Who Can Ask You for a Criminal Record Check?

Criminal record checks are sometimes necessary when you are looking for a job or attempting to rent a property. Criminal record checks are used to see if an individual has any prior convictions and are used by an employer or landlord as a way to determine whether the individual is trustworthy or not. 

You may be asked to supply a criminal record if you are attempting to rent an expensive property or if you are applying for a job in which you will be working with money, children or the government. 

However, not everyone knows who can ask for a criminal record check. That is why in this article we have collected a list of all of the people and establishments that can ask for a criminal record check.

Professional Settings

Criminal record checks in professional environments are usually done to screen a potential employee before they are hired or to screen a potential tenant before a landlord considers renting to them. In these situations, if a conviction is found on your criminal record you will most likely be denied the job or the property.  

In both of these settings, by law, the landlord or employer must first ask for consent before going ahead and checking their criminal record. Going against this is going against the law and disrespects the rights of the potential employee or tenant, which can lead to legal action. 

Basically, anyone can run a background check on another person in a professional setting if they go through the proper channels and obtain consent.

Personal Setting

While criminal record checks are mostly used by employers screening potential employees, not all criminal record checks are done in a professional setting. In some instances, individuals can run criminal record checks on other individuals in a personal setting, however, the way it works is a little different. 

Here are a few scenarios where criminal record checks can be performed in a personal setting:  

Check Your Own Criminal Record: Let’s say you have a big job interview coming up, one that you know will require a criminal record check. Just to be safe, you can do a criminal record check on yourself so you can be sure your record looks clean. 

Babysitting: When looking for a babysitter, you want to be sure the individual is trustworthy. You can perform a criminal record check on the potential babysitter before determining if they are fit to watch your children. 

Relationships: If you are about to meet up with someone from a dating site, or starting to date someone seriously, you can do a criminal record check on them and avoid any potential danger.

Peace of Mind: If you have any suspensions about anyone around you that you fear could cause you harm, say, neighbours, you can run a criminal record check on them and have some peace of mind.  

Personal background checks aren’t as well known and the rules surrounding them aren’t kept as strictly as the rules surrounding professional criminal record checks. For criminal record checks in a professional setting, you need the consent of the individual before proceeding. For a criminal record check in a personal setting, the need for consent isn’t as necessary.

Because criminal history information is public record, you can sometimes simply Google a person’s name and find all the information necessary to determine if the individual has had any prior convictions.  

In summation, if you do want to perform a criminal record check in a personal setting, you can usually do so without consent as long as there is absolutely no employer-employee relationship involved. 

Knowing who can ask you for a criminal record and when they need consent is necessary if you are requested a criminal record check.

If you already have a criminal record and it is affecting your day to day life; a pardon is the best solution. Contact Pardon Canada at 1 (800) 543-2137 for professional assistance and expert advice.