Charitable or not-for-profit organizations commonly require criminal record checks to support applications for employment or volunteer positions involving interaction with children or other vulnerable persons. Such checks identify people who may not be well-suited to work with children and vulnerable persons, including those individuals with criminal records involving past abuses or violent crimes.

A new policy from the Canadian Police Information Center ("CPIC") concerning the Dissemination of Criminal Record Information (the "Policy") came into effect August 4, 2010. The policy supports the Minister of Public Safety's new Ministerial Directive Concerning the Release of Criminal Record Information by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP). The new, time-consuming procedures that resulted created a backlog of applications for criminal records checks that is only now beginning to abate.

Unexpected delays nation-wide

In accordance with the new Policy, local police agencies had to modify their procedures for criminal record checks. Before the implementation of the Policy, criminal background checks through the Ontario Provincial Police, for example, normally took one to two weeks to obtain. However, under the revised procedure, applicants whose name is identical to the name of another person who has a criminal record must now submit fingerprints with their request for a criminal record check. The fingerprints verify that the person receiving the clear background check is not the same person who has a criminal record.

In addition, police are now checking the local police databases in areas where an applicant has lived within the past five years. As a result, the RCMP now processes 8,000 fingerprints per month (compared to an average of 130 prior to the new policy). That leads to delays of weeks or months as local police stations mail in the fingerprints, and the RCMP cross-checks them against its own database and mails them back.

New technology eases bottlenecks

In response to the increased delays, Public Safety Minister Vic Toews announced on February 15, 2011 that new technology is being implemented to allow nearly instantaneous fingerprint verification when ordering a criminal record background check.

Under the new procedure, local police agencies with the appropriate technology can send a fingerprint digitally to the RCMP. The RCMP checks the print against its own database and responds in minutes to the local police in instances where an individual's fingerprints do not match a criminal holding.

Toews advised that the new technology is expected to improve processing times dramatically for Canadians applying for criminal records background checks.

He noted that Halton Regional Police in Ontario has already implemented the new technology, and that the Ottawa police and several other jurisdictions would follow. In total, approximately 20 other jurisdictions across Canada now have the technology, but have not yet fully implemented it as part of their background check process. The federal government is encouraging local police departments to purchase the Livescan machines, although the federal government has no plans to help pay for the technology.

Clear check not enough

However, background checks alone are not sufficient to screen prospective candidates. They represent only the first step of a broader screening process that should be carried out in accordance with an institution's child protection or other policy. Appropriate screening procedures carried out under a child protection policy and consistently implemented within an organization's operations can help to reduce the likelihood of abuse occurring through its programs.

This in turn, can help to reduce the exposure of the charity or non-profit organization from potential legal liability arising from claims involving allegations of the sexual abuse of children.

Further details regarding the new procedure under the Policy were provided in the October 2010 Charity Law Update available at www.charitylaw.ca.

For further information concerning child protection policies, please see Church Law Bulletin No. 22 entitled "Thoughts on Child Protection Policies: How to Make Them Work for Your Charity" available at www.carters.ca.