Vote Yes
An Act to amend the Criminal Records Act, to make consequential amendments to other Acts and to repeal a regulation
This bill replaces discretionary record suspensions with automatic "record expiry" after sentences are completed and a set waiting period (5 years for indictable offences, 2 years for summary offences, and no extra wait beyond sentence completion for offences committed as a child). If the RCMP’s CPIC system shows a new conviction during the waiting period or outstanding charges/investigations at the end, automatic expiry is paused; the Parole Board notifies the person and may order expiry after a review if it sustains rehabilitation and does not bring the administration of justice into disrepute. Once expired, federal records are segregated and non-disclosable without Ministerial approval, with limited public-safety exceptions (including continued vulnerable sector screening), and related statutes are updated to recognize record expiry. Existing record suspensions are deemed expired, pending applications are transitioned into the new framework, and all application fees are eliminated; the Pardon Services Fees Order is repealed.
Overall, the bill aligns with prosperity-focused goals by removing red tape and costs, accelerating reintegration, and expanding the effective labour pool, while retaining targeted public-safety checks. Implementation quality, data integrity, and clarity around serious offences are critical to maintain public confidence and safety.
What is the projected net fiscal impact of eliminating pardon fees and moving to an automated expiry regime, including the costs of CPIC and Parole Board IT upgrades, and will the government table a detailed costing and service-standard plan to ensure savings rather than new backlogs?
Given the bill relies on CPIC to detect new convictions, outstanding charges, or investigations to pause automatic expiry, what safeguards and data-quality checks will ensure records do not expire in error due to incomplete police reporting, and how will the 30-day notification requirement be enforced?
Can the government confirm that vulnerable sector checks will continue to flag relevant expired records for positions of trust involving children and seniors, and explain the evidence supporting the uniform 5-year and 2-year waiting periods for serious offences in light of public safety and recidivism data?
By clearing records automatically, more rehabilitated Canadians can work, rent, and contribute economically, which supports prosperity and reduces recidivism-related costs.
Replaces a costly, paperwork-heavy pardon process with automatic expiry and fee-free reviews, removing red tape that traps people in unemployment and poverty.
Improves labour market participation and hiring flexibility by reducing background-check friction for rehabilitated individuals, modestly lifting productivity.
No direct linkage to exports; any effect is indirect via broader workforce participation.
Indirectly helps employers access a wider talent pool but does not directly target investment or innovation policy.
Automating expiry should reduce Parole Board caseloads and processing overhead; while fee revenue is removed, administrative savings and fewer manual decisions likely lower system costs.
No tax provisions are changed.
Shifts Canada from discretionary pardons to system-wide automatic expiry, potentially benefiting a large share of the population with records and meaningfully expanding the effective labour force.
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