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Understanding the Results of your Background Check
In this article, you will learn how to review and understand the results of a Canadian criminal record check from Credibled, using an easy-to-follow guide with definitions and examples for terminology. When you get your background check results, it can seem like there is a lot of confusing and contradicting terminology. The goal of this article is to help clear up that confusion.
The Canadian criminal record check from Credibled offers confidence in if your candidate has a criminal history. The depth of these checks depends on the type of Canadian criminal background check. The different types of background checks include:
- Basic: A basic background check only finds indictable offences and hybrid offences, and it has 3 different possible results.
- Enhanced: An enhanced background check is doing a basic check, and looking through other sources for a more detailed description of their criminal history, including summary offences. An enhanced background check has two possible results.
These two types of checks are in the same report, but the enhanced background check results should appear on another page if you ordered them.
Understanding the Checks Result
The results of a basic background check are determined by comparing your candidate’s given information with the outcome of the searches included in the Basic check. The searches are based on your candidate’s name and date of birth. There are three possible results of a basic Canadian Criminal Record Check:
- Negative: This means that there was no criminal record disclosed by the candidate, and no criminal record was found by the background check.
- Confirmation of a Criminal Record: This means that the candidate indicated a prior criminal record, and the checks found a matching criminal record.
- Incomplete: If the result of the basic background check is incomplete, it means one of the following is true:
- The candidate did not disclose any criminal convictions, but our check found one or more criminal convictions.
- The candidate disclosed one or more criminal convictions, but our check did not find any criminal convictions.
- The candidate disclosed one or more criminal convictions, and the check found criminal convictions that do not match those the candidate disclosed. In this case:
- the candidate may have disclosed only some of the criminal convictions found, or
- the candidate may have disclosed more criminal convictions than were found.
- The candidate disclosed criminal convictions, but some details (name, date, or court location) of those criminal convictions do not match what our check found.
- Our check could not be completed using the name and date of birth provided by the candidate.
The results of an enhanced background check are determined by comparing your candidate’s given information with the outcome of the searches included in the enhanced check. The searches are based on your candidate’s name and date of birth. There are three possible results of an enhanced Canadian Criminal Record Check:
- Clear: Meaning that the background checks have not found anything.
- Not Clear: Meaning that the background checks have returned something.
Note:
The Enhanced check’s results do not include details of a candidate’s criminal history. The report only indicates whether the result is Clear or Not Clear.
Overall Results
The different overall results you can get include:
- Review: This means that a criminal conviction has been found, and it corresponds to the candidate’s provided information.
- Cleared: This means that no past criminal convictions have been attributed to the candidate by the check.
The results of Basic and Enhanced checks are completely independent of one another. It is possible for a Basic checks result to be Confirmation of a Criminal Record and their Enhanced check results to be Clear.
Below is a table listing different scenarios where you could get different overall results. If you did not order the enhanced check, just ignore the column.
Basic Check | Enhanced Check | Overall Result |
|---|---|---|
Negative | Clear | Cleared of Criminal Charges |
Negative | Not Clear | Review |
Confirmation of a Criminal Record | Clear/Not Clear | Review |
Incomplete | Clear/Not Clear | Review |
Next Steps
If the candidate thinks that their result is wrong, or if they want a copy of their report, they can contact Credibled.
Expect your background check results within a little while. We work quickly to get you the information you need.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Yes, the basic Canadian Criminal Record Check result is always present in the report. If you’ve ordered the enhanced check, its results will be included on a separate page within the report.
A negative result on your Canadian Criminal Record Check indicates:
- The individual undergoing the check did not disclose any prior criminal convictions.
- The checks found no records of criminal convictions for the said individual.
If your Canadian Criminal Background Check displays “Confirmation of a Criminal Record”, it means that you previously indicated having a criminal conviction, and the background check subsequently confirmed the existence of this past conviction.
If the result of your Canadian Criminal Record Check is “Incomplete”, it means that:
- The candidate incorrectly filled out the form.
- There was no match found using the candidate’s name and birthdate.
- Disclosed convictions don’t match those in the check.
- A discrepancy in the number of convictions the candidate disclosed compared to those found in the check.
‘Review’ indicates a criminal record was found that either matches or contradicts the candidate’s provided details, or the candidate reported a conviction that the check didn’t verify. If the overall result is review and the candidate thinks they have a clear criminal record, contact Credibled.
If your Canadian Criminal Record Checks overall result is cleared, that means that no past criminal convictions were found and none were disclosed.
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