Individual Rehabilitation: How to Permanently Overcome Criminal Inadmissibility to Canada

A past conviction, even a single old one, can make you inadmissible to Canada. Individual rehabilitation is the permanent way to fix that. Once Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) approves it, the offence no longer bars you from entering or immigrating, and the approval never expires. This guide explains what criminal inadmissibility is, who qualifies for individual rehabilitation, the five-year rule, the fees, and exactly how to apply.

Key Facts About Individual Rehabilitation

• What it is: a permanent solution to criminal inadmissibility, granted by IRCC.
• Eligibility: at least five years must have passed since you finished your sentence and since you committed the act.
• Duration: the approval is permanent and never needs renewal, unless you reoffend.
• Fee: about CAD $246 for non-serious criminality and CAD $1,199 for serious criminality, non-refundable.
• Processing: often more than a year.
• If you cannot wait: a temporary resident permit (TRP) can authorize urgent travel in the meantime.

What Is Criminal Inadmissibility?

Criminal inadmissibility means you are not allowed to enter or stay in Canada because of a criminal offence. It applies to offences committed inside or outside Canada, and it works through equivalency: IRCC compares your foreign offence to its closest equivalent in the Canadian Criminal Code. If that equivalent offence exists, you can be inadmissible even if the offence seemed minor or happened long ago. Canadian law divides these offences into two levels:

• Criminality (non-serious): the Canadian-equivalent offence carries a maximum sentence of less than ten years. These are often treated as summary offences.
• Serious criminality: the Canadian-equivalent offence carries a maximum of ten years or more, or you received a sentence of more than six months. These are indictable offences.

The distinction matters because it decides which remedies are available to you and how much they cost.

What Is Individual Rehabilitation?

Individual rehabilitation, commonly called criminal rehabilitation, is a permanent solution to criminal inadmissibility. You apply to IRCC, and the Minister or a delegate decides whether to grant it. Once approved, the past offence no longer makes you inadmissible, the decision never expires, and you do not have to reapply, as long as you do not commit a new offence. It effectively closes the chapter on that conviction for immigration purposes.

Who Is Eligible for Individual Rehabilitation?

You are eligible to apply once at least five years have passed since two dates: the end of your sentence and the day you committed the act that made you inadmissible. The end of your sentence means every part of it, including any jail time, probation, parole, fines, community service, and driving suspension. If you have more than one conviction, the five-year clock runs from the last sentence you completed, not the first.

Beyond the time requirement, you must show that you are rehabilitated: that you lead a stable lifestyle and are highly unlikely to reoffend. Evidence such as steady employment, community involvement, and letters of reference all strengthen this part of your case.

Individual Rehabilitation vs Deemed Rehabilitation

Deemed rehabilitation is when enough time has passed that you are considered rehabilitated automatically, without applying. It is only available for less serious offences. In general, you may be deemed rehabilitated ten years after completing the sentence for a single indictable offence whose Canadian-equivalent maximum is under ten years, or five years after two or more summary offences. Deemed rehabilitation never applies to serious criminality, and it is narrow and strictly time-based, so you should not simply assume it applies to you. When it does not, individual rehabilitation is the route.

What About DUIs?

Impaired driving is the most common trap. Since December 18, 2018, a DUI is treated as serious criminality in Canada because the maximum penalty rose to ten years. As a result, a DUI from that date onward generally cannot be cleared by deemed rehabilitation, no matter how much time passes. If your impaired-driving offence falls under the current rules, you usually need individual rehabilitation once five years have passed, or a TRP if you must travel sooner. A single DUI from before December 2018 may still qualify for deemed rehabilitation, but only after ten years and under strict conditions.

How Much Does Criminal Rehabilitation Cost?

The main cost is the government processing fee, which depends on the seriousness of the offence. Following a fee adjustment in late 2025, the fee is about CAD $246 for non-serious criminality and CAD $1,199 for serious criminality. The fee is non-refundable, even if your application is refused, so confirm the current amount on canada.ca before you pay. Budget separately for supporting costs such as police certificates and document authentication.

How Long Does It Take?

IRCC warns that rehabilitation applications can take more than a year to process, and serious criminality cases often take longer. Because of that, timing is everything. If you have travel planned, start early, and consider a TRP as a bridge rather than assuming your rehabilitation will be decided in time.

How to Apply for Individual Rehabilitation

The application is a paper-based process submitted to the visa office responsible for your region. The steps generally look like this:

1. Confirm your inadmissibility and its level. Identify the Canadian-equivalent offence and whether it is criminality or serious criminality, since this drives your eligibility and fee.
2. Check that you meet the five-year rule. Calculate five years from the last sentence element you completed and from the date of the act.
3. Gather your documents. These typically include the application form (IMM 1444), police certificates from every country where you have lived for six months or more since age 18, certified court records and judgments, proof that you completed your sentence, a personal statement of rehabilitation, and reference letters.
4. Pay the processing fee for your offence level.
5. Submit your application to the responsible visa office by mail or courier. If you are applying together with a visitor visa, study permit, or work permit application, you can often submit everything at the nearest Visa Application Centre.
6. Respond to any follow-up. An officer may request additional documents or an interview before deciding.

Accuracy matters at every step. A complete, well-documented application that clearly proves both eligibility and rehabilitation is far more persuasive than a thin one.

What If You Need to Travel Before You Are Eligible?

If less than five years have passed, or you cannot wait a year or more for a decision, a temporary resident permit (TRP) may authorize a specific trip. A TRP is temporary and discretionary, granted when your reason to enter outweighs the risk, and it does not permanently fix your inadmissibility. Many people who are eligible for rehabilitation apply for both at once: a TRP for near-term travel and rehabilitation for the permanent solution.

Canadian Convictions: Record Suspension Instead

Individual rehabilitation is for offences committed outside Canada. If your conviction happened in Canada, you instead apply to the Parole Board of Canada for a record suspension, formerly called a pardon. Once granted, you are no longer inadmissible on that basis. If you have convictions both inside and outside Canada, you generally need both a record suspension and an approval of rehabilitation.

How Criminal Inadmissibility Affects Your Immigration Plans

Criminal inadmissibility does not only block short visits. It can affect a study permit, a work permit, permanent residence, and family sponsorship, because an inadmissible applicant, or in some cases an inadmissible family member, can jeopardize the whole application. This is why resolving it early matters. If a partner's record is the issue in a spousal sponsorship, or if you are facing an admissibility hearing, addressing the inadmissibility directly is usually the priority. Criminal inadmissibility is one of several grounds; you can read about another in our overview of medical inadmissibility.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Not declaring an old charge or conviction. Leaving it off a form can turn a criminality issue into a misrepresentation finding, which carries a much longer bar.
• Assuming deemed rehabilitation applies. The criteria are narrow and do not cover serious criminality, including most current DUIs.
• Forgetting the act date. Eligibility runs from both the end of the sentence and the date of the act.
• Incomplete police certificates. You need them from every country where you lived six months or more since age 18.
• Waiting too long to plan. Processing can exceed a year, so start well ahead of any travel.

How SEP Immigration Can Help

Rehabilitation cases turn on equivalency, timing, and evidence, and small errors can cost you a year or trigger a misrepresentation finding. SEP Immigration, led by Sepehr Falahati (CICC and IRB member R533959), assesses your inadmissibility, confirms your eligibility, and prepares a complete, well-documented application.

This page is general information, not legal advice. Inadmissibility is highly fact-specific, and rules and fees change. For official guidance, see the Government of Canada's pages on overcoming criminal convictions, deemed rehabilitation, and the application for rehabilitation, or speak with a licensed representative.