Charges withdrawn, stayed or dismissed: what happens to your record

The ways a case can end without a conviction

• Withdrawn: the Crown ends the prosecution before a plea or verdict, for example when the evidence is weak, after diversion, or in exchange for a peace bond.
• Stayed by the Crown: the Crown halts the case under section 579. It can restart it within one year; after that, the case is treated as if it had never begun.
• Stayed by a judge: a judicial stay ends the case for good, for example for unreasonable delay under Charter s. 11(b) (see the court process guide) or an abuse of process.
• Dismissed or acquitted: the court finds you not guilty. You cannot be tried again for the same offence (Charter s. 11(h)), unless the Crown wins an appeal.

Do you have a criminal record?

No. A criminal record, in the usual sense, is a list of convictions, and none of these outcomes is a conviction. A standard criminal record check shows only convictions that have not been suspended, so a withdrawn or stayed charge should not appear on it.

But the police still hold records: the arrest, the charge, your fingerprints and photographs if they were taken, and the local police file. Some higher-level checks, such as a vulnerable sector check, can include this non-conviction information in some provinces. Ontario’s Police Record Checks Reform Act limits it to exceptional cases. Border officers in other countries may also see some Canadian police information: see travelling to the US with a record.

Getting your fingerprints and photographs destroyed

• Write to the police service that charged you (not the court) and ask for the destruction of your fingerprints, photographs and related records. Most services have a form on their website.
• Include the court outcome: a copy of the court record showing the charge was withdrawn, stayed or dismissed. You can ask the courthouse criminal office for it.
• Many services wait until any appeal period has passed, and up to a year after a Crown stay, before deciding. Some charge a fee; many do not.
• Once the police service approves, it asks the RCMP to remove the prints from the national repository. Keep the confirmation letter.
• Police can refuse in some situations, for example when other charges are pending or the case involved violence. A lawyer can ask them to reconsider.

No pardon needed

A record suspension (pardon) only applies to convictions. If your case ended without one, the right step is the destruction request above, not a pardon application. Absolute and conditional discharges are different again: they are findings of guilt with no conviction, removed from the national database after one or three years.

Keep the paperwork

Keep a certified copy of the court outcome and the police destruction letter. Employers, immigration officers and border officers sometimes ask what happened, and the documents answer faster than memory.