CPATA’s offices will be closed December 25 to January 1 inclusively for the holidays.

Please note that CPATA’s offices will be closed on Friday, March 29 for Good Friday

Communicate With Us

Proposed Changes to the Registrar’s Policy on Good Character and Fitness to Practise 

The Registrar is contemplating changing its procedures for applicants who have lived outside of Canada after the age of 18 and have become Canadian residences or Citizens, to allow for the submission of alternative documentation, which includes a copy of Canadian Citizenship or Permanent Resident Card and a notarized affidavit confirming nothing would be presented on a background check if one were to be provided, in lieu of an original police or law enforcement information.  

Canada’s immigration policies were investigated to determine if this was a reliable policy change that we could implement. Under Canada’s immigration law, if you have committed or been convicted of a crime, you may not be allowed into Canada (i.e. criminally inadmissible). This applies to criminal offences listed in the Criminal Code of Canada and the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act.   

The government website includes the following general reasons for inadmissibility:   

  • security reasons  
  • human or international rights violations   
  • committing a crime (including DUIs)  
  • organized crime   
  • medical reasons   
  • financial reasons   
  • misrepresentation   
  • failure to comply with the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act  
  • having an inadmissible family member.   

The proposed changes demonstrate a risk-focused, evidence-based, principled and proactive, right-touch regulation – it is redundant to ask for something that was already cleared by the Canadian government for the purposes of immigration. The change reduces the cost of applying for registration to applicants who are also immigrants and/or refugees.    

The proposed changes provide more fairness and flexibility to applicants to demonstrate they meet the registration requirements without imposing barriers.   

The proposed changes demonstrate transparency, impartiality and objectivity.    

The intent is to adopt the revised policy by May 30, 2022. Comments on the proposed changes are welcome and should be sent to registration-inscription@cpata-cabamc.ca. The final policy will be published here.