A pardon is the forgiveness of a crime and the penalty associated with it. You were convicted of a criminal offense and therefore have a criminal record. The only way to remove this record is to apply for a Pardon.
A Pardon purges your criminal record from the RCMP's Canadian Police Information Centre database.
You will only require one Pardon for your entire criminal convictions report. Therefore, multiple convictions will only require one pardon.
You have been a law abiding citizen after the completion of your sentence, you deserve to be Pardoned!
If you are eligible to apply for a Pardon and have all supporting documents and have been ‘of good conduct’ the National Parole Board will grant you a Pardon.
Effects of a Pardon
Once you receive your Pardon, your criminal record is automatically removed from CPIC databases within 30 days.
Only the Solicitor General of Canada has the authority to disclose your pardoned record. This happens in very exceptional and rare cases.
When asked if you have a criminal record 'for which you have not been pardoned for' you can honestly answer NO.
Under the Canadian Human Rights Act, it is illegal to discriminate anyone who has beenpardoned.
Traveling with a Pardon
Under the Immigration and Nationality Act of the United States. All foreigners with a criminal record are deemed inadmissible into the United States.
Individuals with a criminal record in Canada, but have never been refused entry into the US, can obtain a pardon to have their record removed before traveling. However if the US are made aware of a past record after pardoned, entry may be refused.
If the US was previously made aware of your criminal record when you crossed the border in the past, then the US has downloaded your criminal record into their systems and there is no way of getting this removed. You will have to apply for a Waiver to be able to travel into the US again. The US does not recognize a Pardon.
To travel into the US legally you will require a United States Waiver.
It is up to your discretion on which application you can apply for to cross the United States border. Pardon Granted will not be held liable for any problems at the border.