What types of jobs require a criminal record check?

Any employer in Canada can ask a candidate about criminal convictions. In most cases they cannot ask about convictions that have been pardoned or sealed by a Record Suspension.

Background checks are becoming more common as it is easier and more affordable to conduct them. As well, companies are becoming more sensitive to the possibility of risk. You will likely to be asked for a background check at some point in your career if you are working for others.

Background checks are not uncommon even in entry-level positions such as salesclerk, cashier, gas station attendant, etc. However, there are some types of positions in society that are more likely to require background checks.

Jobs that ask for a background check

Teachers: Without a doubt, if you want to be a teacher in Canada, you will need a background check. Keep in mind that if you have any violent or sexual offences on your record, they can be disclosed even it you have a pardon. This is because most school boards will require teachers to undergo a vulnerable sector screening, which goes further than most record checks.

Daycare worker, child care: Working with children in any capacity will usually require a background check including a vulnerable sector screening.

Counsellor, social worker, psychologist: Anytime you are working with vulnerable children, teens or adults, you may be requested to get a background check.

Healthcare: Background checks are very common in the healthcare industries. Illness, age or disability can cause a person to be deemed vulnerable, so you would need to get a vulnerable sector screening in Canada.

Lawyer, paralegal: You may need a record check to join the regulatory association in your province. Whether a record will prevent you from practicing is usually determined on a case by case basis.

Transportation: The primary concern for employers in the transportation industry is safety. Therefore, any type of driving charge such as dangerous driving or DUI could prevent you from working as a pilot, railroad engineer, truck driver, taxi driver, bus driver, or any other area where you responsible for the safety of others. Possession or trafficking is a big concern for people who work as baggage handlers or in shipping of any type. If you work at a port or airport, you may need a security clearance, which will require a criminal record check.

Real Estate Agent: If you want to work as a real estate agent, your provincial licensing organization may require a background check. This is because you will have a high position of trust with the clients you are serving.

Accountant, bookkeeper, financial advisor: Needless to say, a dishonest financial professional can do a lot of damage to their clients and others. In most cases the regulatory authority will require a record check. Even if there is no regulatory authority for the position you are applying for many employers will also require a record check.

Government jobs: Governments are under a lot of scrutiny. The public pays the salary and questions are asked every day. As a result, most government employers will require background checks. Whether or not the record will prevent a person from getting the position is usually decided on a case by case basis. 

What can you do?

If you have a criminal record, you should consider applying for a Record Suspension following the waiting period. This will help ensure that you can apply for almost any job for which you are qualified. The current waiting periods are:

Summary: Five years

Indictable: Ten years

The period of eligibility is calculated from the date that you complete your sentence.

If you would like to know if you are eligible to apply for a Record Suspension, contact us today at 1-866-972-7366.

Your Resume vs. the Job Application Form

When you prepare your resume, you try to design it to represent yourself in a way that will entice an employer to want to meet you. And some items might cause you to worry about how they will portray your work and education history. For example, should you say that you graduated from university, when in fact you are short two or three courses? Or, should you say that you resigned from a job last year, when you were actually laid off? And, should you fudge the dates of entries to obscure a period of time when you were not in school and not employed?


Such temptations are understandable, but are they worth using? The information that you provide on your resume, and how you express it, is entirely up to you. After all, the resume’s sole purpose is to get you the interview, during which you can elaborate on your skills and abilities.

If you are fortunate enough to get your foot in the door, the interview will undoubtedly expect you to expand on the details you’ve given in your resume as well as discuss many other related and unrelated aspects of your life history. Inevitably, any shortcomings that your resume has could easily be revealed. As well, you will quite likely be asked to complete a job application form.

Three major aspects of the application form are worth noting: Your resume is not a legal document, but the application form is; its design requires that you provide particular information, completing sections appropriately; and you are required to sign and date it to attest to the fact that everything you’ve supplied is the truth.

