Temporary Resident Permit | Application for Criminal Rehabilitation - Airline Professionals

Marc Laforce, Certified Canadian Immigration Consultant

Canada prohibits all non-Canadian visitors and crew members with criminal convictions from entering Canada, even if transiting.

For most commercial flights operating in North America a charge such as a DUI will automatically lead to unpaid suspension for a determinate period. If the "Canada issue" is not resolved within the suspension period, termination is inevitable.

This includes almost all convictions (whether misdemeanour or felony) such as DUI/DWI, domestic violence, reckless driving, Bad Check offences, misdemeanour drug possession and theft, regardless of how long ago they occurred. Even a pending misdemeanour charge will make a pilot or flight attendant inadmissible to Canada.

Aviation regulators such as Transport Canada and the Federal Aviation Administration require a fingerprint background check on all hires. To ensure that crew members can travel freely to all international destinations, Canadian and most US-registered carriers will go the extra step of requiring that all employees have clean criminal records throughout their employment history.

For this reason, those already employed at an airline are required by the company to report any criminal charges, including misdemeanour offences such as a DUI, to the airline. Reporting an offence to the airline will be mandatory because even if a crew member doesn't have Canada on his regular route circumstances such as a weather-related change in flight plan or an emergency landing may dictate a switch to a Canadian destination.

I Just Got Charged for DUI - Now What?

If you are charged or convicted of any criminal offence, it is imperative that you contact a licensed Canadian admissibility expert before reporting it to your employer. Talking to a union representative prior to calling a licensed Canadian representative is not a good idea because the union representative may have no option but to report the offence to management. (A union, then again, will always encourage members to seek legal counsel to know their rights.)

A licensed Canadian practitioner will discuss your eligibility to file for a waiver called a Temporary Resident Permit (TRP), which may override your inadmissibility to Canada. In the vast majority of cases, an airline will accept a TRP, at least for a determinate period, to put you back on the payroll. In other situations, your practitioner may file an Application for Criminal Rehabilitation, which will permanently "erase" the offence and allow you to travel freely to Canada as if the offence had never occurred.

Withholding a criminal conviction or charge or hoping that "nobody will know" is not a viable short- or long-term employment strategy.

If you have been charged with any criminal offence, no matter how minor, let a local attorney manage the offence and leave the process of handling your Canadian admissibility to a licensed practitioner of Canada. Even if a US attorney were permitted to represent you (which is not the case) he is utterly untrained to handle admissibility cases in Canada.

At Marc Laforce, CCIC, we pride ourselves on serving pilots, flight attendants and other airline professionals from all the major Canadian and US airlines as well as a vast number of regional carriers.

To schedule a meeting with our licensed practitioner and obtain a quote on a professionally prepared airline admissibility packet (including TRPs and Applications for Criminal Rehabilitation) call Serena at 888-827-6605. Appointments can be made (subject to availability) by phone or in person at any of our US locations. All conversations and correspondences are held in strict confidence.

Temporary Resident Permit | Application for Criminal Rehabilitation - Airline Professionals