A pre-employment background check sounds simple until a result comes back with something on it. Then the questions start. Can we use this? Did we ask at the right time? How long do we keep it?

Here are 10 questions HR teams bring to their lawyers, answered in plain language for Canadian employers.

This is general information, not legal advice. Rules vary by province and sector. For a specific case, speak to employment counsel.

1. Is a pre-employment background check legal in Canada?

Yes, when 3 conditions are met. The candidate gives informed consent. What you check is relevant to the job. And you use the results in line with human rights law.

There's no single background check law in Canada. Screening falls under several:

• privacy law: PIPEDA for federally regulated employers, plus separate private sector privacy laws in Quebec, Alberta and British Columbia
• provincial police record check laws, such as Ontario's Police Record Checks Reform Act
• provincial human rights codes
• provincial consumer reporting laws, for credit checks

2. Do we need the candidate's consent?

Yes. Police services and accredited providers won't run a criminal record check without the candidate's written consent. Privacy law also expects you to explain what you're collecting and why.

Consent should name the specific checks you're running. If you re-screen later, get fresh consent.

3. When should we run the pre-employment background check?

After a conditional offer, not at the application stage. The Ontario Human Rights Commission recommends this approach, and it's sound practice across Canada.

Screening every applicant means collecting personal information from people you'll never hire. That's hard to justify under privacy law. It also exposes you to claims that a record influenced an early decision.

Make the offer conditional on a satisfactory background check, and put that in writing.

4. Can we refuse to hire someone because of a criminal record?

Sometimes. It depends on the province and the record.

• In Ontario, the Human Rights Code protects people with a pardoned federal conviction or a provincial offence, such as a Highway Traffic Act conviction.
• In British Columbia and Quebec, the protection covers convictions unrelated to the job. Quebec also protects pardoned convictions.
• Several other provinces and territories have their own protections.

The practical test is relevance. Is the record genuinely connected to the duties of the role? A fraud conviction matters for a bookkeeper. It may not matter for a warehouse associate.

5. What about pending charges?

A pending charge is not a conviction, and people charged with a crime are presumed innocent.

A standard criminal record check won't usually show a pending charge. An enhanced check, which also searches local police records, can. If one appears, consider whether the charge relates to the job, give the candidate a chance to respond, and document your reasoning. This is one to take to counsel before you act.

6. Can we run a credit check on a candidate?

Only where financial trust is part of the role: accounting, finance, cash handling or signing authority. Provincial consumer reporting laws generally require you to at least notify the candidate, and best practice is written consent.

Running a credit check for a role with no financial duties is hard to justify under privacy and human rights law.

7. Is social media screening legal?

Yes, with consent. The risk is what you see. A candidate's profiles can reveal protected grounds such as age, religion, family status or disability. Once you've seen them, it's hard to prove they didn't influence your decision.

The safer approach is a structured review that reports only job-relevant findings. Credibled's social media screening looks only at public content, with the candidate's consent. It flags posts in set risk categories such as hate speech, bullying and violence, rather than showing you every post. It isn't available in Quebec.

8. Do the rules change by province?

Yes, significantly. A few examples:

• Ontario defines 3 types of police record checks: the Criminal Record Check, the Criminal Record and Judicial Matters Check, and the Vulnerable Sector Check. Each has its own disclosure limits.
• Quebec has its own privacy law (Law 25) and Charter protection for convictions unrelated to the job.
• Alberta and British Columbia have private sector privacy laws that cover employee information.
• British Columbia's Criminal Records Review Act requires a government-run check for many roles working with children or vulnerable adults.

As a rule, apply the laws of the province where the employee will work.

Sources: Police Record Checks Reform Act, 2015, Commission d'accès à l'information du Québec

9. What if a pre-employment background check comes back with a record?

Don't withdraw the offer right away. Follow a consistent process:

This protects you if the decision is ever challenged, and it's fair to the candidate.

10. How long can we keep background check results?

Only as long as you need them for the purpose you collected them for. Canadian privacy law doesn't set 1 fixed period for employers, so set your own in writing.

If you used a result to make a decision, keep it long enough for the candidate to ask to see it. After that, destroy it securely. Many employers keep the consent form and the outcome rather than the full report.

Put your pre-employment background check rules in writing

Most of these answers come back to consistency. A written screening policy should set out which checks you run for which roles, when you run them, how you assess results and how long you keep them. That protects you better than any single decision.