09/01/2026
"Am I allowed into Canada with a criminal record?" The honest answer: it depends less on what happened than on exactly when your sentence was fully completed.
Most people count the years from their conviction date. Canadian immigration law counts from the date every sentence condition was completed, including probation, fines, restitution, and even a license suspension. Those two dates can be years apart, and mixing them up is one of the most common reasons people show up at the border unprepared.
We broke down four real scenarios: an unfinished sentence, an old fraud conviction affecting a PR application, a minor infraction that's probably fine (but still worth documenting), and a citizenship-by-descent applicant who assumed his record would disqualify him.
Read it here: https://bit.ly/4x6sNpg
