Time alone can wipe out an old conviction from abroad, with no application and no fee, but only at the lighter end. A single conviction clears after ten years if the Canadian equivalent carries a maximum under ten years and you have stayed out of trouble since. Two or more offences that would be summary matters here clear after five years. Anything the Canadian equivalent punishes by ten years or more never clears this way, and you would have to apply for rehabilitation instead.
(1)For the purposes of paragraph 36(3)(c) of the Act, the class of persons deemed to have been rehabilitated is a prescribed class.
(2)The following persons are members of the class of persons deemed to have been rehabilitated: (a)persons who have been convicted outside Canada of no more than one offence that, if committed in Canada, would constitute an indictable offence under an Act of Parliament, if all of the following conditions apply, namely,(i)the offence is punishable in Canada by a maximum term of imprisonment of less than 10 years,(ii)at least 10 years have elapsed since the day after the completion of the imposed sentence,(iii)the person has not been convicted in Canada of an indictable offence under an Act of Parliament,(iv)the person has not been convicted in Canada of any summary conviction offence within the last 10 years under an Act of Parliament or of more than one summary conviction offence before the last 10 years, other than an offence designated as a contravention under the Contraventions Act or an offence under the Youth Criminal Justice Act,(v)the person has not within the last 10 years been convicted outside Canada of an offence that, if committed in Canada, would constitute an offence under an Act of Parliament, other than an offence designated as a contravention under the Contraventions Act or an offence under the Youth Criminal Justice Act,(vi)the person has not before the last 10 years been convicted outside Canada of more than one offence that, if committed in Canada, would constitute a summary conviction offence under an Act of Parliament, and(vii)the person has not committed an act described in paragraph 36(2)(c) of the Act, other than the one for which they have been convicted; (b)persons convicted outside Canada of two or more offences that, if committed in Canada, would constitute summary conviction offences under any Act of Parliament, if all of the following conditions apply, namely,(i)at least five years have elapsed since the day after the completion of the imposed sentences,(ii)the person has not been convicted in Canada of an indictable offence under an Act of Parliament,(iii)the person has not within the last five years been convicted in Canada of an offence under an Act of Parliament, other than an offence designated as a contravention under the Contraventions Act or an offence under the Youth Criminal Justice Act,(iv)the person has not within the last five years been convicted outside Canada of an offence that, if committed in Canada, would constitute an offence under an Act of Parliament, other than an offence designated as a contravention under the Contraventions Act or an offence under the Youth Criminal Justice Act,(v)the person has not before the last five years been convicted in Canada of more than one summary conviction offence under an Act of Parliament, other than an offence designated as a contravention under the Contraventions Act or an offence under the Youth Criminal Justice Act,(vi)the person has not been convicted of an offence referred to in paragraph 36(2)(b) of the Act that, if committed in Canada, would constitute an indictable offence, and(vii)the person has not committed an act described in paragraph 36(2)(c) of the Act; and (c)persons who have committed no more than one act outside Canada that is an offence in the place where it was committed and that, if committed in Canada, would constitute an indictable offence under an Act of Parliament, if all of the following conditions apply, namely,(i)the offence is punishable in Canada by a maximum term of imprisonment of less than 10 years,(ii)at least 10 years have elapsed since the day after the commission of the offence,(iii)the person has not been convicted in Canada of an indictable offence under an Act of Parliament,(iv)the person has not been convicted in Canada of any summary conviction offence within the last 10 years under an Act of Parliament or of more than one summary conviction offence before the last 10 years, other than an offence designated as a contravention under the Contraventions Act or an offence under the Youth Criminal Justice Act,(v)the person has not within the last 10 years been convicted outside of Canada of an offence that, if committed in Canada, would constitute an offence under an Act of Parliament, other than an offence designated as a contravention under the Contraventions Act or an offence under the Youth Criminal Justice Act,(vi)the person has not before the last 10 years been convicted outside Canada of more than one offence that, if committed in Canada, would constitute a summary conviction offence under an Act of Parliament, and(vii)the person has not been convicted outside of Canada of an offence that, if committed in Canada, would constitute an indictable offence under an Act of Parliament.
18.1 (1) The class of foreign nationals who are inadmissible solely on the basis of having been convicted in Canada of two or more offences that may only be prosecuted summarily, under any Act of Parliament, is a prescribed class for the application of paragraph 36(2)(a) of the Act. (2) A member of the class prescribed in subsection (1) is exempt from the application of paragraph 36(2)(a) of the Act if it has been at least five years since the day after the completion of the imposed sentences.