Demystifying Eligibility Criteria for Record Suspension
Even though PEI is considered Canada’s smallest province, there are still situations where people in that province get into trouble with the police. The criminal offences can range from Impaired Driving or DUI, to theft, assault, fraud and narcotics.
Once you have been convicted of a criminal offence you will need a pardon or record suspension to remove the criminal record so that it cannot be seen in a criminal background check. This is especially important if you are trying to obtain employment or travel to the US. If you have a criminal offence which has not been pardoned then it becomes much more difficult to obtain employment or travel.
“The crime rate in PEI has been falling and there is some speculation as the reason for this occurence. The following article from the CBC highlights this recent drop in crime in PEI:
RCMP on P.E.I. say one of the reasons for a recent big drop in crime on the Island may be the training of five crime analysts.
Statistics Canada released crime statistics for 2015 this week. They show while the crime rate was up in the country as a whole, it fell significantly in 2015. Since 2012, incidents of Criminal Code violations, excluding traffic, have fallen 36 per cent.
P.E.I. has fewer transient criminals, says Staff Sgt. Kevin Baillie, making it easier to keep track of the criminal population. (CBC)
RCMP Staff Sgt. Kevin Baillie said in recent years RCMP have trained crime analysts to track crimes in communities across P.E.I. to look for similarities, and that could be a factor in the dropping rate.
“By compiling that data we can look at problem areas and target them,” said Baillie.
“Also a lot of the crimes are being committed by a small group of individuals, and we can target those individuals and use our resources more efficiently,”
Baillie said those analysts review large numbers of files every week, looking at similar methods of committing crimes and those convicted in the past for those types of offenses.
Baillie said because P.E.I. doesn’t have a large number of transient criminals it can be easier to track down those who may be responsible.”
Pardons Canada undertakes all necessary steps and procedures for removing your criminal record, including: Pardons/Record Suspensions, Purges, Photograph & Fingerprint Destruction, and U.S. Entry Waivers.
