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Criminal record checks

Canadian criminal record check results, explained

A result is not a pass or fail. It is a comparison between what the candidate declared and what the search returned. "Negative" sounds like bad news and means the opposite. "Incomplete" sounds like a red flag and usually is not one. Here is every result you can see, and what to do next.

Get started I'm being screened
Credibled CRC-4471
Sarah Connor Requested by M. Dyson, Cyberdyne Systems
Review
Basic check CPIC, matched against the declaration Negative
Enhanced check Local police records Not Clear
Read the comments field first Returned in 14 min
Review, not a verdict Review means a person needs to look at it. It is a routing label.

The 2 searches that produce a result

A Canadian criminal record check can include either or both. They are independent: a candidate can be Negative on the basic check and Not Clear on the enhanced check, or the other way around.

Basic check

A CPIC search, matched against the declaration

A search of the Canadian Police Information Centre database for criminal convictions, compared against what the candidate declared.

Negative Confirmation of a Criminal Record Incomplete

Enhanced check

A wider search, including local police records

Includes local police records, so it can surface information that never became a conviction.

Clear Not Clear

A Vulnerable Sector Check is a separate process

It can only be run by a police service, and no screening provider in Canada can complete one on your behalf. If a role requires one, the candidate applies through their local police.

Basic check results

Three possible labels. The report extracts below are illustrations, built with sample data.

Negative

Nothing was found

This is the clean result. Think of it the way you would a medical test: negative means nothing turned up.

Both of these are true

  • The candidate declared no criminal convictions.
  • The search returned no criminal convictions.
Canadian criminal record check, basicCRC-4471
CandidateSarah Connor
Date of birth1983-05-••
SearchCPIC, criminal convictions
ResultNegative
CommentsNo criminal convictions found. The declaration matches the search result.
Illustration of a report extract. Negative on the basic check.
Confirmation of a Criminal Record

The declaration and the record line up

The candidate declared 1 or more convictions, and the search confirmed them.

What it tells you

This result is about accuracy, not character. It says the candidate was upfront and that what they told you is correct.

Whether the record matters to the role is a separate hiring decision, and it is covered further down this page.

Canadian criminal record check, basicCRC-4472
CandidateKyle Reese
Date of birth1984-09-••
SearchCPIC, criminal convictions
ResultConfirmation of a Criminal Record
Comments1 conviction declared by the candidate and confirmed by the search. Offence details are listed on page 2 of the report.
Illustration of a report extract. Confirmation of a Criminal Record.
Incomplete

The two sides do not line up

The declaration and the search results disagree, or the search could not be closed out on name and date of birth alone.

Incomplete is not the same as a criminal record. Common names, name changes and data entry differences all produce it. Read the comments field before drawing any conclusion, and expect to go back to the candidate.

Common reasons

  • The candidate declared no convictions, but the search returned 1 or more.
  • The candidate declared convictions, and the search returned records that do not match what was declared. This can go either way, more records than declared or fewer.
  • Details such as name, date or court location do not match the search results.
  • The candidate declared convictions, and the search returned nothing.
  • The search could not be completed on name and date of birth. Fingerprints are the next step.
Canadian criminal record check, basicCRC-4473
CandidateJohn Connor
Date of birth1985-02-••
SearchCPIC, criminal convictions
ResultIncomplete
CommentsThe search could not be completed on name and date of birth alone. Fingerprints are the next step.
Illustration of a report extract. Incomplete on the basic check.

Want to see your own result first?

If you are the one being screened, you can run your own Canadian criminal record check with MyCheck and see exactly what an employer would see. Online, no police station, no appointment.

Run my own check

Enhanced check results

Two labels, and the second one is the most misread result on any report.

Clear

The search returned nothing

No local police records surfaced against the candidate. Paired with a Negative basic check, it closes the file as Cleared.

Canadian criminal record check, enhancedCRC-4472
CandidateKyle Reese
SearchLocal police indices and court registries
ResultClear
CommentsNo records found in PSP/RMS, local police indices or local court registries.
Illustration of a report extract. Clear on the enhanced check.
Not Clear

The search returned 1 or more results

Not Clear does not mean a conviction. Most of the items listed below are not convictions at all. The report tells you what was found so you can assess it against the role.

