How to Start in Canada

How to Start Getting a Police Certificate for a Licence or Credential Application in Canada

A regulator asked for a police certificate, a criminal record check, or a vulnerable sector check — and they are not the same document. This guide matches the exact words in the request to the right issuer, covers fingerprints, the $25 federal fee, processing times, the British Columbia exception, and foreign police certificates.

Written October 30, 2026 · 18 min read

Applies in: across Canada

A licence or credential application in Canada often asks for one document under several names: a police certificate, a criminal record check, a police information check, or a vulnerable sector check. The names sound interchangeable. They are not. Each name points to a different issuer, a different search, and sometimes a different result — and a regulator that asked for one will not accept another. This guide starts from the request itself: what the regulator's letter actually says, which check those words name, and where that check is obtained. It covers the Canadian checks first, then the foreign police certificates newcomers are often asked for alongside them.

The first rule is the one that saves the most wasted fees: the requester's words govern. A regulator, a college, or an employer decides which check it wants, who must issue it, whether the result goes directly to them or to you, and how recent it must be. No guide — including this one — can override that letter. If any of those four answers is missing from the letter, ask the requester before you book anything. A check obtained first and matched to the letter afterwards is how applicants pay twice.

Step 1: Read the request for four answers

Before you search for a fingerprinting company or a police station, find these four things in the regulator's instructions, the application form, or the letter that asked for the check:

  • The exact name of the check. "Criminal record check," "criminal record and judicial matters check," "vulnerable sector check," "certified criminal record check," and "police certificate" name different products. In Ontario, the Police Record Checks Reform Act standardizes three types — criminal record check, criminal record and judicial matters check, and vulnerable sector check — and limits what each may disclose. Other provinces use different names for similar products, so a name that is standard in one province may not be the name your regulator uses.
  • The issuer. A local police service, an RCMP-accredited fingerprinting company, or — in British Columbia for regulated professions — the Criminal Records Review Program. The issuer is not interchangeable: an accredited fingerprinting company cannot provide a vulnerable sector check, and a local police check is not a certified criminal record check.
  • The destination. Some checks are sent by the police service directly to the requesting organization; the RCMP's vulnerable sector page states that once the check is completed, the police service conducting it will send the results to the requesting organization. Others are mailed to you, and you upload or forward them. A result sent to the wrong address has to be obtained again.
  • The recency rule. How recently the check must have been issued. This guide states no universal validity period, because none was verified on the RCMP pages opened for it: the requester sets the window, and the window is part of the request. If the requester sets no window, get the check as close to submission as the processing time allows, and keep the issue date visible on the document you submit.

Write the four answers down before you do anything else. Every step below follows from them.

Step 2: Match the name to the check

Certified criminal record check (fingerprint-based). This is the RCMP product: fingerprints submitted to the RCMP's Canadian Criminal Real Time Identification Services are searched against the National Repository of Criminal Records, and the result is a certified copy of the criminal record, or a statement that no record was found. It is the most definitive Canadian check, and it is the one immigration and many licensing processes require when they specify fingerprints. The RCMP's page on types of certified criminal record checks lists the information each application type releases — employment, volunteer, immigration, adoption, and other purposes each release a different set — so the purpose you state when you apply affects what appears on the product. State the purpose the regulator named, not a general one.

Local police record check (name-based). Your local police service searches its own records and the Canadian Police Information Centre database by name and date of birth. Names vary by province and service — police information check, criminal record check, and criminal record and judicial matters check are all used — and what the check discloses depends on the type requested. A name-based check is faster and cheaper than a fingerprint-based one, but it is also the check most likely to be refused where the regulator specified fingerprints: a name match to another person's record can only be resolved by fingerprints. If the regulator's letter says "fingerprint-based" or "certified," a name-based check does not satisfy it.

Vulnerable sector check. A police information check plus a check for a record suspension (pardon) for sexual offences. It exists to protect children and vulnerable persons, it is governed by section 6.3(3) of the Criminal Records Act, and it is available only for a position of trust or authority over children or vulnerable persons — being in contact with such persons is not enough; the nature of the position must cause the person to have authority over, or the trust of, children or vulnerable persons. It is conducted for individual positions, it is for positions within Canada, and it is not available for adoptions. Fingerprints are required only in some cases, to confirm identity — see the FAQ on why fingerprints are requested. Critically, a vulnerable sector check must be conducted by the local Canadian police service where the applicant lives, or in British Columbia by the Criminal Records Review Program. Accredited fingerprinting companies do not provide vulnerable sector checks, and no private company can substitute for the police service.