What you state on your application form must complement your resume; otherwise, your integrity will come into question. And the now-commonplace background check that employers undertake will verify your education, your work history, and your criminal background, should you have one. Recruiters might also run a credit check if you are applying for work in the financial field or a motor vehicle record check if you are required to drive for your job. In fact, many companies will run these checks regardless of the position for which you have applied.

Therefore, you need to be completely honest and truthful when completing the application form, being as specific as possible, because the details will be verified. And should anything that misrepresents you be discovered after you’ve being hired, the consequences could be dire.

If you want to leave a job off either your resume or the application form, do so; but do not adjust the dates of other entries to cover the time period. If the dates are not consistent with the resume’s data, both documents will come into question and cause the recruiter to question your sincerity and honesty.

The application form will likely ask if you have ever been convicted of a crime. This includes DUIs, which is the most common charge that will show up on background checks. If you have a criminal record, you could still quite possibly get hired; but if you do not disclose it, you will not likely get hired if this omission is revealed, simply because you lied. Your criminal record could be overlooked, depending upon what you did, how long ago it happened, and your explanation of the incident.

So be honest and forthright with all your details. Better still, if you have a charge that can be expunged, you should apply for a Pardon. This process will seal your record, removing it from federal databases so that it is no longer visible and cannot be accessed. Pardon Services Canada can assist you. A Client Specialist will ensure that all the required forms are created and compiled to support your application. Pardon Services Canada’s pro-active approach ensures that your case is processed expeditiously and you will be kept informed at each stage of the process. Your pardon is guaranteed.

Canadian Criminal Records – The Stumbling Block for would-be Volunteers

Canadians love to volunteer. Each and every day, Canadians devote their time to worthy causes. In fact, over a third of Canadians over the age of 15 have volunteered! The benefits of volunteering are tremendous, both on a community level, as well as personally. Volunteering gives Canadians the opportunity to give back to their great communities, or to contribute to a worthy cause. Furthermore, the personal benefits gained from great team environments, involvement in event planning, coordinating, and multiple other business operations are invaluable to Canadians looking to gain experience to supplement their resumes and CVs.

            

The opportunity for volunteering is drying up in Canada, however, as a result of recent criminal legislation. This legislation stipulates that an increasing number of volunteer organizations, including many large and well known non-profits, require criminal back ground checks on prospective volunteers. This legislation is not limited to any province in specific; it has a nation-wide effect.

            

The results have had an impact on the organizations as well as the prospective volunteers. Firstly, the organizations that are now required to get the criminal background checks face increasing waits with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) for their results as more and more requests pile up. Secondly, these organizations, due to the long processing time, lose out on valuable volunteers which many rely on for their day-to-day operations and special events. Finally, the would-be volunteers lose out on the opportunity to give back to their community or cause, as well as the valuable experience that volunteering provides.

           

13% of Canadians have a criminal record. This is a large number of Canadians that are being excluded from the ability to volunteer. It is important that checks be done in some circumstances for safety and diligence; however, the broad and often misrepresentative criminal record checks provided by the RCMP’s database which logs all encounters, not just offenses, can be seriously harmful to great volunteer candidates.

            

A criminal record check can be done quickly and affordably. It is in the best interest of these good Canadian samaritans to get a fast, cheap, background check to expedite volunteering and to get back to doing good for the community, environment, Canada, and themselves. 

Dusting for Prints – Increased Fingerprinting and Criminal Record Checks Delays Hiring

 The prospect of having one’s fingerprints taken as part of the job application process can seem intimidating, to say the least. Not only could a person be taken aback to learn that all information provided on a resume and during an interview would not be sufficient to make a hiring decision, but he could also be somewhat unsettled to learn that a criminal record check, and sometimes a credit check as well, must be undertaken.

The RCMP’s Canadian Police Information Centre (CPIC), a national database, contains a range of useful information maintained primarily for law enforcement. Increasingly, though, it is also an important source of information for employers screening new hires and prospective promotions because it is the only national database of criminal records.

