not be a record. The same applies to cases that don’t proceed to full conviction, meaning those that are resolved by alternative dispute resolution.
Why Should You Care About a Record for a Minor Offence?
Well, it can make it harder to get a job, secure a place to live, and get affordable financing, among many other things that require a background check.
2) What Are Indictable Offences?
Indictable offences are more serious, with procedures varying and dependent largely on the seriousness of the offence/level of intent of the offender. Persons charged with indictable offences in Canada are usually arrested when law enforcement personnel (police) have adequate grounds to believe the person committed the offence already or they were about to commit it.
Persons charged with indictable offences must go to court. They are also entitled to representation by a lawyer. Indictable offences attract complex legal processes and have more severe penalties than summary offences.
Common Examples of Indictable Offenses in Canada
The most common examples of indictable offences in Canada include, but aren’t limited to:
- Murder, including first-degree, second-degree, manslaughter, and attempted murder
- Aggravated assault, including maiming, wounding, disfiguring and/or endangering another person’s life
- Sexual offences, including threatening/causing bodily harm, sexual assault using a weapon, and aggravated sexual assault.
- Robbery, including stealing using violence/threats of violence
- Kidnapping
- Arson, including recklessly/intentionally causing damage to property by fire
- Crimes against property & economic crimes, including criminal actions like stealing property valued over $5,000.
- Extortion
- Drug trafficking, including selling/distributing/importing illegal drugs
- Breaking and entering, including illegally entering somewhere/a property to intentionally commit an indictable offence
- Counterfeiting
- Terrorism offences, including facilitating, participating or financing terrorist activities
- Criminal negligence, including dangerous driving that causes bodily harm or death
- DUI that causes bodily harm or death
- Perjury, meaning knowingly providing false statements/information under oath in legal proceedings
- Financial crimes like fraud or white-collar crimes like embezzlement and money laundering. Also includes blue-collar crime like theft of company property.
C. Hybrid Offences
It’s worth noting that there are other types of offences in Canada. This type of offence is classified by prosecutors to be either a summary or indictable offences. Hybrid offences are classified based on the seriousness of the actions of the accused, like harm caused to victims of crime.
Why Should You Care About Indictable Offences and Hybrid Offences?
Indictable offences carry the most stringent penalties: the maximum sentence. Depending on the seriousness of the offence, you could easily land in jail for years and/or pay hefty fines.
What’s more, unlike summary offences where you may not have a criminal record, indictable offences are guaranteed to have a record. Since arrests are inevitable, your fingerprints will be taken. These, among other personal information collected in criminal proceedings (including nature of offence), are submitted to the RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police), a central database for criminal conduct records in Canada.
Consequences of a Criminal Record for Indictable Offences
These records can be accessed by law enforcement agencies in Canada and abroad. They can also be accessed by other investigative authorities or parties like employers, landlords, immigration officials and other parties that do background checks regularly.
As a result, you can have the following problems if you have been arrested or convicted for indictable offences in Canada:
- Difficulty securing employment
- Difficulty travelling to some countries, like the US
- Difficulty getting housing since some landlords do background checks on potential tenants
- Social stigma since criminal records are public records unless they are sealed or expunged (destroyed)
How Do You Seal/Remove a Criminal Record in Canada?
Well, if you don’t want to be disadvantaged because of your past when travelling, searching for work, looking for housing, etc., you have three main options:
- Get a Pardon (Record Suspension)
If you have a criminal record, you can get a record suspension if you have completed your sentence and paid all applicable fines. What’s more, you need to have refrained from recommitting offences for a specified time. Criminal record suspensions seal records of criminal conviction offences, meaning they won’t appear in criminal record checks.
It’s worth noting that records aren’t automatically deleted even after you serve your sentence/pay your fines, or do community service. You must take deliberate action and get a pardon for the records to be sealed. To get a record suspension, you must complete and submit an application to the Parole Board of Canada.
While you can do this yourself, it can be a complex process. Most importantly, you aren’t guaranteed to get a pardon. It’s better to seek help from experts like Canadian Pardon Application Services, who have processed over 575,000 applications successfully. You’ll avoid mistakes, save time and increase your chances of success!
- Get a Record Destruction (Expungement)
Since pardons just seal records, meaning that records stop being accessible to the public but can be accessed in special circumstances, it helps to have the records fully removed. To do this, you must get a record destruction or expungement.
This ensures all records (court records, police records, fingerprints, photographs, banking documents, etc.) are removed completely from the Canadian Police Information Centre database. Record destruction ensures records of arrest (even without criminal investigation or conviction) don’t remain accessible when background checks are done.
Like pardons, applying for expungement can be a complex process. You’ll need immigration experts to ensure you don’t make mistakes in your application and waste time.
- Get a US Entry Waiver (If you plan to travel)
If you have a criminal record and want to travel to the US for leisure or work, you’ll need a special document known as a US Entry Waiver. Since criminal records can be accessed by immigration officials, getting this document ensures you aren’t denied entry and/or arrested at US border entry points.
While you can apply for a US Entry Waiver yourself, you need a complete application with all the relevant supporting documents. If you don’t have time because you need to travel soon or can’t risk having your application denied, consult immigration experts who understand the Canadian criminal justice system.
Final Thoughts
Criminal offences in Canada can either be summary or indictable offences. Most importantly, all indictable offences are bound to go on your record. Some summary offences may also show up in your criminal record. Since a record can hinder your ability to get a job, get housing, travel and do many other things, it’s important to seal and expunge a criminal record.
Doing so ensures the record doesn’t show up in criminal record checks done by employers, landlords, immigration officials and other parties. While you can seal or expunge your records via application to relevant agencies, the process is usually complex. Small errors in applications, like a lack of convincing evidence on changed behaviour, submitting outdated/false documents, etc., can delay or have applications rejected.
Therein lies the importance of seeking help from reputable immigration experts: Canadian Pardon Application services, that offer record suspension, record expungement and US Entry Waiver application services.
Get a FREE consultation. You can also call: 1-888-853-8189, email: [email protected], or visit in person (Google Maps) to talk about your criminal offence, criminal charges, and more.
