Hello everyone,

I am urging anyone to provide some advice if possible as this is a very big grey area for me.

I received a DUI in Michigan, USA and was charged with a local misdemeanor earlier this year. Since then, the Ministry of Transportation has indeed found out and administered their punishment for the DUI (1 year license suspension, back on track classes) here in Ontario.

HOWEVER,

I am extremely confused as to if I in fact have a criminal record or not being that the conviction was in the United States and not Canada. I have recently obtained a police clearance report from York Regional Police and there is nothing on there. So being that I was charged in the US with a misdemeanor and not in Canada under the Criminal Code, do I in fact have a criminal record? Is this something that could pop up when a future employer does a background check?

No body seems to know the answers to my questions and I am really hoping someone can help shed some light on to all of this.

To have a criminal conviction in Canada you'd have to have been found guilty by a Canadian court which you were not. The penalty is an administrative one based on reciprocity.

You do not have a Canadian Criminal Recird but you couldn't answer no to the question have you been convicted of a criminal offence.

You don't have a Criminal record in Canada. You certainly do in the US which may prohibit you from travelling there.

Although I just registered today, I have been browsing these forums for a couple years.

I will disagree with the above posters due to my experience with Pardons and Waivers while working for a company that did just that.

When a person obtains a Criminal Record in the United States and does not get a Pardon, the moment they cross into Canada, all that information is copied over into Canadian Systems which means that even if they were to Pardon themselves in the US at a future date, they must now also receive a Pardon in Canada and vice versa.

Unless this system changed in the past 2 years, I do believe you have a Criminal Record in Canada and would advise contacting the RCMP seeing as they are National, not local.

Considering they charge $25 for such a check, I suggest you proceed with their Criminal Record check to be 100% certain of your situation.

Also keep in mind that Border Patrol will always see this no-matter what you do and will most likely question you about it.

Interesting.....my only experience was running CRs on people that I knew had DUIs in the US and they came back clear.

But, based on the possibility, I'd drop the $25 and be sure - although these things can take time to hit the system.

I can't imagine how one would need to get a Canadian pardon for an offence that wasn't committed in Canada but I'm willing to be shown I'm wrong.

Of interest ?

http://www.duientry.com

argyll wrote:

Of interest ?

http://www.duientry.com

Turns out the rules of the game have changed according to that webpage:

In 2016, CBSA agents were given increased access to criminal databases making it easier for them to identify foreign criminals crossing the border. Previously, it was fairly common for citizens of the United States to get into Canada with a drunk driving charge. As of 2016, however, the chance of an American being denied entry because of a criminal record is far greater than in years past. When a visitor's passport is scanned at the border, the likelihood of a criminal record being detected is significantly higher now, so it's important to consider applying for a Canada Temporary Resident Permit or Criminal Rehabilitation if you're inadmissible due to criminality. Even though a DWI is not as serious a criminal offense as murder or armed robbery, it can still cause major problems at the Canadian border. Attempting to cross the border while criminally inadmissible to Canada is not a good idea unless you have obtained special entry permission.