Criminal Rehabilitation for Canada: Eligibility and How to Apply

On This Page, You Will Find:

• What Counts as Criminal Inadmissibility
• Deemed Rehabilitation: The Automatic Route
• Individual Rehabilitation: How to Apply
• Criminal Rehabilitation Application Fees
• Where to Submit Your Application
• Processing Times
• Impaired Driving Convictions Since December 2018
• Temporary Resident Permits: A Short-Term Alternative
• Frequently asked questions

If you have a criminal record – even a minor one, and even if the conviction happened outside Canada – you may be considered criminally inadmissible under Canada’s immigration law. That does not mean the door is closed permanently. Criminal rehabilitation is the process Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) uses to formally recognize that enough time has passed, or that you have demonstrably turned your life around, so that you can be allowed to enter Canada again.

This page explains the two forms of rehabilitation – deemed and individual – along with current application fees, where to submit an application, how long processing takes, and the special rules that now apply to impaired driving convictions.

Rehabilitation is separate from a Temporary Resident Permit (TRP), which allows short-term entry without permanently resolving inadmissibility. We explain how the two options relate to each other below.

What Counts as Criminal Inadmissibility

Under Canadian immigration law, you can be found criminally inadmissible for a crime committed in Canada or anywhere else in the world, including theft, assault, dangerous driving, drug offences, and impaired driving. Even a conviction that would be considered minor in another country can trigger inadmissibility if Canada treats the equivalent offence seriously.

IRCC sorts inadmissible convictions into two tiers:

• Criminality – the Canadian equivalent offence carries a maximum prison term of less than 10 years.
• Serious criminality – the Canadian equivalent offence carries a maximum prison term of 10 years or more, or you actually served a prison sentence of more than six months.

Which tier applies determines whether deemed rehabilitation is even available to you. For a full breakdown of how inadmissibility is assessed, see our criminal inadmissibility overview.

Deemed Rehabilitation: The Automatic Route

Deemed rehabilitation is not something you apply for – it happens automatically once enough time has passed, provided your situation qualifies. You do not need to file paperwork, but it is wise to have your situation assessed by a visa office before you travel, so you are not refused entry at the border.

You may be deemed rehabilitated if:

• The Canadian equivalent of your offence carries a maximum prison term of less than 10 years (that is, it falls under “criminality,” not “serious criminality”).
• At least 10 years have passed since you completed your sentence, if you have one indictable-equivalent conviction.
• At least 5 years have passed since you completed your sentence, if you have two or more summary conviction-equivalent offences.
• You have no other convictions that would otherwise make you inadmissible.

Deemed rehabilitation is never available for serious criminality. If your offence falls into that tier, you will need to apply for individual rehabilitation instead.

Individual Rehabilitation: How to Apply

Individual rehabilitation is a formal application to IRCC in which you demonstrate that you are not likely to commit new crimes. Unlike deemed rehabilitation, it is available for both criminality and serious criminality, which makes it the only permanent route to resolving a serious criminality finding.

To qualify, you must show that:

• At least five years have passed since you completed your criminal sentence, including any probation or parole.
• At least five years have passed since the date you committed the act that made you inadmissible.
• You meet the program’s eligibility criteria and have genuinely been rehabilitated.
• You are highly unlikely to take part in further criminal activity.

A complete application typically includes the official rehabilitation application form, certified court and sentencing documents, recent police certificates, and a personal statement or reference letters that speak to your conduct since the offence.

Criminal Rehabilitation Application Fees

IRCC charges a non-refundable processing fee for individual rehabilitation applications, and the amount depends on which tier your offence falls into. Effective December 1, 2023, the government fee was set at $229.77 for criminality and $1,148.87 for serious criminality. Under the Service Fees Act, IRCC adjusts these fees for inflation every December 1, so the figures rise slightly each year – third-party trackers report the December 2025 rates at roughly $246 and $1,231 respectively. Confirm the exact current amount on IRCC’s official fee list before you submit payment, since the fee is non-refundable whether or not your application is approved.

Where to Submit Your Application

A standalone criminal rehabilitation application must be mailed or couriered – it cannot be submitted online or dropped off in person – to the visa office responsible for your country or region of residence. If you are applying for rehabilitation at the same time as a temporary resident application (a visitor visa, study permit, or work permit), you can submit both together at the nearest Visa Application Centre.

If you need an Electronic Travel Authorization (eTA) to fly to Canada, you must have your rehabilitation approved first. Applying for an eTA before your rehabilitation is confirmed risks having your eTA assessed – and possibly refused – based on your current inadmissible status.

Processing Times

IRCC advises that criminal rehabilitation applications can take over a year to process, and self-assessed deemed rehabilitation determinations handled by a visa office can take six months or more. Processing time depends on the visa office handling your file, the complexity of your criminal history, and whether your application package is complete. Build this timeline into any travel, work, or study plans well in advance – do not book travel to Canada before your rehabilitation is confirmed.

Impaired Driving Convictions Since December 2018

Tougher penalties for impaired driving took effect in Canada on December 18, 2018, when Parliament reclassified impaired driving as a hybrid offence with a maximum penalty of up to 10 years. As a result, an impaired driving conviction – whether it involved alcohol, drugs, or cannabis, and whether it happened in Canada or abroad – is now treated as serious criminality for immigration purposes.

This has an important practical consequence: deemed rehabilitation no longer applies to impaired driving offences committed on or after December 18, 2018, because deemed rehabilitation is never available for serious criminality. If your impaired driving conviction falls after that date, your options are individual rehabilitation (once five years have passed since your sentence ended), a Temporary Resident Permit, or, if you were convicted in Canada, a record suspension from the Parole Board of Canada.

If your impaired driving offence occurred before December 18, 2018, IRCC assesses your inadmissibility using the penalties that were in force at the time. In that case, you may be inadmissible only for ordinary criminality rather than serious criminality – unless you actually served a Canadian prison sentence longer than six months – which means deemed rehabilitation may still be available 10 years after you completed your sentence.

Temporary Resident Permits: A Short-Term Alternative

A Temporary Resident Permit (TRP) lets you enter or remain in Canada temporarily despite being criminally inadmissible, if you have a compelling reason to travel and an officer decides your need to be in Canada outweighs any health or safety risk. A TRP is issued at an officer’s discretion, is valid only for a limited period, can be cancelled at any time, and does not permanently remove your inadmissibility the way rehabilitation does.

A TRP can be useful if you need to travel to Canada before you become eligible for deemed or individual rehabilitation, or while a rehabilitation application is still in process. There is no guarantee a TRP will be issued, and a processing fee applies.

Frequently Asked Questions