Police certificate (immigration use). The name Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada uses for the document it requires in immigration applications. It is a foreign document in most cases — a certificate from the police authority of each country where the applicant lived — and it follows IRCC's per-country instructions, not the RCMP's check types. Do not carry the immigration meaning into a licence application, or the licence meaning into an immigration application: the two requesters run different systems with different document names, and Step 5 below covers the foreign-certificate route separately.

Step 3: Get the Canadian check — the right door, in person or from abroad

If the check is a vulnerable sector check: go to your local police service. In British Columbia, follow the Criminal Records Review Program process your regulator names. Bring the description of the position, the name of the organization staffing it, details about the children or vulnerable persons involved, and — for a volunteer position — a letter from the organization stating you will not be paid for services or expenses. The police service first decides whether the position meets the legal requirements; if it does not, it is illegal for the service to conduct the check, and it will refuse. Once the position qualifies, a name-based search is conducted, and fingerprints are requested only if identity confirmation is needed. Expect the result to go to the requesting organization, not to you.

If the check is a certified criminal record check and you are in Canada: visit your local police service or a fingerprinting company accredited by the RCMP. The RCMP publishes a list of accredited companies, updated at the beginning of each month, and notes that companies can be added or removed at any time — check the current list rather than relying on a company that was accredited when someone else used it. Some police services direct applicants to an accredited company rather than taking fingerprints themselves. Bring the identification the service lists on its booking page, and the regulator's letter or form if one was supplied, so the purpose recorded on the application matches the regulator's request. The police service or company collects the federal fee and submits your fingerprints electronically to the RCMP.

If the check is a certified criminal record check and you are outside Canada: the route has two steps, and skipping either one fails. First, get a paper copy of your fingerprints from an authorized agency where you are — a police service, an embassy or consulate, a notary of the public, or a foreign private fingerprinting company under a memorandum of understanding with an accredited Canadian company or a local police service. The paper copy must show prints of all ten fingers taken in black ink, the name and address of the agency, and the signature and name of the official who took them. Second, contact an accredited fingerprinting company in Canada to convert the paper form to a digital format and submit it electronically to the RCMP. Do not mail fingerprints or the application directly to the RCMP's Canadian Criminal Real Time Identification Services: the RCMP states it will not be accepted. There are no RCMP-accredited private fingerprinting companies outside Canada, so the Canadian company is a necessary middleman, not an optional convenience.

Fees and timing for the certified check. The federal processing fee is $25 for each criminal record check, collected by the police service or accredited company taking your fingerprints, and it is in addition to whatever that service charges — local fees are set by the service, so confirm them before you book. The $25 federal fee is waived in the cases the RCMP page lists, including applying to immigrate to Canada, applying for Canadian citizenship, applying to do volunteer work in Canada (with the organization's letter), applying for a federal government job, and applying to join a Canadian police force. Processing times on the RCMP page are approximate and cover electronic fingerprint submissions: 3 business days or less if there is no match to a criminal record, and 120 business days if manual processing is involved or there is a possible match, with extra time for delivery by Canada Post, since results are mailed to the address provided. Requests are completed in the order received, and the RCMP asks applicants to contact it only if processing runs longer than indicated. Do not plan a regulator deadline around the 3-day figure: the 120-day figure is the planning number whenever a record, a similar name, or incomplete information could force manual review.

Step 4: The British Columbia exception, stated plainly

British Columbia runs its own system for the people most likely to be asked for a check: regulated professionals and others who work with children or vulnerable adults. The Criminal Records Review Program, under the Criminal Records Review Act, is the authorized body for conducting vulnerable sector checks in the province, and the RCMP's own page sends British Columbia applicants there. In practice, the regulator collects your consent and forwards it to the program — the British Columbia College of Nurses and Midwives, for example, states that the check is completed by the Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General, that applicants undergo it as part of the application process, that licensees are re-checked every five years, and that fingerprints are required only if a potentially relevant record is found, at the applicant's cost. The British Columbia teaching certificate process works the same way: consent every five years through the Ministry of Education and Child Care, forwarded to the program, with suspension and then cancellation of the certificate if the check is not completed.

The practical consequence is simple: if your British Columbia regulator's instructions name the Criminal Records Review Program, follow them and do not substitute a check from another issuer. A local police check or a private fingerprinting company's certificate may be a real document, but it is not the document that regulator asked for, and the regulator's system will not have a consent record to match it to. If your British Columbia request comes from an employer rather than a regulator, the employer's letter names the issuer — read it the same way Step 1 describes.

