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Criminal Code

s. 368 Use, Trafficking or Possession of Forged Document

Use, trafficking or possession of forged document

  • Theft, Fraud & Property Offences
  • Theft & Fraud
Maximum sentence
10 years (indictable) / 2 years less a day (summary)
Classification
Hybrid

Last verified: June 2026 · Source: laws-lois.justice.gc.ca

The law says

Criminal Code s. 368
Verify on justice.gc.ca(opens in a new tab)
  • (1)Everyone commits an offence who, knowing or believing that a document is forged, (a) uses, deals with or acts on it as if it were genuine;
  • (b)causes or attempts to cause any person to use, deal with or act on it as if it were genuine;
  • (c)transfers, sells or offers to sell it or makes it available, to any person, knowing that or being reckless as to whether an offence will be committed under paragraph (a) or (b); or
  • (d)possesses it with intent to commit an offence under any of paragraphs (a) to (c).
  • (1.1)Everyone who commits an offence under subsection (1) (a) is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term of not more than 10 years; or
  • (b)is guilty of an offence punishable on summary conviction.
  • (2)For the purposes of proceedings under this section, the place where a document was forged is not material.
Amendment History (4)
  • R.S., 1985, c. C-46, s. 368
  • 1992, c. 1, s. 60(F)
  • 1997, c. 18, s. 25
  • 2009, c. 28, s. 8

Justice Laws is the authoritative version. If this copy and it ever differ, Justice Laws wins.

Immigration

Where this offence sits under IRPA

Uttering means using a forged document as if it were real. It has the same 10-year top sentence as forgery itself, so a conviction is serious criminality under IRPA s.36(1). The offence matters a great deal in immigration, where people use forged passports, visas or immigration papers. There is no deemed rehabilitation when the maximum is 10 years or more. The route is a record suspension for a conviction in Canada (s.36(3)(b)), or an application to be found rehabilitated for one outside Canada (s.36(3)(c)).

This is how the law sorts the offence, not a reading of any one record. An officer decides each case.

IRPA sections involved