Applying for a Pardon in Ontario

OTTAWA CRIMINAL DEFENCE LAWYER – If you have been convicted of a criminal offence in Canada, you may be eligible for an eventual pardon. A pardon is a seal on your existing criminal record – a process during which all of your previous charges and convictions are removed from the federal database of active criminal files.

Tougher Pardon Rules

A recent article entitled Feds Still Eyeing Tougher Pardon Rules pointed out that over the last couple of years, the National Parole Board has seen an increase in its power to deny pardons. The government has also doubled the amount of time convicted individuals must wait before they can be granted a pardon for violent crimes.

The pardon application process in Canada is generally done through the National Parole Board, and can take anywhere from eighteen months to thirty-six months to complete. Keep in mind that this is a process that must start after you have become eligible to apply for a pardon.

Eligible to Apply

That brings us to the question of when a convicted individual becomes eligible to apply. The answer depends on the nature of the conviction. For example, were the charges for a summary offence or an indictable offence? How severe were the charges, and was violence involved?

For more information on applying for a pardon on your Ontario criminal conviction, you may want to visit the National Parole Board of Canada’s helpful Pardons Fact Sheet.

Contact the Ottawa Criminal Defence Lawyers

If you have been charged with a criminal offence in Ontario, there are a number of options you can take to avoid being convicted – and avoid having to apply for a pardon through the National Parole Board. For more information, contact the Ottawa criminal defence lawyers at Auger Hollingsworth by email [email protected] or by phone at (613) 699-8192.