3. Get your own background check

Your youth records must be sealed or erased after a specific amount of time. See Step 1.

But sometimes records aren't erased or sealed as soon as they should be. If your record has not been sealed or erased on time, it may be incorrectly included in a background check.

Before you start applying for new jobs, you can ask the police for a background check for yourself. This will let you find out if your youth record has been sealed or erased.

Get and review your background check

To get your background check, go to your local police or the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP). You might even be able to do this online. Even though a youth record is not a criminal record, police services call this a criminal record check. Ask for a “criminal record check” or a “criminal record and judicial matters check”. You will have to pay a fee.

Once you get your background check report, review it. Make sure there are no mistakes. Look for any youth records. If there are youth records, check the access period to see if it's open or closed. For information about the access period, see Step 1.

If the record is supposed to have been closed but is still included in your background check, this is a mistake. If you find a mistake, ask the police to fix it. If they refuse, contact a youth justice lawyer right away.

Separate adult and youth records

Youth records and adult records must be kept separate. If the police find a youth record during your background check, they must create 2 reports:

• A background check report that shows only the youth records. They can only give this report to you. You should not show this report to anyone except a lawyer.
• A background check report that shows any other records and doesn't mention the youth records. This report can be shared with an employer if you've given permission. See Step 4.