The Liberal government has recently proposed changes to the pardons rules which will make it sooner and less expensive to obtain.
In March 2012 the Conservative government passed a law making eligibility for pardons longer. Summary offences went from 3 years to 5 years and Indictable offences went from 5 years to 10 years waiting time. They also increased the approval fee from $150 to $655.
The Liberals are looking to overturn that law and revert to the old rules which requires summary convictions to wait 3 years (from the end of punishment) for a summary offence and 5 years (from the end of punishment) for an indictable offence. They also propose to reduce the approval fee back to the $150 level.
These changes would be a huge benefit to Canadians who are eager to move forward with their lives after they have been punished for their criminal offence. All employers are now doing criminal checks so a shorter wait time will be most welcome for all applicants as they can more quickly re-integrate into society and move forward with their lives without the burden of carrying a criminal record.
Here is the most recent news article from CTV stating “Criminal pardons would be less expensive, easier to get under Liberal budget plan”
