When you are charged with a criminal offence and you go to court, if its your first offence, the outcome in court can be that the criminal charge is stayed, peace bond, diversion, withdrawn, dismissed, or discharged. This results in a non-conviction.
Many people believe that if their criminal charge was completed as a non-conviction that they do not have a criminal record. This is partially true, however, becasue you were fingerprinted by the police and there is a court record as well, then a criminal background check can come back as positive which can get in the way for employment or traveling. This can often come as a shock to the person who believed that they no longer have a criminal record.
If it is a non-conviction then you do not require a pardon or record suspension, but you do require a file destruction or purge to remove the prints from the system. Once a file destruction is approved then your criminal background check will be completely clear giving you the freedom to know that there is no longer any obstacles when it comes to employment, volunteering or traveling.
