How to apply for a Canadian pardon

If you are wondering how to apply for a Canadian pardon you aren’t alone. There is a lot of misinformation circulating about Canadian pardon applications and how to apply for a yous  so it is my hope that this post will help clear things up a little. So first of all, let me explain how to apply for a Canadian pardon in the simplest terms.

A Canadian pardon application is granted by the National Parole Board so it is the government that is ultimately responsible for giving you your pardon. That being said the government has no program to assist people with the paperwork which is extrememly time consuming and fairly complicated in all but a few cases.

If you require assistance with your Canadian pardon application there are many companies offering pardon services but you may find a fairly large discrepency in how they work. The industry is not at all regulated so you may find certain companies trying to convince you that they are the government, or that they represent the government. This is simply not the case. Hiring a company to handle your Canadian pardon application is a lot like hiring an accountant to do your taxes. You can do it all on your own, but most people think it makes sense to have a professional handle it for them. The truth is that the police, the courts and even lawyers to a large extent are simply not up to date on pardon procedures and how they work. So very often people handling their own application are confused due to nothing more than getting the wrong advice.

At any rate a good pardon company should handle all of the paperwork on your behalf, with minimal effort done by you. It should cost in the ballpark of $500.

Sometimes there are one or two steps that the client is REQUIRED to handle on his own, but in this case your representative should provide all the necessary documents and clear instructions on how to get it done.

When hiring a pardon company you should first clearly understand what it is you are paying for. Some companies will charge $500 simply to send you detailed instructions on how to complete the application yourself. This is a clear waste of money as you can get intstructions from the National Parole Board free of charge.

You also want to be aware of what the costs include. Some companies will charge the service fee and then bill disbursement charges at a later date, so a $500 fee becomes a $700 – $800. Generally speaking, most disbursement charges should be included in the service fee but it is not always the case and it is ultimately your responsibility to understand what it is you are paying for, and what is required of you.