Update: This story is archived. There is no known issue with Alberta Court Documents at this time. For expected wait times, contact our processing team.
Do you have convictions held in Alberta? If so, you may want to start applying for a pardon (now known as a Record Suspension) or a US Entry Waiver sooner than ever. This is because all Alberta court documents are held in a central location at the Alberta Records Centre. As a result, any issue with that Centre will put the entire province on hold. In this case, structural deficiencies in the building were acknowledged, and as a result the entire facility is currently under construction.
How does this affect Alberta Court documents
Both the Canadian Pardon and US Waiver processes require specific court information in order to complete the application. For the case of a Pardon, the courts must confirm the offence and date of conviction, as well as the method of trial, sentence imposed, and whether or not all elements of that sentence were completed. For a US Entry Waiver, the courts must provide certified copies of the police information, as well as documents indicating how and when the offence proceeded through the court system.
What this means is that until the Alberta Records Centre is re-opened, these records cannot be obtained.
What Happens in the Meantime?
Courts in Alberta are still accepting requests for information, and placing them in queue until such a time as the Alberta Records Centre is able to respond to these requests. Unfortunately they have been unable to determine when it might re-open.
Pardon Services Canada has also been looking into alternative options for our clients regarding this setback. We have been corresponding with the Parole Board of Canada, as well as the US Centre for Border Protection in order to find a solution that minimally impairs the application process.
Why Should I Apply Now?
We aren’t the only company affected by this delay, and it’s not only affecting Pardon and Waiver applications either. As a result, we can expect this queue of requests to grow at a rather alarming rate- and of course working through this queue will depend entirely on how quickly the individual court clerks can process them.
Therefore we recommend you apply early in order to ensure that your request is as close as possible to the front of this queue. Apply now to get your Canadian Pardon or US Entry Waiver started today.