Canadian criminal record check, enhancedCRC-4471
CandidateSarah Connor
SearchLocal police indices and court registries
ResultNot Clear
CommentsRecords found in PSP/RMS, local police indices and/or local court registries.
Illustration of a report extract. Not Clear on the enhanced check.

What a Not Clear result can include

  • Summary conviction offences
  • Pending charges
  • Conditional and absolute discharges
  • Wanted and accused person information
  • Pending probation information
  • Pending court orders and undertakings
  • Pending release conditions
  • Pending diversions such as restorative justice
  • Persons of special interest to police
  • Deportation orders
  • Illegal entry charges from the CBSA
  • Charges stayed of proceedings

How the 2 results combine

Every check closes as either Cleared or Review. Only a Negative basic check closes as Cleared, and only when the enhanced check comes back Clear or was not ordered.

Everything else routes to Review, which means a person needs to look at it. Review is a routing label, not a verdict.

How a basic and an enhanced result combine into one outcome.
Basic checkEnhanced checkOverall
NegativeClearCleared
NegativeNot orderedCleared
NegativeNot ClearReview
Confirmation of a Criminal RecordAny, or not orderedReview
IncompleteAny, or not orderedReview
Try it

What a Canadian criminal record check looks like

A completed check arrives as a dated certificate. Change the result below and the certificate rewrites itself, so you can see exactly which combinations close as Cleared and which route to Review.

Check ordered
Basic check result
Enhanced check result
Overall result Cleared No action needed.
Illustration
Name-based Canadian criminal record check
1Applicant information
Date of application10 Jul 2026
Legal full nameREEDE, FLETCHER
Date of birth30 Nov 1968
AddressToronto, Ontario, Canada
Type of IDDriver's licence
2Basic Canadian criminal record checkNegative

Based solely on the name(s) and date of birth provided and any criminal record information declared by the applicant, a search of the RCMP National Repository of Criminal Records did not identify any records.

3Enhanced Canadian criminal record checkClear

No records found in PSP/RMS, local police indices or local court registries.

4Issuing agency information
Issued byPort Hope Police Service
Date issued10 Jul 2026
Serial number1024
Officer IDPO4417
Badge of the
issuing service

Negative and Clear is the only combination that closes as Cleared. Nothing here needs a human.

How to read it

  1. 1Applicant informationThe name, date of birth and address the search was run against, and the identity document used.
  2. 2Basic checkThe CPIC search result, stated against the RCMP National Repository, with its comments field beneath.
  3. 3Enhanced checkOnly present when an enhanced check was ordered. Local police indices and court registries.
  4. 4Issuing agencyThe police service that issued it, the date, the serial number and the officer ID.

An illustration, not a copy of a real certificate. Every provider and police service lays it out differently, but the information is broadly the same: who was searched, what was searched, the result, and who issued it.

The badge is drawn as a placeholder here on purpose. On a real certificate the crest of the issuing police service sits in that spot. Which service it is varies: any accredited Canadian police service can issue the check, and it depends on the partnership behind it.

What to do with a Review result

A Review result does not disqualify anyone. It asks you to make a decision. A workable process looks like this.

1

Read the comments field first

It usually explains the gap in 1 or 2 lines.

2

Confirm identity

A large share of Incomplete results come down to matching the right person, not to a record. Identity verification runs alongside the criminal check and resolves this quickly.

3

Go back to the candidate

Give them the chance to explain a discrepancy or correct a detail. Most are resolved in a single conversation.

4

Assess relevance to the role

A 12 year old offence unrelated to the job is not the same as a recent, directly relevant one. Write down your reasoning.

5

Apply your policy consistently

Whatever you decide, the same standard has to apply to every candidate for that role.

This page is not legal advice

Human rights legislation in several provinces restricts what employers can do with certain records, including pardoned convictions and provincial offences. Requirements vary by province and by role, and this page is not legal advice. If you are building a screening policy, run it past your own counsel.

