Get Your Criminal Record Check in Victoria, Online

Criminal record check in Victoria, online

Victoria employers, from the provincial government offices around the legislature to hotels on the Inner Harbour, tech companies downtown and shops in Oak Bay and Fernwood, ask for a criminal record check before a new hire starts, and landlords across the region ask too. MyCRC lets you order a name-based criminal record check from your phone: your name and date of birth are searched against the RCMP’s national database, your ID and a selfie confirm it’s you, and the report is a PDF in your account in as little as 15 minutes. It works the same from James Bay, Saanich, Esquimalt, Langford or Sidney.

VicPD doesn’t do regular police checks

This is what surprises most people in Victoria. The Victoria Police Department, which polices the City of Victoria and the Township of Esquimalt, says it only processes vulnerable sector police information checks, and that it does not provide regular, non-vulnerable sector police information checks at all. For a regular check, VicPD’s own page sends residents to outside providers, naming Triton Canada, the Commissionaires and Certn. MyCRC’s checks run on Certn’s technology.

Vulnerable sector checks through VicPD

If a role puts you in a position of trust with children or vulnerable adults and your organization asks for a vulnerable sector check, VicPD handles it for residents of Victoria and Esquimalt. You apply online through the form linked from VicPD’s page, which includes identity validation and payment by Visa, Mastercard or American Express; paper forms are no longer accepted. The processing fee is $80, plus $25 if fingerprints are needed, and volunteers have the fee waived with a letter from their volunteer agency. Online applicants receive the completed check by email as a PDF, and VicPD doesn’t send it to anyone else.

If you need help with the form or don’t have a credit card, VicPD books appointments with a specialist on Tuesdays and Thursdays, 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.; its drop-in hours have ended. Its headquarters is at 850 Caledonia Avenue, and the Esquimalt Division is at 1231 Esquimalt Road.

Work with children or vulnerable adults in BC

Many BC organizations that employ people to work with children or vulnerable adults must screen them through the province’s Criminal Records Review Program instead, and the organization starts that process. See the BC page for how it works.

The regular check, done online

Since VicPD sends regular checks to outside providers anyway, the question is just which one fits you. MyCRC’s name-based check, run on Certn’s technology, is $68.23 with tax included and done from your phone, whether you live in James Bay, Saanich or out on the Westshore.