If you have been convicted of a DUI, Impaired Driving, Driving over .08 mg, or Care and Control then you have a criminal record. Many people try to fight these charges in court and in most cases they are still found guilty despite having paid legal fees in the thousands of dollars.
In Canada, there are over 80,000 DUI and driving convictions and in Alberta the number is about 17,000 DUI convictions. Whether you live in a bigger city in Alberta like Calgary or Edmonton or a smaller town, it is important to start the pardon process to remove your criminal record in Canada.
Getting a DUI conviction can be a very expensive experience as you will have to pay legal fees, fines (in some cases over $1500), higher insurance rates, and licence re-instatement fees. People are shocked at the expense of having a DUI. Also, since a DUI is considered a criminal offence, then a criminal background check will reveal to employers and the US customs and volunteer and coaching organizations that you have a criminal record. This can hinder employment and volunteering opportunities as well as travel to the USA.
By getting a pardon or record suspension, you will be able to remove your criminal record in Canada so that in the future when a criminal background check is done, your criminal record will not be seen.
You do not need a US Entry Waiver to travel to the USA with a DUI but you will need to start the pardon process and hopefully not have any issues traveling to the US in the meantime until your pardon or record suspension is granted.
In order to remove your DUI in Alberta or anywhere in Canada, you can call Pardons Canada and speak to a counselor and we can begin the process of your pardon or record suspension application. You will then go to get a copy of your fingerprints again at our agency in Edmonton or Calgary, or somewhere closer to where you live, so that we can generate an RCMP file which is an essential document in the pardons process.
Here is a recent article in the CBC titled “Alberta posts largest crime increase in Canada – slumping economy blamed”:
