Police Criminal Record Check
As part of the registration process, CNO requires all applicants to provide a recent police criminal record check. This requirement helps CNO determine if more information is needed to assess suitability for registration.
CNO only accepts police criminal record checks from Sterling, a secure third-party criminal record check provider. Paper criminal record checks or checks from other online sources will not be accepted.
Starting your police criminal record check
To begin your police criminal record check, login to Maintain Your Membership (MYM). Select “Start my police criminal record check” on the landing page and follow the instructions provided. When creating your account with Sterling, you must use the same email address you have provided to CNO. Once the police criminal record check is complete, it will be valid for six months.
Applicants who legally reside in Canada but have lived in another country after obtaining status in Canada must also submit a police criminal record check from that country. For example, if you immigrated to Canada, lived in a Canadian province and then moved to another country, you need to provide a criminal record check from that country.
| Applicant |
Canadian |
International |
| Applicant legally resides in Canada |
✔ |
|
| Applicant legally resides in Canada but has also resided in other international jurisdictions after obtaining status in Canada |
✔ |
✔ |
| Applicant resides outside of Canada |
|
✔ |
Must be a recent (within six months) International PCRC
It is recommended that you obtain your criminal record check closer to the end of your registration process. You have 30 days from the start of your police criminal record check process to complete your check. If you do not complete the process in 30 days, you can begin again by logging into Maintain Your Membership and clicking “Start my police criminal record check”.
A criminal record check is valid only for six months after it is issued.
No. Current registrants of the General, Extended, Temporary, or Non-practising class are not required to provide a criminal record check when applying for or reinstating their registration in another class or category. Please note, if concerns arise, CNO has the right to ask you to provide a police criminal record check if any character or conduct issues are identified. Should we remind/link to self-declaration requirements here?
Yes. A police criminal record check is required if you are seeking reinstatement and have not been registered with CNO in the current or prior year in which you are applying. This also applies if you are a former registrant of CNO currently residing outside of Canada.
Yes. You must provide a police criminal record check. You can complete your police criminal record check through Sterling by logging into Maintain Your Membership and selecting “Start my police criminal record check.
For CNO's purposes, a check is valid for six months from the date it is issued. If you have a check and it expires before you meet all other registration requirements, then you will have to submit an updated check to complete your registration.
No. Applicants are not required to provide a check before writing their registration or jurisprudence exams.
No. If you have more than one application open with CNO, you are only required to do one police criminal record check. Once we receive the result of your police check, all your open applications will be updated.