Information on the two main ways in which a person can be rehabilitated and allowed to enter Canada.
Under Canadian law, a person will be inadmissible to Canada if he or she has committed certain crimes. For more information on the kinds of crimes that can lead to a person being found inadmissible to Canada, click the following links.
Determining Inadmissibility for Individual Criminality
Determining Inadmissibility for Organized Criminality
There are many ways, however, for a person who has been deemed inadmissible to Canada for criminal acts to overcome an inadmissibility finding and be allowed to enter Canada.
One way of overcoming a finding of criminal admissibility is to get a Temporary Residence Permit (TRP). For an Overview of TRPs, click here.
A person can also overcome an inadmissibility finding via rehabilitation. Attaining rehabilitation usually depends on:
The type of crime that was committed
How long it has been since the crime was committed
The way that a person has behaved since committing the crime.
There are two main kinds of rehabilitation: Deemed Rehabilitation and Individual Rehabilitation.
I. Deemed Rehabilitation
A person can be deemed to be rehabilitated if enough time has passed since he or she has committed a crime. In order to be deemed rehabilitated, a person must have committed a crime that comes with a jail term of less than ten years or less than five years depending on the crime. Being deemed rehabilitated does not involve an application process. It merely involves showing a Canadian official that enough time has passed since you last committed a crime. For more on Deemed Rehabilitation, click here.
II. Individual Rehabilitation
As opposed to deemed rehabilitation, which is concerned with how much time has passed since a crime was committed, individual rehabilitation involves an assessment of whether a person is likely to commit new crimes. Individual rehabilitation also involves a formal application process. In order to apply for individual rehabilitation, individuals must be able to show:
That they meet the relevant criteria
That they have been rehabilitated
That they are unlikely to take part in future crimes.
That, at least five years have passed since the end of their criminal sentence, including probation.
That, at least five years have passed since they committed the original crime.