Indefinitely, unless you apply to have it set aside. A criminal record in Canada does not expire on its own, and the waiting period is longer than most people are told.
There is a persistent belief that a conviction falls off after some number of years. It does not. What exists is a process to have the record set aside on application, and the clock on it starts later than people expect.
The Real Waiting Period
A record suspension becomes available five years after the completion of the entire sentence for a summary conviction, and ten years for an indictable one. The application fee to the Parole Board of Canada is $50.
The word doing the work is completion. The clock does not start at conviction, or at sentencing, or when the driving prohibition ends. It starts when every part of the sentence is finished: the fine, the victim surcharge, any probation, any prohibition. An unpaid surcharge quietly keeps the clock at zero, and people discover this years later when they apply.
The older figures of three and five years are pre-2012 and no longer correct. Anything repeating them is out of date.
"People count five years from the day in court. The Parole Board counts from the day the last dollar was paid. Those are often very different dates."
What a Record Suspension Does and Does Not Do
It sets the record aside and keeps it separate, so an ordinary criminal record check comes back clear. That is genuinely valuable for employment.
It does not erase the conviction, it can be revoked, and it does not bind foreign governments. A Canadian record suspension has no effect on United States admissibility, which is decided under American law by a border officer. Where a record is already in United States systems, the route is a separate American entry waiver. See criminal records and the US border.
The Driving Record Is a Separate Thing
Do not confuse the criminal record with the provincial driving record. They are kept by different bodies, they follow different retention rules, and an impaired driving conviction appears on both. Insurers look at the driving record, employers at the criminal one, and clearing one does nothing for the other.
The Cheaper Answer
The arithmetic above is the strongest argument for dealing properly with the charge in the first place. Five to ten years of a record, plus a $50 application and the work of assembling it, is a substantial cost compared with the defence work that might have avoided the conviction. Our driving offences practice page explains how those cases are run, and the first evaluation is free and confidential.
