Security Requirements

You and your family members (spouse/common-law partner and dependent children) must not be any risk to Canada. You and all your family members aged 18 and over who are not Canadian citizens or permanent residents must undergo background checks. This also applies to your family members outside Canada.

For each country in which you or your family members have lived for more than six months during the past 10 years, you must provide a police certificate, clearance or record of no information. If you or your family members were under 18 years of age when you lived there, you do not need to provide a police certificate. It is your responsibility to contact the police or relevant authorities.

We will also conduct our own background checks to determine if you have any arrests or criminal convictions, or if you pose a security risk to Canada.

How to apply for police certificates

For the following countries, police certifcates should not be obtained before applying for permanent residence. You may receive special instructions at a later date about police certificates for these countries.

If you have lived in one of the countries listed below, you will need additional forms before applying for permanent residence. If you do not have the forms, phone the Call Centre and they will mail them to you.

If other countries where you have lived are added to these two lists, you will be asked to provide police certificates before your application is concluded.

Contact the police authorities in the applicable countries for information on forms, fees and procedures. The high commission, embassy or consulate for the country located here in Canada may be able to give you addresses and phone numbers.

Most countries require that you provide fingerprints. See the Where to get fingerprints taken section below for instructions.