Pardon

:"Clemency" redirects here. For the town, see Clemency, Luxembourg.

Pardons and clemency in Canada

Pardons

In Canada, pardons are considered by the National Parole Board under the Criminal Records Act, the Criminal Code and several other laws. For Criminal Code crimes there is a three-year waiting period for minor offences, and a five-year waiting period for indictable offences. The waiting period commences after the sentence is completed. An application booklet can be obtained from the National Parole Board at 1-800-874-2652.

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Pardon application

Completing a Canadian pardon application is a complex and time-consuming process, and any error in the application may cause needless and costly delays. Although unnecessary for the completion of the application, many people use private agencies to process their documents to ensure that there are no errors.

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The cost of obtaining a pardon is variable and depends on a number of circumstances unique to each application:

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• $50 National Parole Board Fee for the processing of the pardon
• $0 to $20.00 per Court document, payable to the Courts
• $0 to $26.75 for fingerprinting services by your local police or authorized fingerprinting agent
• $0 to $70.00 per local police check (payable to the local police) for each town/city you have lived in over the past 5 years
• Agency fees (if you hire an agent to assist you), are in addition to the above

Processing time for each application depends on whether it qualifies as an emergency. For regular applications, the typical process can take a year or two, or more. Emergency Pardons are difficult to obtain, and are evalutated on a case-by-case basis by the National Parole Board. Once pardoned, a criminal records search for that individual reveals "no record".

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The address for a pardon application booklet is:

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Clemency and Pardons Division

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National Parole Board

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340 Laurier Avenue West

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Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0R1

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Clemency

In Canada, clemency is granted by the Governor-General of Canada or the Governor in Council (the federal cabinet) under the Royal Prerogative of Mercy. Applications are also made to the National Parole Board, as in pardons, but clemency may involve the commutation of a sentence, or the remission of all or part of the sentence, a respite from the sentence (for a medical condition) or a relief from a prohibition (e.g., to allow someone to drive that has been prohibited from driving).

Related Topics:
Governor-General of Canada - Governor in Council - Royal Prerogative

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