Canadian Forces
Joining the Military
The Canadian Armed Forces do not explicitly prohibit entry into their ranks due to a criminal record. However, a criminal record does complicate the process. If you do not have a criminal record, approval of your application can be made by the recruiting officer more or less automatically. If you do have a criminal record, your application must be "boarded," requiring you to produce letters of reference and a personal statement. The application review process is more complex and less likely to be approved.
Secondly, if you are accepted into the Canadian Forces with a criminal record, you face further difficulties. Most new recruits are routinely sent into the United States and abroad for mandatory training exercises, which you will not be able to participate in due to your criminal record restricting your travel.
Although you can obtain a pardon at anytime during your membership in the Canadian forces, you are better off making the pardon application before joining, as being a member of the CAF during the pardon application process requires a letter of conduct from your commanding officer, which can be an unnecessary embarrassment to request.
Military Records
Offences committed in the service of the Canadian Armed Forces can also be pardoned. Military records are maintained in the form of a Military Conduct sheet, which lists everything from minor military service infractions to criminal offences prosecuted under civilian law through the Criminal Code of Canada, or under military law through the National Defence Act.
In any case, a pardon applicant who has served in the Canadian Forces, as a regular or as a reserve, must have a copy of their military conduct sheet submitted for review by the Board. Express Pardons obtains these records on your behalf as part of our regular pardon services.
For the purpose of determining eligibility for a pardon for offences prosecuted through the National Defence Act, the following rules are stipulated in the CRA:
4. Before an application for a pardon may be considered, the following period must have elapsed after the expiration according to law of any sentence, including a sentence of imprisonment, a period of probation and the payment of any fine, imposed for an offence, namely,
(a) five years, in the case of
(ii) a service offence within the meaning of the National Defence Act for which the offender was punished by a fine of more than two thousand dollars, detention for more than six months, dismissal from Her Majesty's service, imprisonment for more than six months or a punishment that is greater than imprisonment for less than two years in the scale of punishments set out in subsection 139(1) of that Act; or
(b) three years, in the case of
(ii) a service offence within the meaning of the National Defence Act, other than a service offence referred to in subparagraph (a)(ii).
