“About 10 per cent of Canadians — over three million people — have a criminal record.” In 2012 the previous government replaced pardons with “record suspensions”, quadrupled the fee from $150 to $631, increased the waiting periods from 3 to 5 years and 5 to 10 years and cancelled all pending applications. The present government is reviewing these changes. “Inaccessible pardons cause a major barrier to good employment” for offenders who have served their sentence and have become contributing members of society.
Trudeau government studying Harper government changes that made people wait longer and pay more to obtain a pardon
Source: Lower pardon fees mulled for minor offences as part of review