Purge Eligibility
- If you have an actual conviction, you need a pardon
- You are eligible to apply for a purge at any time
- You cannot have a criminal case pending before the courts
You cannot have a full conviction record in another jurisdiction if you wish to have a non-conviction record purged. Fortunately, Express Pardons completes a Canada-wide search for criminal record info before proceeding further with the purge. In the event a conviction record is found, Express Pardons will contact you to discuss changing your service to a Canadian pardon.
There is no time restriction on when you may apply for a record purge or file destruction. You may apply immediately after completing the arrest or court proceedings which you believe created a non-conviction record.
Obviously, if you are currently under investigation or suspected of criminal activity by your local police, this will pose a significant obstacle to your purge application, as the local police have a say in the destruction of records which originated from their division.
Any withdrawn charge, stay of proceedings, or acquittal record can be purged. For conditional or absolute discharges, only records created before July 24, 1992 can be purged. Discharges that occurred after July 24, 1992 are automatically removed.
