Your criminal record check in Vancouver, done online
Vancouver employers, landlords and contract clients ask for a criminal record check all the time, and getting one shouldn’t cost you an afternoon. MyCRC provides a name-based criminal record check online. Your name and date of birth are searched against the RCMP national database, you scan your ID and take a selfie on your phone, and your finished PDF is in your account to download or send. It works the same whether you’re in Kitsilano, Mount Pleasant or across the bridge in North Vancouver.
Getting a check from the Vancouver Police Department
The Vancouver Police Department provides police information checks to people who live in the city. Residents can apply through the VPD’s online web portal, or in person by appointment at its 2120 Cambie Street location, and you give your consent as part of the application. If you live outside Vancouver, the VPD asks you to contact your local police first. In Burnaby, Richmond or Surrey that is usually an RCMP detachment rather than the VPD.
The VPD also makes clear that it doesn’t judge whether you’re suitable for a job; it reports what it finds and the decision belongs to the employer.
Background checks in Vancouver
People in Vancouver search for “background checks” far more than “criminal record checks”, because that’s the word employers use. A background check for a Vancouver job is usually several steps: references, employment and education verification, sometimes a credit check, and a criminal record check. The criminal record check needs your consent and your identity verification, so many employers ask you to get it yourself. That is the part MyCRC covers.
Who asks for one in Vancouver
The tech sector, the film and television industry, the Port of Vancouver and the logistics companies around it, hotels and restaurants, and construction firms all screen new hires. Property managers and strata corporations check building staff, and in one of Canada’s tightest rental markets many landlords ask applicants to attach a criminal record check to their application. Rideshare and delivery drivers are checked before they can start.
Work with children or vulnerable adults
If you’re applying to work with children or vulnerable adults in BC, your organization will screen you through the province’s Criminal Records Review Program, and it will tell you how to start.
Elsewhere in BC
For how checks work across the province, see criminal record checks in BC.
Questions about criminal record checks in Vancouver
Can I get a refund?
You can get your money back if you did not finish every step. The steps are:
- Take a photo of your ID
- Take a selfie
- Check that your information is right
- Agree to send your information to the police
If you stopped before the last step, email support@mycrc.ca and ask for a refund. You get all of your money back.
After you finish every step, there are no refunds. Your report is then ready to download as a PDF. It is not refundable for any reason, no matter what your report says.
How long does a criminal record check take?
Reports can be ready in as little as 15 minutes. The average is about 4 hours. Some take longer, usually because identity verification wasn’t finished, or because confirming your ID takes extra time in our system.
What exactly am I buying?
A name-based Canadian criminal record check. It searches the RCMP’s national database, the Canadian Police Information Centre (CPIC), using your name and date of birth to confirm criminal convictions. You get a PDF report online, with no trip to a police station and no appointment.
Before the search, you are asked about any past criminal convictions. If you have any, you must list them, and the details must match your record. If they don’t match, your report may come back Incomplete.
How much does it cost?
$68.23, tax included. You pay once by card, Apple Pay or Google Pay, with no monthly fees and no hidden costs. See pricing.
How do I get my report?
Your report is in your account. When it’s ready we email you to sign in (the email doesn’t contain the report). On the finished check, Download report saves the PDF to your device. Log in to your account.
Sources
Last reviewed: 2026-10-25