For candidates

Questions candidates actually ask

If you are the person being screened, this section is for you. A criminal record check looks at police and court records. It does not look at your phone, your browser, or your personality.

What a record check actually looks at

Do they look at my search history?
No. A criminal record check searches police and court records. There is no access to your browsing history, your search history, your messages, or your devices. No screening provider in Canada has that access.
Can they see my Yelp reviews, my posts, or my old tweets?
Not on a criminal record check. That check looks at police and court records only. A social media check is a completely separate product that an employer has to order deliberately, it reviews publicly visible content only, and it is not available in Québec. If your employer has not ordered one, nobody is reading your reviews.

Minor incidents, tickets and fines

I got a warning from a police officer. Does that show up?
A verbal warning is not a charge and not a conviction, so it does not appear on a criminal record check. Local police may keep an internal occurrence record of the contact. Rules on disclosing non conviction information are tightly limited and vary by province. In Ontario, the Police Record Checks Reform Act, 2015 sets out when non conviction information can be released at all, and for standard employment checks the answer is generally that it cannot.
Do parking tickets show up on a background check?
No. Parking tickets are municipal or provincial matters, not Criminal Code convictions. They do not appear on a criminal record check. Moving violations and demerit points are a different story, and those live on a driver's record check, which is a separate check an employer would have to order on purpose.
Does a library fine count as a criminal record?
No. An unpaid fine to a library is a debt, not a criminal matter. It will not appear on a criminal record check.
I got escorted out of a store. Is that a criminal record?
Being asked to leave a private business is not a criminal record. If it went further and you were charged under provincial trespass legislation, that is a provincial offence, not a Criminal Code conviction, and it still would not appear on a Canadian criminal record check.

Charges that never became a conviction

I was arrested but never charged. Does that count?
An arrest without a charge is not a conviction and does not create a criminal record. As above, disclosure of non conviction police information is restricted, and a standard employment check will not surface it.
My charge was withdrawn or dismissed. Will an employer see it?
A withdrawn or dismissed charge is not a conviction. It will not appear as one on a criminal record check.
What about a pardon, or a record suspension?
Once a record suspension is granted, the record is sealed and set apart in the RCMP database. It does not appear on a standard criminal record check. The narrow exception involves Vulnerable Sector Checks, which only a police service can run.
Do youth records show up?
Youth records are governed by the Youth Criminal Justice Act and are subject to strict access periods and disclosure limits. They are not treated the same as adult convictions and generally do not appear on an employment criminal record check.

Records from elsewhere, and seeing your own

Will convictions from another country show up?
A Canadian criminal record check searches Canadian records. A conviction from another country generally will not appear unless it was entered into a Canadian system. If an employer needs to cover time you spent living abroad, they would order an international criminal record check as a separate check.
Can I see my own result before an employer does?
You can run your own check any time. MyCheck gives you your own Canadian criminal record check online, so you know what an employer would see before you are sitting across from them. Note that MyCheck does not cover Vulnerable Sector Checks, which only a police service can issue.

Still stuck on something? The applicant help centre answers the practical questions about consent, documents and timing, and it is written for candidates rather than employers.

For employers

Questions employers ask

Is a Negative result bad?
No. Negative means nothing was found. It is the clean result.
Does Incomplete mean the candidate lied?
Not on its own. It means the declaration and the search do not match, or the search could not be closed on name and date of birth. Common names and name changes both produce it. Check the comments and speak to the candidate.
Does a criminal record automatically rule a candidate out?
No. The question is whether the record is relevant to the role, and provincial human rights rules limit what you can act on. Decide against a written policy and apply it consistently.
What happens if fingerprints are required?
The candidate submits fingerprints through an accredited provider or police service. That process runs outside the online check and takes longer.
Can Credibled run a Vulnerable Sector Check?
No. Only a police service can complete one. No screening provider in Canada can do it for you.
How long does a Canadian criminal record check take?
About 15 minutes for most candidates, start to finish, online.

Two ways to run a check

Pay per check either way. No subscription, no minimum.

Hiring?

Run a Canadian criminal record check in about 15 minutes.

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Checking your own record?

Get your own check online with MyCheck. No police station, no appointment.

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