Alternatively, through a “local indices check,” a check of police files and occurrence reports within a region, a broad range of information can be provided. However, the RCMP has issued an interim policy directing what local police forces can say in response to basic searches based on a name and date of birth search alone. If an individual is found to have a record based on such a search, the response is to be:

Based solely on the name(s) and date of birth provided, a search of the National Criminal Records repository maintained by the RCMP could not be completed. In order to complete the request, the applicant is required to have fingerprints submitted to the National Criminal Records repository by an authorized police service or accredited private fingerprinting company. Positive identification that a criminal record may or may not exist at the National Criminal Records repository can only be confirmed by fingerprint comparison. Not all offences are reported to the National Criminal Records repository. A local indices check may or may not reveal criminal record convictions that have not been reported to the National Criminal Records repository.

This qualified statement is deemed necessary to ensure accurate identification. But there is no expeditious process to verify a criminal record. The RCMP’s current verification process can take more than 120 days to complete. The process requires the individual to go to a police station or other certified fingerprinting service. Furthermore, the results of this drawn out process are delivered to the employer – not the prospective employee – not allowing for a chance to explain or justify any erroneous circumstances.

This time factor has significant impact on employers to be sure. The potential delays in making hiring decisions will prove problematic: Will employers risk waiting to hire verified candidates, only to possibly lose them to other employers? Will they bear the risk of hiring non-verified applicants on an interim basis?

Employer reliance on local indices checks is concerning, to be sure. They take time, as we know, but they also leave questions about coverage and human rights compliance – the process needs to be fair and justifiable, both ethically and legally.

Avoid the issue before it becomes detrimental. Get a criminal record check and if there is a need and the situation allows apply for a Canadian Pardon – it is a right of every Canadian. With a pardon no employer will be able to see previous convictions on the search mentioned above. 

4.5 Million Need Not Apply – Criminal Records Catching Up With Canadians

           The myriad of job seekers in the post-recession economy was dealt another blow as revealed by a new report by the National Employment Law Project (NELP). The Report shows that 90% of companies use criminal background checks at some point in their hiring policies. The rise in the use of criminal record checks is now being coupled with stringent and unfair hiring policies in regards to previous criminal records. Companies such as Domino’s Pizza, Lowe’s and RadioShack have implemented policies that require applicants for positions to have “no criminal record. Period.” These employers alone comprise 415,400 jobs in Canada, the United States and abroad. Over 1 in 10 Canadians and 1 in 4 Americans have a criminal record. Many applicants have a record for minor offences that occurred years before and hold no bearing on the current position even so, they are not even considered.

               

             Labour advocacy groups have been arguing against the blanket restrictions on criminal records being imposed. Despite these calls to action the number of companies conducting background checks on applicants continues to grow. The argument that is put forward by advocates of the blanket restrictions is those corporations have a duty to provide a safe work environment for employees and customers. While this is true, a blanket restriction eliminates suitable candidates for discretions that are long since passed and currently have no bearing on the job or workplace security. The overall effect is detrimental to all parties as the possible pool of suitable employees is drastically reduced and the risk of recidivism and future crime is increased by unemployment.

               

             The recommendations that are made by labour advocates are sound. The restrictions on people with criminal records should be lessened to allow all suitable applicants the chance to apply for the betterment of the applicants and the corporations. There is an apparent need to protect job seekers from arbitrary, discriminatory and potentially illegal hiring practices.

             

             In Canada, the recourse against the wave of companies using background check lies in the realm of Pardon Services. Any Canadian can apply for a pardon if they have met the conditions and sentencing of the offence. Once obtained, a pardon can seal a criminal record from a corporation performing a background check. Through a pardon Canadians have the ability to leave their past behind them and continue towards a new job, career advancement, volunteer positions and a wealth of opportunities previously shut out because of a criminal record.

              

            For more information on changing Criminal Record Legislation, Pardons and Record Suspension in Canada visit this informative Blog – Pardon Me, Canada.