Step 5: Foreign police certificates for credential and immigration applications

Newcomers are often asked for two different things at once: a Canadian check for time spent in Canada, and a police certificate from each other country where they lived. The foreign certificates follow a different system. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada publishes a police certificate page for each country, naming the exact document to request and the steps to obtain it, and those pages are the authority for the foreign route. Three warnings from those pages are worth carrying into any application:

  • The document name is exact. One country's page names a Police Clearance Certificate and states that character certificates are not accepted; another names a Police Character Certificate. Requesting the wrongly named document produces a document the requester will not accept, even if it comes from the right office.
  • Some countries require a request letter first. Some country pages state that Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada will send a letter requesting the certificate after you apply, and that you must bring that letter when you apply for the certificate. If your country's page says that, the sequence is application first, certificate second — and the certificate cannot be obtained early no matter how much time the rest of the application takes.
  • Keep proof of the request. If a certificate cannot be obtained, or will arrive late, the requester's instructions — not this guide — say what substitute evidence is accepted. Keep receipts, reference numbers, and copies of every request, and tell the requester early that a certificate is delayed rather than submitting an application with a silent gap.

For a licence or credential application, the regulator's own instructions name which foreign certificates it wants and from which periods of residence. Do not transfer the immigration rule of thumb — a certificate from every country where you lived six months or more — into a regulator's application unless that regulator states it: regulators set their own residence periods, and some ask only for the country where you trained or last practised. Read the regulator's list, then use IRCC's per-country pages for the mechanics of obtaining each certificate it names. If a certificate is not in English or French, plan for a certified translation alongside the original, and do not submit only your own translation where the requester requires a certified one.

Step 6: When the result arrives — read it before you send it

Check four things on the document before it leaves your hands: your full name and date of birth match the application exactly; the check type named on the document matches the type the regulator requested; the issue date falls inside the regulator's recency window, if one was set; and the destination is the one the regulator specified — uploaded by you, or sent directly by the police service. A name or date-of-birth error is fixed at the issuing service, not by editing the document, and a document with the wrong check type is a new application, not a correction.

If the check shows a record, do not assume the licence is refused, and do not conceal the record: the regulator's instructions say what must be disclosed and what a record means for that licence, and this guide gives no advice on admissibility or rehabilitation. What you can do is tell the regulator promptly, provide exactly what it asks for, and keep the original document — a regulator that receives a photocopy where it asked for an original, or a scan where it asked for the police service to send the result directly, will ask again. If a vulnerable sector check was refused because the position did not meet the legal requirements, that refusal is a statement about the position, not about you: the requesting organization must reframe the position description or accept that no vulnerable sector check can lawfully be conducted for it.

Before you book: the checks that save a second application

First, the regulator's letter names the check, the issuer, the destination, and the recency window — get all four in writing before you book. Second, a vulnerable sector check means your local police service, or the Criminal Records Review Program in British Columbia; an accredited fingerprinting company cannot do it. Third, fingerprints mailed directly to the RCMP are not accepted; from outside Canada they go through an accredited Canadian company. Fourth, one vulnerable sector check covers one position; a different position or a different requester usually means a new check. Fifth, plan around 120 business days for a certified check whenever a deadline matters, not the 3-day no-match figure. Sixth, a foreign certificate must carry the exact document name on IRCC's per-country page for that country — a similarly named document from the right office is still the wrong document.

Related guides

From the regulator's letter to a check the regulator accepts, in six moves

  1. Copy the regulator's exact wordsWhich check is named, who must issue it, whether it goes to the regulator or to you, and how recent it must be. Those four answers decide everything that follows.
  2. Match the words to the checkA certified criminal record check is fingerprint-based and issued through the RCMP. A vulnerable sector check is a different product, done only by your local police service — or, in British Columbia, through the Criminal Records Review Program.
  3. Pick the right doorLocal police service for a vulnerable sector check or a local record check. Local police or an RCMP-accredited fingerprinting company for a certified criminal record check. Never an accredited company for a vulnerable sector check.
  4. Get fingerprinted, if that is the checkElectronic fingerprints go to the RCMP's Canadian Criminal Real Time Identification Services. From outside Canada, paper fingerprints go through an accredited Canadian company, never mailed directly to the RCMP.
  5. Pay the federal fee, plus the local feeThe federal processing fee is $25 for each certified criminal record check, waived for immigration, citizenship, volunteer, and some other purposes. The local police or fingerprinting company sets its own fee on top.
  6. Send it the way the regulator askedSome regulators want the result sent to them directly; others want you to upload it. A check sent to the wrong address, or one check reused for a different position, is a second application.

Questions people ask

My regulator asked for a 'police certificate.' Is that the same as a criminal record check?

