in Criminal Records, Criminal Sentencing

Fraud Under $5000 in Canada: What You Need to Know

Fraud is a charge that is similar to theft but has its own legal distinction. Much like theft, fraud involves obtaining goods, services or money in an illegal manner. However, fraud usually entails gaining something through trickery or misrepresentation, while in theft the methods are more straight forward. Since it doesn’t typically involve violence orRead More

in Background Checks

How to Do a Free Background Check on Someone in Canada

Whether it’s to obtain information about a potential employee, caregiver or even a romantic partner, background checks are a useful tool at anyone’s disposal. Running a free background check on someone is a perfectly valid course of action and shouldn’t be approached with any hesitation or negative connotations, such as being paranoid or invasive. ThatRead More

in Pardon

Pardons for Simple Possession of Marijuana

The Liberal government finally announced that they will provide an expedited route to getting pardons for simple marijuana convictions. This came on the day of the monumental shift in Canadian drug policy that will surely result in fewer young people having their lives turned upside for a rather harmless activity. Pardons for marijuana convictions howeverRead More

in US Waiver Information

Pearson Airport Closed for US Waiver Submissions

Please be advised that the United States Customs and Border Protection Waiver Office is now closed until further notice and will no longer be accepting waiver applications, as per the notice on Toronto Pearson’s website: https://www.torontopearson.com/PearsonContent.aspx?id=1198&terms=us+entry+waiver# Following years of Saturday-only business hours, this office was briefly accepting applications on Tuesdays prior to closing completely forRead More

in Uncategorized

Will I Get a Criminal Record for Theft Under $5000?

in Common Charges, Criminal Records, Criminal Sentencing, Pardon

Peace Bonds in Ontario

Peace Bonds in Ontario: How Do They Work? The main thing most people know about the conviction process in North America (or anywhere else for that matter) is that it involves a trial. Ask anyone on the street what a criminal procedure might look like, and their answer will likely be informed by what they’veRead More

in Criminal Records, Pardon, US Waiver Information

Much Ado About the Border

I wish I was a bit more cutthroat. If I were I would probably follow our brave politicians and tell my clients to be perfectly honest at the US border, particularly in relation to marijuana. If I did that more people would be denied access to the United States and they would need help withRead More

in Uncategorized

Toronto Pearson Airport is again accepting US Entry Waiver Applications

UPDATE (March 15, 2018) : Please be advised that the United States Customs and Border Protection Waiver Office located at the Toronto Pearson Airport is again accepting US Entry Waiver applications. Please note that their business hours have changed. They will accept US Entry Waiver submissions on Tuesdays only, from 8:00AM to 4:00PM. Read More

in Pardon, Record Suspension

Record Suspension User Fee – Consultation Report

The record suspension consultation report has been released. You can view the results here. https://www.canada.ca/en/parole-board/programs/user-fee-consultation/record-suspension-user-fee-consultation-full-report.html I don’t see anything in it that is terribly surprising. But at least it appears that things are headed in the right direction.

in Criminal Records

What do to with the WEED?

Police Chief Rick Barnum, Deputy Commissioner of the Ontario Provincial Police recently told MP’s studying the marijuana question that the police will not be ready to enforce new laws if they are in place by the current deadline of July 2018. “Take it slow,” he said. And the advice was echoed by Kevin Sabet, representativeRead More