How a criminal record check can stop you from getting a job

If your job or volunteer position requires a background check, past bad behaviour can return to haunt you.Here's how a criminal record could stop you from getting a job.
Police background checks are required for an increasing number of jobs and volunteer positions, including school programs, real estate licences, warehouse employment, taxi licences, trucking licences, and for other civil-screening purposes.

Criminal records are stored in a centralized database which is operated by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP). This includes all convictions where no pardon was granted, all charges regardless of disposition, outstanding warrants and charges, all judicial orders, and other information of interest to police investigations.

To find out what’s required to obtain a standard criminal record check as well as the access forms you’ll have to fill out, visit your local police services website.

• You can also go to a third-party service that will do the check for as low as $35, with some offering same-day results.
• To get the check started, you will need to prove who you are, with ID such as a driver’s licence or passport, as well as secondary ID with a signature.

Four levels of checks
Within the standard checks, there are four levels with increasing degrees of rigour:

• Level 1 includes records of criminal convictions for which a pardon has not been granted.
• Level 2 also includes outstanding charges that the police force is aware of.
• Level 3 adds to these records of discharge that have not been removed.
• Level 4 includes the previous levels plus a check on local police, court, and law enforcement agency databases.

Vulnerable Sector Checks (VSC)
The other type of screening is the Vulnerable Sector Check (VSC). This may be required if you will be working or volunteering with vulnerable members of society, such as children, the elderly, or persons with disabilities.

• Examples of positions that may demand a VSC include teachers, social workers, day-care workers, nurses, and children’s sports coaches.
• VSC demands a greater degree of scrutiny to protect people who, because of their age, disability, or other circumstances, are in a position of dependence and at a greater risk than the general population of being harmed by those in a position of authority or trust.

RCMP policy stipulates that the VSC must be completed by the local police service where the applicant resides and for each agency the applicant is working or volunteering for. To have this done requires an agency/organization letter that explains why this is necessary.A detailed description of the specific position you're applying for will also be required.
Fingerprinting
If your check requires fingerprints, because, for example, your information matches an existing record, then the police service can take your prints or may refer you to an RCMP-accredited private fingerprinting company.

• Where once you could have supplied the rolled and flattened 10 fingerprints as ink on paper, now they have to be processed electronically, to speed up processing time.
• After three months, when the search process is completed, your fingerprint submissions are destroyed. They are not added to the RCMP National Repository of Criminal Records and can’t be included in future searches.