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Police Record Check: What It Is and How to Get One

Last updated: October 28, 2026

A police record check is the check an employer, landlord or volunteer group means when they ask for a “police check”. Across Canada it goes by several names, it is issued by the police service where you live, and what it contains depends on the level you ask for. This page sets out the names, the levels and the routes, with sources from the police and governments, so you can ask for the right thing the first time.

The same check, different names

  • Alberta and British Columbia: police services call it a police information check, often shortened to PIC. The Calgary Police Service, the Edmonton Police Service and the Vancouver Police Department all use the term.
  • Ontario: the Police Record Checks Reform Act, 2015 sets three levels: a criminal record check, a criminal record and judicial matters check, and a vulnerable sector check. Ontario says volunteers can get the first two free from a police service.
  • Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Nova Scotia: police services call it a criminal record check, with a vulnerable sector search added only when the role needs one.

Whatever the name, the core is the same: a search for criminal convictions in the national records held by the RCMP. Higher levels add more: Ontario’s judicial matters check adds items such as pending charges and certain court orders, and a vulnerable sector check adds more again.

Who issues it

Police record checks come from the police service where you live, and most city services only take applications from their own residents: the Calgary, Regina, Saskatoon and Ottawa police services, Peel Regional Police (Mississauga and Brampton) and the Vancouver Police Department all limit applications that way. Outside the cities, the RCMP detachment for your area handles it. A vulnerable sector check always has to go through the police where you live.

Each service sets its own fee and its own queue. As examples from their own pages: Halifax Regional Police charges $50 and usually takes 14 days, Peel Regional Police charges $35, and the Calgary Police Service charges $75 for employment and processes applications in date order.

Name-based or fingerprint-based

Most police record checks are name-based: they search using your name and date of birth. A fingerprint-based check, which the RCMP calls a certified criminal record check, is needed when a name-based search can’t confirm your identity, and for some purposes such as immigration and adoption. You give fingerprints at a local police service or an RCMP-accredited fingerprinting company. The RCMP charges a federal processing fee of $25 for each one, on top of the local fee, and quotes 3 business days or less when there’s no possible match to a record, and up to 120 business days when there is. More on this in what a CPIC check is and how long a criminal record check takes.

Getting a name-based check online

If the organization asking accepts a name-based criminal record check, you don’t need to wait in a police queue. MyCRC searches your name and date of birth against the RCMP’s national database, confirms your identity with a photo of your ID and a selfie, and puts your report in your account as a PDF, in as little as 15 minutes. It costs $68.23, tax included, and works the same in every province and territory.

Police record checks by province and territory

Sources

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.

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 (what a CPIC check is). 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 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. To compare, see how long police checks take, city by city.

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.

Skip the line. Do it online.

Your name-based Canadian criminal record check, $68.23 tax included, ready in as little as 15 minutes.

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