Criminal inadmissibility refers to people who are barred from entering Canada because they have committed or been convicted of a crime either in or outside Canada.

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Under section 36 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, foreign nationals and permanent residents may be inadmissible on grounds of serious criminality for:

• Being convicted in Canada of an offence under an Act of Parliament punishable by a possible maximum term of imprisonment of at least 10 years, or for being sentenced to a term of imprisonment of more than 6 months;

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• Being convicted of an offence outside Canada that, if committed in Canada, would constitute an offence under an Act of Parliament punishable by a possible maximum term of prisonment of at least 10 years; or

 

• Committing an act outside Canada that is an offence in the place where it was committed and that, if committed in Canada, would constitute an offence under an Act of Parliament punishable by a maximum term of imprisonment of at least 10 years. In addition, a foreign national may be found to be inadmissible on grounds of criminality for:

 

• Being convicted in Canada of an offence under an Act of Parliament punishable by way of indictment, or of two offences under any Act of Parliament that have not arisen out of a single occurrence;

 

• Being convicted outside Canada of an offence that, if committed in Canada, would constitute an indictable offence under an Act of Parliament, or of two offences not arising out of a single occurrence that, if committed in Canada, would constitute offences under an Act of Parliament;

 

• Committing an act outside Canada that is an offence in the place where it was committed and that, if committed in Canada, would constitute an indictable offence under an Act of Parliament; or

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• Committing an offence under an Act of Parliament prescribed by regulations on entering Canada.