Canada approved 17,600 rehabilitation applications from people with criminal records hoping to enter the country in the last decade, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has confirmed to CTV News.
From 2014 to 2024, more than 25,350 foreigners submitted an application to have their criminal record forgiven so they can enter Canada, whether on a work or study visa, to apply for permanent residency, or for a short-term visit.
Of those, nearly 70 per cent were approved, nearly 20 per cent were refused, and about 10 per cent of applications were withdrawn.
“Canadians’ safety will always be our top priority,” wrote IRCC spokesperson Remi Lariviere in an email to CTV News. “Decisions to approve or refuse a rehabilitation application are made by experienced immigration officers, based on legal criteria and a detailed review of the facts.”
“People with past convictions outside Canada must demonstrate they have been rehabilitated and do not pose a risk to Canadian society,” Lariviere also said.
IRCC does not filter the applications for the type of criminal activity. The department also did not specify how many applications were for people hoping to visit Canada for a short period, versus work, study, or a permanent residency application.
IRCC also does not filter for the applicant’s country of origin.
Immigration and refugee lawyer Chantal Desloges said in an interview on CTV Your Morning that everyone with a conviction must submit a rehabilitation application before being allowed to enter Canada, with the process being the same whether they’ve committed a crime or violated federal law.
For example, Desloges said, she had to complete an application on behalf of a client who was convicted of hunting ducks out of season, and who would not have been able to enter Canada without approval from IRCC.
“The vast majority of these offences are pretty minor,” Desloges said. “I mean, when you hear these terms like foreign criminals, it sounds very scary.”
“Rehabilitation has been a longstanding practice, with provisions that have been outlined in the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA) since 2001, more specifically under paragraph 36(3)(c),” Lariviere wrote. “This is not about “forgiving” crimes. These provisions are applied cautiously, and on a case-by-case basis.”
To have a rehabilitation application approved, Lariviere wrote, a person must show that five years have passed since the offence or completion of their sentence, and demonstrate they are unlikely to commit further crimes.
All applications, Lariviere added, are assessed by an IRCC official who takes into consideration the nature and seriousness of the offence, the amount of time that’s passed since it was committed, “evidence of good nature since,” the applicant’s community support, as well as other factors.
Desloges said while the process to submit a rehabilitation application is the same whether the applicant committed a crime or violated any federal law, the screening by IRCC officials is “much more rigorous” depending on the severity of the crime.
“The more serious the offence, the less likely it would be that it would be granted,” she said.
According to IRCC, “individuals must still meet all other requirements for a visa or immigration program.”
“This process has helped reunite family members and spouses of Canadians, and allowed performers and professional athletes (to) enter Canada, despite having a criminal conviction in their past,” Lariviere wrote. “Approval for rehabilitation simply renders the individual not inadmissible due to their criminal past — it does not automatically grant entry to Canada."
Calling the number of people with prior criminal convictions who are approved for rehabilitation “a drop in the bucket” compared to the total number of people visiting Canada every year, Desloges added a successful application does not necessarily mean the individual has already entered the country.
“Some people, they just want to clear it for the future,” she said. “I’ve had people that want to apply for it for information only, so that they just know that they could come back in the future if they wanted to.”
Asked about concerns that people facing deportation from the United States might try to come to Canada, Desloges said it’s “quite possible,” but added that Canada’s inadmissibility laws are stricter than they are south of the border.
“The U.S. is more concerned with crimes that have some sort of depravity attached to them, or what they call crimes of moral turpitude, whereas ours is much more black and white,” she said. “If you have a conviction, it almost doesn’t matter what it is. It will make you inadmissible if you’re a foreign national. There are some exceptions, but they’re rare.”
Desloges cited the example of a conviction for driving under the influence. Someone with such a conviction would be unlikely to have any issues entering the U.S., but trying to enter Canada with the same record would be “extremely serious,” she said.
