Criminal Record Checks
in Canada

APPLY FOR A CRIMINAL RECORD CHECK

What are Criminal Record Checks?

Criminal record checks allow individuals to demonstrate that they do not have a criminal conviction in Canada. This in turn allows them to travel abroad, gain employment, adopt a child, or volunteer as a coach, amongst other activities.

Depending on the provincial jurisdiction, there are three different types of criminal record checks:

  1. Name-based checks where an individual’s name
    and date of birth are checked against the Canadian Police Information Centre’s database (CPIC);
  2. Criminal Record Check / Police Information Check which searches local, judicial and federal databases;
  3. Vulnerable Sector Checks that extend in the aforementioned databases to determine if there exist any legitimate concerns around an applicant’s suitability to interact with vulnerable populations and;
  4. Regulatory checks that are used to determine an individual’s reliability to work in specific regulated industries such as transportation.
 

In Canada, criminal record checks are usually carried out in one of three ways:

  1. In-person checks where an individual shows up at their local police agency during regular business hours according to police employee availability. This is the most labour-intensive and costliest form of check for a police agency, and requires time and effort from the applicant.
  2. Third-party providers deliver convenient 24∕7 online access for a check that is completed by another police agency in another municipality or province. All the fees are kept by the third-party entity, away from the municipality or region of the applicant and sometimes even taken out of the country as dividends. Applicants’ private information and criminal record checks are accessed and kept by the third-party provider.
  3. A Virtual Front Counter where applicants apply to their police agency using the PoliceSolutions.ca platform, which authenticates the applicant’s identity and supplies a zero-cost software solution for the police agency to conduct all three types of checks efficiently and quickly while respecting the applicant’s privacy rights.

What are the advantages to the PoliceSolutions.ca platform?

The PoliceSolutions.ca platform can be accessed anywhere in Canada, 24∕7 by applicants. It confirms who the applicant is through Electronic Identity Verification (EIV). The solution then collects the fees determined in advance by the police agency along with a nominal convenience fee, all paid for by the applicant through a secure payment card industry (PCI)-compliant process. 

Once completed, a ‘virtual handshake’ is provided by the solution to the police agency providing the entire criminal record check request. The police agency then proceeds with the type of criminal record check requested and communicates directly with the applicant, thereby ensuring the latter’s privacy and security. At no point does PoliceSolutions.ca have access to any of the processes or results of the actual criminal record check.

PoliceSolutions.ca supplies numerous advantages to applicants, police agency and municipal entities:

  • No cost to the police agency or municipal entity.
  • Significant cost savings and convenience for the police agency from the traditional in-person model.
  • Free continual training, support, and ongoing platform upgrades and enhancements to police personnel.
  • Enhanced information security certifications.
  • Additional modules: free analytic dashboards to the police agency.
  • All development and servers are located in Canada.
  • Solution developed by and with the support of Canadian police agencies, in both French and English.
  • Training and support provided by former police members who are subject matter experts.
  • Off-the-shelf product facilitates ease and speed of implementation.
  • No cost to police or the municipality, allowing for sole-source procurement.

Why your municipality?

Municipalities throughout Canada are already lowering costs and ensuring a convenient, safe, and efficient means for their residents to obtain criminal record checks using the PoliceSolutions.ca platform.

They also benefit from large local government agencies and private enterprises in their area that regularly require criminal record checks, thereby increasing revenue. If they wish, they can even split revenue by funneling criminal record check requests to those jurisdictions using PoliceSolutions.ca with a Canada-Wide Profile regardless of who the police agency provider is – be it stand-alone, RCMP or provincial police. 

PoliceSolutions.ca can be used effectively to respond to the needs of your residents and improve revenues for your municipality. In essence, allowing you to re-invest in your community.

What is your municipality doing?

Are you providing a safe, convenient, and cost-effective way for your residents to obtain a criminal record check?

Are you optimizing a revenue stream that otherwise is going to private enterprises that take money out of your community?

Are you encouraging privacy best practices?

If not, you need PoliceSolutions.ca