1. Learn why you may be stopped from entering or staying

Whether you're inadmissible to Canada depends on:

• what crime or other activities you were involved with, and
• the immigration status that you have.

Step 2 describes the role that your immigration status in Canada plays in this.

In Canadian immigration law, a crime can be:

• a regular crime
• a serious crime
• an organized crime

You can also be inadmissible to Canada if the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) proves that:

• you're a security threat, or
• you abused human or international rights.

The CBSA might find out about your crimes when you try to enter Canada after they:

• do a background check on you, or
• check your fingerprints.

Regular crime

In Canada, certain crimes may be regular crimes, for example:

• certain hybrid offences, such as theft under $5,000, assault, or drug possession,
• having 2 convictions for any type of crime from 2 different events, or
• certain indictable offenses, although most indictable offenses are serious crimes.

Serious crime

A crime committed in another country may be a serious crime if:

• you were convicted of an offence that could have a maximum jail sentence of 10 years or more in Canada, or
• you committed an act that's an offence in the place where it was committed and could have a maximum jail sentence of 10 years or more in Canada.

Both are true even if you did not receive a sentence for the crime.

Organized crime

Organized crime includes:

• being a member of a criminal organization,
• taking part in gang activity, or
• participating in a crime that took place in more than one country, such as smuggling.

Security threat

You may not have been convicted of or charged with a crime in another country. But you could still be inadmissible to Canada if the CBSA proves that:

• you're a security threat to Canada, or
• you abused human or international rights.

If you're not sure what type of crime you were accused of or committed, it's important to get legal help.