An Act to amend the Criminal Records Act and to make consequential amendments to other Acts

Short title: Reducing Barriers to Reintegration Act Bill C-31 (43-2) Status: At second reading in the House of Commons Type: House Government Bill Sponsor: Bill Blair, Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness (Scarborough Southwest) Latest stage: First reading Legislative

summary <div>A legislative

summary is currently being prepared for this bill by the Parliamentary Information and Research Service of the Library of Parliament. Meanwhile, the following executive

summary is available.<br/><br/>On June 2021, the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness introduced Bill C-31,

An Act to amend the Criminal Records Act and to make consequential amendments to other Acts (Reducing Barriers to Reintegration Act), in the House of Commons and it was given first reading. <br/><br/>Bill C-31 amends the Criminal Records Act to, among other things,<br/>(

a) replace the expression “record suspension” with the term “pardon”;<br/>(

b) reduce the applicable waiting period before a person may apply for a pardon from 10 years to five years if the person is convicted of an offence that is prosecuted by indictment, and from five years to three years if the person is convicted only of an offence punishable on

summary conviction;<br/>(

c) provide that Parole Board of Canada employees may exercise certain powers and perform certain duties and functions of the Board;<br/>(

d) remove the pardon ineligibility of persons who have been convicted of more than three offences prosecuted by indictment for each of which a sentence of two years or more was imposed;<br/>(

e) make persons who were convicted of a terrorism offence for which a sentence of 10 years or more was imposed ineligible for a pardon;<br/>(

f) amend the factors to be considered by the Board when deciding whether to grant a pardon;<br/>(

g) allow for identification following a DNA match in the same manner as following a fingerprint match; and<br/>(

h) remove the exception to automatic cessation of effect of a pardon for those convicted of an offence under subsection 320.14(1) or 320.15(1) of the Criminal Code.<br/>The enactment also makes consequential amendments to other Acts.</div> House of Commons — First reading: Completed (2021-06-10) House of Commons — Second reading: No activity Full bill text is not included in the LEGISinfo JSON export. Open the official Parliament of Canada bill page for the complete document.