Not necessarily, and the distinction is the whole point of this guide. 'Police certificate' is the name Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada uses for the document it requires in immigration applications, and its per-country pages name the exact document for each country. For a licence or credential, 'police certificate' in a regulator's letter usually means a criminal record check, but only the regulator's letter can say which one: a name-based local police record check, a fingerprint-based certified criminal record check through the RCMP, or a vulnerable sector check. Read the letter for the check's name, the issuer it names, and whether the result goes to the regulator or to you. If the letter names a vulnerable sector check, go to your local police service — an RCMP-accredited fingerprinting company cannot provide one. If it names a certified criminal record check, fingerprints are part of the check, not an extra. Do not buy the fastest online check and hope the regulator accepts it; a check from the wrong issuer is a wasted fee and a second appointment.

Why was I asked for fingerprints for a vulnerable sector check? Does that mean I have a record?

No. Fingerprints in a vulnerable sector check are usually an identity confirmation, not an accusation. The RCMP's vulnerable sector page explains that a name-based search is conducted first, and in some cases fingerprints are required to confirm identity. Local police services explain the trigger the same way: fingerprints are requested when the applicant's gender and date of birth match an existing pardoned sexual offence record, so the check can confirm the applicant is not that person. Being asked does not mean you have a record, and it does not mean a record was found. The fingerprint step can add substantial time — the RCMP's processing page gives up to 120 business days where manual processing or a possible match is involved — so a fingerprint request late in an application is a reason to tell the regulator the check is in progress, not a reason to assume the worst.

Can one police check cover several licence applications or jobs?

Do not assume so. For vulnerable sector checks, the Criminal Records Act requires the check to be conducted for individual positions, and the RCMP states plainly that applying for different positions that require one may mean submitting fingerprints for each of those individual positions. A regulator may also set its own recency rule — how recently the check must have been issued — and a check issued for one regulator, addressed to that regulator, may not be accepted by another. The safe move is one check per requester, issued as close to the submission date as the requester allows, and a fresh check whenever a regulator or employer asks for its own. Reusing a check across applications is the most common way a complete application comes back as incomplete.

I live in British Columbia. Do I go to my local police service for a criminal record check for my licence?

For a regulated profession in British Columbia, usually not as your first step. The RCMP's vulnerable sector page directs British Columbia applicants to the British Columbia Criminal Records Review Program, and the colleges describe the same route: the regulator collects your consent and forwards it to the program, which runs the check against provincial data and RCMP information. The British Columbia College of Nurses and Midwives states that applicants undergo the check as part of the application process and licensees are re-checked every five years, and that fingerprints are required only if a potentially relevant record is found, at the applicant's cost. If your British Columbia regulator's instructions name the Criminal Records Review Program, follow those instructions and do not substitute a local police check or a private fingerprinting company's check. If you are outside a regulated profession and an employer asks for a local check, the employer's letter — not this guide — names the issuer.

I need a police certificate from another country for a Canadian application. Where do I start?

With Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada's per-country police certificate page for that country, which names the exact document and the steps to get it. The pages differ by country in ways that matter: one country's page names a Police Clearance Certificate and says character certificates are not accepted, another names a Police Character Certificate and offers an in-person and a mail route, and some pages say Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada will send a request letter after you apply, which you must bring when you apply for the certificate. Do not use a generic 'police clearance' service for a country whose page names a specific document and a specific office. If the certificate is not in English or French, plan for a certified translation alongside the original, and keep proof that you requested it — a regulator or immigration officer who cannot read the document, or cannot tell which document it is, will ask again.

How long does a certified criminal record check take, and what does it cost?

The RCMP's processing page gives two figures for electronic fingerprint submissions: 3 business days or less where there is no match to a criminal record, and 120 business days where manual processing is involved or there is a possible match to a criminal record, with extra time allowed for delivery by Canada Post, because results are mailed to the address provided. The federal processing fee is $25 for each criminal record check, collected by the police service or accredited fingerprint company taking your fingerprints, and it is in addition to the local or company fee, which varies and must be confirmed with that service. The $25 federal fee is waived where you are applying to immigrate to Canada, applying for Canadian citizenship, or applying to do volunteer work in Canada, among the other cases the RCMP page lists. Plan around the 120-day figure whenever a deadline matters: a no-match result in days is the common case, but it is not a promise, and a regulator's deadline does not move because the RCMP queue did.

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Sources

No universal validity period for a Canadian criminal record check is stated in this guide, because none was verified on the RCMP pages opened for it: the requester sets the recency window. No local police or fingerprinting-company fee figure is stated beyond the $25 federal fee, because local fees are set by each service and must be confirmed with that service. No processing time for a local police record check or a vulnerable sector check is stated, because the RCMP figures above cover electronic fingerprint submissions to the RCMP only. Re-check the regulator's letter and the RCMP's accredited-companies list on the day you apply: both govern over any summary, including this guide.

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